Author: Defenceline Webdesk

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is pushing for a fifth public shipyard to support a growing fleet, the head of the Office of Management and Budget said Wednesday. The Trump administration’s budget request includes $65.8 billion for shipbuilding alone for fiscal 2027, and calls for expanding the Navy’s inventory to 450 ships — including battle force ships, auxiliary ships, and unmanned vessels — by 2031. The request also includes $1.85 billion in reconciliation funding to study whether foreign shipyards could be used to build US warships — with designs on possibly procuring the first vessel from South Korea or Japan,…

For two decades, Southeast Asian governments took special care to diversify their weapons catalogs. U.S. fighters were balanced against Russian submarines, French frigates against South Korean trainers, Israeli radars against Chinese patrol boats. By diversifying defense procurement across major powers, ASEAN states could modernize without owing allegiance to anyone, preserving the strategic autonomy that has long defined the bloc’s posture toward great power rivalry.  Russia was indispensable to this arrangement. Moscow offered capable aircraft, submarines, and air defense systems at prices Western suppliers could not match, accepted unconventional payment arrangements, including barter in palm oil and coffee, and asked few…

India and the United States have advanced their trade negotiations after US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s two‑day meeting with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on 23–24 June.Experts at the Asia Society Policy Institute caution, however, that despite progress, key differences remain unresolved and a final agreement is not yet within reach.Wendy Cutler, Senior Vice President at ASPI, observed that concluding a trade deal with India is proving elusive. She explained that each side has its own priorities and red lines which continue to block a successful conclusion. She also noted that developments over the past year have created…

Siegel, Warrior Maven Commanders are streamlining Pacific operations through daily sessions that integrate autonomous agents and precision targeting while maintaining strict human oversight… Source link

ARLINGTON, Va.—From rockets to tanks, the Army wants to expand its current Amazon-esque marketplace where soldiers, allies and partners now buy drones and counter-UAS tech. “The grand strategy of conflict going forward is compatibility,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters Tuesday during the Army’s industry day for low-cost interceptors. “The way that small nations like Finland are going to be able to partner with large nations like the United States, and we are going to be able to parachute into a theater where a lot of our stuff doesn’t exist, is that our allies have compatible equipment to us.”To do that,…

The global index provider MSCI has extended its review ‌of Indonesia’s status as an “emerging” market economy until November, in order to allow it to assess a series of reforms that have been announced by President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. MSCI first threatened the downgrade in January due to a number of transparency concerns in its stock market, including the high concentration of ownership in certain companies and the limited “free float” of shares – i.e., those openly available for public trading. Last week, in its annual Global Market Accessibility Review, MSCI also lowered Indonesia’s information flow criterion to negative, reflecting…

Iran’s Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad has arrived in New Delhi to participate in the BRICS Energy Ministers’ Meeting, declaring that Tehran is ready to expand economic relations with India, particularly in the oil and gas sector.His visit comes amid a temporary 60‑day sanctions waiver agreed with the United States, opening the door for renewed energy cooperation and investment opportunities.Mohsen Paknejad, Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, reached Delhi on Wednesday to attend the BRICS Energy Ministers’ Meeting. He emphasised that Iran and India share centuries‑old historical ties and that Tehran is prepared to establish relations in economic fields with India. He noted…

Military.com A major SOCOM study found special operators face an 18% higher cancer risk, with elevated rates of melanoma and testicular cancer Source link

The U.S. government on Tuesday announced a new tranche of sanctions against individuals and entities connected to Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, which it has previously accused of running a region-spanning “cyberfraud empire.” In a statement, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it was listing nine people and 26 ‌entities linked to Prince, including “leadership, investors in scam compounds, and front companies.” “Scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars from American victims each year,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement. “Treasury will continue using its tools to disrupt the networks…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, congratulating him on his party’s victory in the recently held parliamentary elections in Armenia. Modi expressed his delight at the call and extended warm wishes to Pashinyan and his Civil Contract Party for their success.In his post on X, Modi noted that he had also thanked Pashinyan for facilitating the evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in Iran following the recent developments in West Asia. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to strengthening its multifaceted partnership with Armenia across trade, defence, technology and people-to-people ties, emphasising that…