Author: Defenceline Webdesk

On 29 August, the Pakistan Army Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Field Marshal Asim Munir, visited Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF). While reviewing POF’s projects – e.g., from a new gas-operated assault rifle to new quadcopter-compatible drop munitions – the CDF was also briefed on a tailless delta loitering munition similar in concept to Iran’s Shahed-136. This would be at least the second munition of this type under development in Pakistan, with the other being the Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) D-248, which has a stated range of 2,200-3,000 km. The actual ranges of these new…

From August 17 to 21, leaders and heads of delegation throughout the Micronesian subregion convened for the 28th Micronesian Islands Forum (MIF). Held in Pohnpei – one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and home to a population of roughly 26,000 people – delegates met to discuss ongoing regional issues and identified areas for strategic collaboration under the theme “Promote Healthy Communities, Open Doors to Learning.”  I attended the MIF as the head of Delegation and Special Representative for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a non-sovereign United States territory. As great powers pursue…

WASHINGTON — Dan Driscoll, the 26th secretary of the Army, has submitted his letter of resignation, after serving in his position for less than two years, two Army officials told Breaking Defense. One of the officials said Driscoll tendered his resignation after speaking with President Donald Trump about the state of the Army. The official did not elaborate. The news comes on the heels of multiple reports that the secretary would be exiting his role before the end of the year, possibly as soon as Labor Day. Driscoll’s departure comes amid months of a reported strained relationship with Defense Secretary…

On 31st August, the heads of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye officially called their recently signed defence agreement the “Makkah Defence Alliance” (MDA). The inaugural secretary-general will be appointed from Pakistan. On 28 August, Pakistan and Kuwait signed a bilateral defence agreement focused on building Kuwait’s capacity through personnel training and other assistance. Between these new agreements and the preceding engagements in Azerbaijan, Libya, Sudan, and, not least, the US-Iran War, Pakistan has, in effect, involved itself in Middle East security affairs. To be clear, Pakistan’s engagement with the Middle East is not new; it has always maintained bilateral agreements…

The floods and landslides devastating communities in Tibet and Nepal are a natural disaster. The information vacuum inside Tibet is not. Hundreds of people remain missing. Families are desperately searching for loved ones. Americans are among the foreign nationals reported unaccounted for. Roads, communications, and power have been cut, while rescue teams race to reach communities across some of the most difficult terrain in the world. But on the Tibetan side of this disaster, there is another obstacle: the Chinese Communist Party’s longstanding restrictions on access and information. For years, Beijing has tightly controlled access to Tibet for foreign journalists,…

The Philippine peso fell to a record low on Friday due to rising oil prices and a strengthening U.S. dollar, despite attempts by the country’s central bank to offer relief. According to a report by Inquirer.net, which cited data from Bankers Association of the Philippines, the currency weakened 37.7 centavos to close at 62.265 per U.S. dollar, surpassing the previous record-low close of 61.888 set the day prior. The new record capped off three straight weeks of losses for the peso, which has been among the Asian currencies most vulnerable to the spike in energy prices brought about by the…

India and the United Kingdom are close to signing two inter-governmental agreements (IGAs) for the incorporation of electric propulsion on Indian Navy ships and production of Marlet lightweight multirole missiles (LMM). These are decisive steps toward forging long-term defense industrial cooperation and deepening the bilateral strategic partnership. At the same time, the U.K. has also upped its pitch for another mega-deal — the design and development of a jet engine to power the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA), India’s fifth-generation fighter. The two countries have made concerted efforts to deepen defense cooperation and find a long-term overarching deal to anchor…

The munitions shortage caused by the Iran War is real and growing. While the precise magnitude of the shortfall is uncertain, the question now is how quickly the window of vulnerability can be closed. With no apparent path for passing a supplemental or regular appropriations bill by Oct. 1, the Pentagon will likely spend at least the first quarter of fiscal 2027 under a continuing resolution. The debate over what happens next will naturally focus on how much funding Congress ultimately provides, but for the munitions the military urgently needs, money is only one scarce resource. The other is time,…

Japan’s Ministry of Defense on August 31 submitted a record fiscal year 2027 budget request of roughly 8.9 trillion yen ($55.5 billion). But the headline figure tells only part of the story. At a media briefing three days before the announcement, Defense Ministry officials said around 160 entries in the request were marked as “item requests” (jiko yokyu), for which no specific funding amount has yet been assigned. The reason is that Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s government plans to revise Japan’s three key security documents – the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Defense Buildup Program – by the…

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, taking place on August 31 and September 1, will be another opportunity for China and Russia to try to promote an alternative to Western-led international institutions. But the organization, now in its 25th year, faces internal rivalries and tensions that are becoming ever more difficult to sweep under the rug. The SCO appears to be high on geopolitical symbolism and low on genuine relevance, at least on the political and security front. Despite its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) and the Peace Mission military exercises between SCO member countries, the organization’s security agenda has been…