DEFENSE

MANILA, Philippines — A recently signed agreement will open a direct line of communication between the presidential offices of China and the Philippines to help prevent any new confrontation from spiraling out of control in the disputed South China Sea, according to highlights of the accord seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday. China and […]

MANILA, Philippines — The United States on Friday renewed its call on China to stop its aggressive actions in the South China Sea, saying a broader web of security alliances has emerged to preserve the rule of law in the disputed waters. Washington’s top diplomat in Manila was joined by counterparts from key Western and

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is asking Congress for $11 billion more than the White House’s fiscal 2025 defense budget request, an amount that is three times greater than the wish list it submitted last year. Much of the money requested in the annual list, obtained by Defense News, would go toward constructing infrastructure to host U.S.

ROME — Italian shipyard Fincantieri has signed another cooperation deal on subsea technology as it pushes into the growing market for underwater drones and cable and pipeline protection. The firm signed a memorandum of understanding with Italian energy firm Saipem to develop ways to integrate Saipem’s autonomous underwater vehicles with Fincantieri’s ships and submarines. “The

ANKARA — Turkish defense-electronics company Aselsan has detailed its integrated air-defense suite “Steel Dome,” describing it as a multi-layered, multi-domain system that combines kinetic and non-kinetic effectors with advanced decision-support algorithms. The company presented the concept during an international press day held at its Gölbaşı facility in Ankara. Aselsan positions Steel Dome as a response

The U.S. Army’s I Corps is at a moment of strategic transition, shouldering the responsibility of shaping the service’s readiness across the vast, complex Indo-Pacific theater. Overseeing that effort is Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, under whose command the Corps, through continuous exercise and training, is rethinking itself as both a forward campaign-capable headquarters and a

The Eighth Army in Korea is already accepting soldier transfers under a new “tour normalization” system that began Oct. 1. But not every installation in the country is ready yet to accept soldiers and their families for longer tours. Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting on Monday, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, Eighth Army

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Monday vehemently rejected allegations that Russia’s leak of a conversation by high-ranking German military officers was an indication that Berlin was preparing for war against Russia. At the same time, the government sought to contain the domestic fallout from the leak and promised a quick investigation into how

PARIS — The Netherlands plans to order four new air-defense frigates for more than €3.5 billion (U.S. $3.8 billion) to replace its current fleet, Dutch State Secretary of Defense Christophe van der Maat said in a letter to parliament Friday. The Dutch Defence Ministry intends to work with local shipbuilder Damen Naval for the naval

PARIS — Sweden’s Saab signed a contract with Poland to provide the country with more than $1 billion worth of Carl-Gustaf M4 recoilless rifles, ammunition and training equipment, in what the company said is its largest ground-combat contract ever. Saab expects to book the order, with a value of 12.9 billion Swedish kroner ($1.2 billion),

ROME — Albania reopened a refurbished Soviet-era air base on Monday which will host NATO jets as fears grow in the Balkans over creeping Russian influence. Italian Eurofighters and U.S. F-16s and F-35s flew in for the inauguration of the base at Kucova, 50 miles south of the capital Tirana, which was formerly named Stalin

KORZENIEWO, Poland — Some one hundred kilometers away from Poland’s border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, forces from nine NATO member countries were busy setting up the last of their amphibious gear. They are part of a large multi-domain operations exercise that entails a notoriously tricky river crossing in the