Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III conducted virtual talks on April 16 with his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Dong Jun, Beijing's Minister of National Defense, marking the first direct talks between defense chiefs of the two nations in close to two years.
U.S. Air Force F-35 fighters landed in Brunei on March 1, the first time U.S. stealth jets have landed on the small Pacific Island nation. Two F-35s made the trek from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, to Rimba Air Base, Brunei, a visit that coincided with ...
A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber flew alongside three Philippine FA-50 fighters during a patrol over the South China Sea in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Feb. 19.
The U.S. and the Philippines conducted a three-day aerial exercise together last week, with fighters from both nations operating over the strategically vital South China Sea. The joint drill ran from Nov. 21-23, with two U.S. F-15 Eagles flying alongside two Philippines Air Force FA-50s, ...
Chinese aircraft have engaged in many more risky intercepts of U.S. planes over the past two years than was previously publicly known, the Pentagon said Oct. 17. There have been more than 180 dangerous incidents over the South and East China Seas during that period, ...
A Chinese fighter jet conducted an “unnecessarily aggressive” maneuver in front of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 last week, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced May 30, releasing footage of the incident. The intercept, which took place May 26, happened over the South China Sea in international airspace.
The U.S. and Philippines air forces are reviving a combat training exercise after more than 30 years as both nations grapple with China’s growing military might. From May 1-12, American fighters will practice tactics with the Philippine air force in exercise Cope Thunder. The drills ...
China’s growing capabilities and recent boldness in the air domain represent “dangerous and destabilizing” behavior patterns, the Pentagon’s top official on the Indo-Pacific said March 2. Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, discussed how China continues to prod the U.S. and challenge ...
The American and Chinese militaries are trading blame after a close call between two warplanes over the South China Sea on Dec. 21, as a Chinese fighter jet came within a few yards of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint over the South China ...
The top four U.S. adversaries—China, Russia, Iran and North Korea—are improving their military capabilities but relying increasingly on cyber means to challenge the U.S. and blunt its influence around the world, the intelligence community's annual threat assessment says. The report comes amid military tensions with ...
A sharp increase in deterrence funding in the Pacific, at a time when defense budgets are expected to shrink, is needed to prove that the region is the Pentagon’s top priority and to address growing needs in surveillance and missile defense, the head of U.S. ...
President Joe Biden on Feb. 10 announced a new Defense Department quick-paced review of the military’s overall strategy toward China. Over the next “few months,” the Department of Defense China Task Force will work to define new priorities and “decision points so that we can ...