Author: Defenceline Webdesk

On the morning of August 12, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and an Indonesian Navy warship conducted a joint navigation exercise in the waters east of Taiwan. It was the first time China had exercised with a foreign military in these geopolitically sensitive waters. The announcement a day earlier had drawn a swift rebuke from Taiwan’s authorities, which called the exercise an act of political manipulation, “aimed at creating a false impression before the international community that the Chinese communists have jurisdiction over waters east of Taiwan.” The United States similarly called on China “to cease its continuous military…

Global Defense The future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) left Newport News, Virginia, on August 12 to begin acceptance trials Source link

Five years have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. During this period, the international community tried a wide range of policies to influence the Taliban’s behavior, from humanitarian assistance and political and economic pressure to diplomatic engagement and negotiations that began through indirect channels and, today, in some cases, have developed into direct talks.  At the same time, human rights defenders, political opponents of the Taliban, and many ordinary Afghans did not abandon their resistance. From street protests and underground schools to human rights campaigns and various forms of civil disobedience, they sought to prevent the normalization…

G. Warner, Stars & Stripes The aircraft carrier USS George Washington will be sent to the Arabian Sea to replace USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for over 250 days Source link

A Texas-based aviation company beat out Bell and Lockheed Martin to lead the transformation of Army helicopter training, the service announced on Thursday.The Army awarded M1 Support Services its Flight School Next contract, a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity worth up to $10 billion for up to 26 years. It’s the culmination of a months-long competition aimed at converting the service’s Initial Entry Rotary Wing school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, to a contractor-owned and -operated model. Officials expect the change to reduce costs by taking helicopters, instructors, and maintenance out of the service’s hands and pushing pilots to focus on aviation fundamentals.”This is…

August 15 marks five years since the Taliban returned to power, and throughout that time, the group has presented Afghanistan as a country completely under its control. The small armed opposition in Panjshir, Badakhshan, and Baghlan’s Andarab district has not managed to contest the Taliban’s dominance successfully.  But the emergence  of new anti-Taliban movements across the country has begun to challenge that image. Last month, a new resistance group called Sipahiyan-i-Mihan, or “Soldiers of the Homeland,” briefly captured the center of Yaftal-e Payeen district in Badakhshan. Local sources said its fighters entered the district headquarters, disarmed Taliban personnel, and raised…

MC Compass Points the U.S. needs a flexible, middle weight force that can arrive quickly to any crisis Source link

BEIRUT — For the first time, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has launched a multinational and multi-domain attack drone task force, dubbed Falcon Strike.  Task Force Falcom Strike “will employ one-way attack drones consisting of unmanned systems from above, on, and below the sea operated by military support staff from the United States and regional partners,” CENTCOM said in a statement on Thursday.  The announcement comes after months of regional conflict and traded fires between Iran and its allied militias on one side, and the US, Israel and Arab Gulf states on the other side. During this conflict, drones, including unmanned…

The missile will be initially integrated with Royal Australian Air Force’s F/A-18F Super Hornet. Credit: Ryan Fletcher/Shutterstock.com. Australia’s recent acquisition of the US-made AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), coupled with its first successful solid rocket motor flight test, marks a transition toward strengthening its long-term missile supply resilience, according to analysis by GlobalData.  Last week, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles announced a A$736m ($518m) investment, which will make Australia the first nation outside the US to operate the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM).  Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to…

The 17th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) Conference, scheduled to be held at Kathmandu University, Nepal, from August 23-29, was cancelled on August 5 and later shifted online. The cancellation was done by the organizers, at the formal request of the Nepali government.  The IATS conference is one of the premier academic forums for Tibetan culture, history, language and religion. The conference was set to bring together scholars from 40 countries, including India, China, and the United States – many of whom had already arranged and paid for costs to attend the conference in Kathmandu. The…