Author: Defenceline Webdesk

Powerful factors have propelled Chinese companies into ports abroad where they serve as builders, financiers, investors, terminal operators, and more. Equally powerful factors have motivated Beijing to support them.  Part 1 in this four-part series inter alia dove into the national and corporate motivations behind China’s port’s push, sketched a portrait of China’s overseas ports presence, and surveyed the raging storm about the economic, political, and military downsides of China’s heavy footprint in overseas ports. The topic of Chinese ports remains front and center. China is escalating its detention of Panamanian-flagged ships following the termination of CK Hutchison’s operator role…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the President of Vietnam, To Lam, at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Wednesday, following a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier in the day.The reception marked the formal commencement of To Lam’s first State Visit to India since assuming office as President.The ceremonial welcome was attended by President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi, highlighting the growing strategic partnership between the two nations. The event featured a cultural display, with children dressed in traditional attire waving both the Vietnamese flag and the Indian Tricolour.President To Lam arrived in India on Tuesday, beginning his visit…

Aaron-Matthew Lariosa, USNI News “I am proud that the U.S. Army and Philippine Army have the capability to conduct training meticulously,” Col. Tomino Sho, the commanding officer of Japan’s… Source link

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin Aeronautics boss Greg Ulmer is retiring, with Skunk Works head OJ Sanchez tapped to lead the aviation arm of the world’s largest defense contractor, the company announced today. In its release, Lockheed describes the aeronautics arm as a “$30 billion business with more than 35,000 people.” The aeronautics business includes the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, F-22 stealth fighter, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the C-130 transporter, as well as the classified Skunk Works design shop. Per his LinkedIn profile, Ulmer first joined Lockheed in 1995 doing flight test work on the C-130 program. He has been with…

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—Putting yourself first doesn’t mean you can’t have friends, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested on Monday at the SelectUSA Investment Summit just outside Washington, D.C.His department’s annual event aims to woo foreign investment in the United States, an objective complicated by the Trump administration’s “America First” approach.“We’re here to make deals happen,” Lutnick told the crowd on Monday. “To our foreign partners, we want you here. If you build here and commit to build here, the Department of Commerce will have the ability to assist you getting L-1 visas so that you can bring your employees in to…

The standard Western critique of China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR) runs as follows: Beijing exports surveillance technology and authoritarian governance norms to developing countries under the guise of digital development, creating technological dependencies that serve Chinese strategic interests at the expense of local populations and global digital freedom. It is a compelling narrative. It is also incomplete. As my research on DSR governance across Ethiopia, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates shows, the initiative operates through what scholars call digitalpolitik: the strategic deployment of digital infrastructure to pursue national interests, shape governance norms, and embed geopolitical influence. The question is…

President To Lam’s state visit to India has marked a significant milestone in bilateral relations, with both nations agreeing to elevate their ties to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.The visit produced 18 outcomes, including 13 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and five key announcements, reflecting the breadth of cooperation across strategic, economic, cultural, and technological domains.Among the most notable agreements was the MoU between IREL (India) Ltd. and Vietnam’s Institute for Technology of Radioactive and Rare Elements (ITRRE), which formalises cooperation in rare earth elements and advanced technologies.This is particularly significant given the global demand for rare earths in defence, electronics,…

CDR Salamander …we are heading in the right direction, but at the speed of smell… Source link

WASHINGTON — Amid speculation the Army could be shaking up its long, troubled quest to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, BAE Systems and Kongsberg are sending two AMPV 30 prototypes to the service’s upcoming Transformation in Contact (TiC) 2.0 exercise with hopes of showing, as one Kongsberg executive put it, that there’s “something else out there.” “The whole intent is at least to get the Army thinking,” Eskild Aas, director of programs at Kongsberg, told Breaking Defense. “That’s what we’re intending to do as well, is to place them side by side with Bradleys, and have Bradley crews operate the…

My name is Renat Tajimuratov. I never sought the spotlight or wanted to speak publicly. But I cannot stay silent while my brother, Dauletmurat Tajimuratov, is being slowly destroyed in prison. Four years ago, the government of Uzbekistan took my older brother from our family and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. His “crime” was being a brave activist and a selfless defender of Karakalpakstan – our homeland, a sovereign republic within Uzbekistan, with our own language, culture, history, and identity. In 2022, when the government considered stripping our home of its sovereignty, ensured in the Constitution of Uzbekistan,…