Author: Defenceline Webdesk

On September 22, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae addressed the United Nations General Assembly. She argued that Japan has become deeply embedded in the postwar international order over the past 70 years and has made significant contributions to it. Japan, she maintained, should no longer be constrained by the so-called “enemy state clauses” in the United Nations Charter. She therefore renewed Japan’s call for the U.N. to initiate the process of removing them.  The so-called “enemy state clauses” are mainly contained in Articles 53, 77, and 107 of the U.N. Charter. They preserve special provisions concerning states that were enemies…

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Space Force have joined forces to more rapidly develop and field next-generation, commercially developed satellites to monitor geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), according to the service. Under the joint effort, DIU’s Geosynchronous High-Resolution Optical Space-Based Tactical Reconnaissance (GHOST-R) project is now going to serve as a feeder for the Space Force’s nascent RG-XX program to replace the venerable Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites. According to a Sept. 18 Space Systems Command (SSC) announcement, by “collaborating” with DIU the Space Force is “leveraging rapid prototyping” for RG-XX. Two companies have…

The much-heralded China-U.S. summit is now behind us, and the consensus is that it produced nothing of substance. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping extended their trade truce, talked about artificial intelligence, and agreed on little else.  Many have applied the same measure to Taiwan: Xi pressed Trump to shift American policy on the island, the American leader appears not to have obliged, and so, the reasoning goes, the U.S. position held and nothing happened. That reading is wrong. What looks like nothing is the clearest sign yet of how far the U.S. position on Taiwan has shifted. And Trump…

The Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program is testing more than industry’s ability to field new drone designs. It is also testing whether industry can repeatedly manufacture reliable, affordable unmanned aircraft at scale, sustain the supply chain under them, and integrate new capabilities, payloads, and mission systems as requirements evolve. It’s that shift from innovation to industrialization that is the next phase of UAS competition. Paul Fermo, President, Robinson Unmanned “Producing a capable aircraft is one challenge; producing thousands of them that perform consistently is another”, according to Paul Fermo, president of Robinson Unmanned, the UAS business unit of Robinson Helicopter. “Innovation…

On 27 September, the Pakistan Navy (PN) announced that the lead boat of its new Hangor-class (Type 039B/S26) submarine, PNS/M Hangor, successfully test-fired an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) in the North Arabian Sea. The PN’s Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR) announced the tests through its social media channels. Though the PN DGPR did not explicitly state the make or model of the ASCM, its own video footage shows that the PNS/M Hangor had test-fired a CM-708UNB, confirming that the PN procured an unspecified number of these munitions with the submarines. Indeed, Quwa had inferred the PN could acquire the…

WASHINGTON — Army acquisition leaders and Joint Interagency Task Force 401 officials announced today that the service awarded multiple contracts worth up to $7 billion for counter-drone capabilities. The contracts, which the Army began awarding Monday, are part of an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) vehicle, the leaders said. The contracts will support the Pentagon’s drone and counter-drone marketplace, as well as its Domestic Shield program — a project aimed at protecting US military installations and critical infrastructure from threats posed by small drones. It will also support “other counter-UAS [unmanned aerial system] requirements” across the federal government, Brent Ingraham,…

On 25 September, a photo emerged on Chinese social media of an apparent fifth Pakistan Army Aviation Corps (PAA) Z-10ME-02 attack helicopter undergoing test flights. The new unit sports the designation number “786-305”, indicating it is the fifth unit. The PAA formally inducted its first Z-10ME-02 in August 2025, following years of seeking the AH-1Z Viper and T129 ATAK from the United States and Türkiye, respectively. Manufactured by Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation (CAIC) and sold by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the Z-10ME-02 is an upgraded variant of the Z-10. It features reinforced armour around the canopy and…

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House’s intelligence committee is warning defense contractors about a “likely” investigation into whether corporate donations to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project were solicited in exchange for government contracts or access to the Trump administration. In a letter to the National Defense Industrial Association, Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), told the defense trade group on Monday to remind its member companies “of their obligation to be responsive to congressional oversight.” “Specifically, I am concerned that the current Administration has departed from…

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii—Some 300 days after leaving Hawaii, the guided-missile destroyer Frank E. Petersen Jr. was welcomed home Monday with delighted cheers, jangling cowbells, handmade posters, and fresh flower leis.  The ship—part of the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group—did 40 days of combat operations and spent six months in an active combat zone. It started its deployment in December with operations in the South China Sea, but in late January was redirected to the Middle East, shortly before President Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury.The Petersen took part in the war’s initial strikes on Iran, firing Tomahawk missiles at…

This September, I came across a post claiming that Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. senator and secretary of state, had urged Taiwan to surrender. With tens of thousands of likes and thousands of shares, the clip was spreading fast through Taiwan’s Chinese-language social media. Something felt off, so I checked. The truth was revealing.  On September 10, the former U.S. secretary of state had appeared on “Morning Joe,” the MS NOW program’s September 11 anniversary special, to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security strategy. Iran, she said, backed by China and Russia, was deftly draining the United States’ capacity…