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The U.S. is looking to sell 40 new F-16s to Turkey, officials said. The Biden administration is preparing to seek congressional approval for a $20 billion sale of new F-16 jet fighters to Turkey along with a separate sale of next-generation F-35 warplanes to Greece, in what would be among the largest foreign weapons sales in recent years, according to U.S. officials. Congress’s approval is contingent on Turkey’s signoff on Finland and Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the officials said. Turkey has blocked the two countries’ applications over objections to their ties to Kurdish separatist groups. Both countries ended decades of neutrality by deciding to join NATO last year in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Biden, Kishida to discuss Japan ‘stepping up’ security
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The Oval Office meeting and signing ceremony at NASA’s Washington headquarters will cap a weeklong tour for Kishida that took him to five European and North American capitals for talks on his effort to beef up Japan’s security. Japan’s defense spending has historically remained below 1% of GDP. “Japan is stepping up and doing so in lockstep with the United States,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Kishida also discussed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron his hopes to improve security cooperation between Japan and their respective nations. “Those days are gone.”Biden administration officials have praised Japan for stepping up in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Explainer: Why Japan is seeking military ties beyond its U.S. ally
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Tim Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONE ALLYFor the past seven decades, Japan, which gave up the right to wage war after its defeat in World War Two, has relied on the United States for protection. Japan hosts 54,000 American troops, hundreds of military aircraft, and dozens of warships led by Washington's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier. Encouraged by the United States, Japan in December unveiled its biggest military build up since World War Two, with a commitment to double defence spending to 2% of GDP within five years. NEW ALLIESFor that reason, and again with Washington's support, Japan is seeking new security partners to back it up both militarily and diplomatically. As Britain tilts more towards Asia, it has sought closer defence ties.

☆ Biden and Kishida discuss Japan ‘stepping up’ security
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Inside the Oval Office, the U.S. president praised Japan for its "historic" increase in defense spending and pledged close cooperation on economic and security matters. Japan's defense spending has historically remained below 1% of GDP. "Japan is stepping up and doing so in lockstep with the United States," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Kishida also discussed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron his hopes to improve security cooperation between Japan and their respective nations. Kishida met with Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday before his meeting with Biden to discuss U.S.-Japan space cooperation and other issues.

☆ Canada to Buy 88 F-35 Jet Fighters to Refurbish Aging Air Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Paul Vieira | Doug Cameron | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An F-35 demonstration in 2019. Canada was one of eight original countries to partner in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, as a way to defray some of its costs. OTTAWA—Canada said Monday it would purchase 88 F-35 combat jets manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., ending a protracted, politically-charged process to refurbish the country’s aging air force. The total cost is budgeted at 19 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of over $14 billion, with deliveries set to start in 2026 and all purchased aircraft expected to be in operation by 2034. Canada said the deal, struck with the Pentagon, provides the country with the best jet fighter to meet its obligations to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and protect the country’s Arctic, which officials say face elevated threats from Russia and China.

Kishida, who will host a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers in May, will meet leaders of the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Canada this week. "As leader of the G7 chair this year, I'll be making this visit to reaffirm our thinking on a number of issues," Kishida told a Sunday news programme. "With the United States, we'll discuss deepening our bilateral alliance and how to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific." On semiconductors, Japan and the United States are deepening cooperation on advanced chip development amid growing trade tension with China. "Holding a successful G7 summit would bring him maximum political points - and this trip is preparation for that," said Airo Hino, a political science professor at Waseda University.

☆ Lagging Arms Production Makes Pentagon Wary of Further Industry Consolidation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Doug Cameron | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Pentagon’s operations leave less room for multiple contractors, with Lockheed’s F-35 jet fighter meant to replace many types of aircraft. U.S. defense companies are finding it tough to quickly replenish weaponry such as missiles and artillery shells for Ukraine, leading Pentagon officials to revisit whether industry consolidation has gone too far. Two decades of mergers and acquisitions have left the top six contractors to share the majority of Pentagon spending on military equipment. In the 1990s, some 50 firms vied for big contracts.

☆ Japan says it scrambled jets to monitor Chinese aircraft carrier operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Japan said on Monday it scrambled jet fighters and dispatched aircraft and warships over the past two weeks to keep tabs on China's Liaoning aircraft carrier and five warships that conducted naval manoeuvres and flight operations in the Pacific. Japan monitored the operations after the Chinese naval group, which included missile destroyers, sailed between the main Okinawa island and Miyakojima island into the Western Pacific from the East China Sea on Dec. 16, Japan's Ministry of Defence said in a press release. Before returning the same way on Sunday, the Chinese carrier conducted more than 300 take-offs and landings of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, added the ministry, which did not report any incursions into Japanese territorial waters or skies. Japan also reported that it had detected flights by a Chinese WZ-7 drone close to Miyakojima on Sunday and again on Monday, the first time it has spotted the high-altitude drone in the area. Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China Asserts Military Power Against U.S. With Naval Drills, Air Intercept
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG—China’s military has flexed its growing capacity to challenge the U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific in recent weeks, intercepting an American spy plane in what Washington criticized as a risky manner and sending an aircraft carrier in the direction of Guam. On Thursday, the U.S. military said a Chinese jet fighter conducted an unsafe maneuver while intercepting a U.S. Air Force RC-135 in international airspace over the South China Sea on Dec. 21. The J-11 fighter, operated by a Chinese navy pilot, flew “in front of and within 20 feet of the nose” of the RC-135, forcing the reconnaissance plane to “take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said.

☆ Watch: Chinese Jet Fighter Intercepts U.S. Spy Plane
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

NFT Artist Beeple on the Future of Digital ArtThe artist Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, is one of the most valuable living artists. But now that demand for non-fungible tokens has cooled and the crypto winter has set in, what does he see as the future of NFTs? Beeple spoke with WSJ art-market reporter Kelly Crow at this year’s WSJ Tech Live event. Zoe Thomas hosts.

☆ American Spy Plane Has Uncomfortably Close Encounter with Chinese Jet Fighter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Chun Han Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Video footage provided by the U.S. military showed a close encounter with a Chinese fighter carrying what appeared to be air-to-air missiles. HONG KONG—The U.S. military said a Chinese jet fighter conducted an unsafe maneuver while intercepting an American spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea last week. During the Dec. 21 encounter, a J-11 fighter operated by a Chinese navy pilot flew “in front of and within 20 feet of the nose” of a U.S. Air Force RC-135, forcing the reconnaissance plane to “take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Thursday.

☆ South Korea Takes Hard Look at Strategy After Pyongyang’s Drone Incursion
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has put pressure on his country’s military after North Korean drones flew into the South’s airspace earlier this week. SEOUL—An incursion of North Korean drones into South Korea this week was a taunt by Pyongyang that Seoul should be wary of overreacting to, security analysts said, as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pushed the military to respond more aggressively. South Korea’s military scrambled jet fighters, attack helicopters and other warplanes but failed to shoot down any of the five North Korean drones that flew into South Korean airspace Monday. Mr. Yoon berated his defense minister over the response, during which one South Korean light-attack aircraft crashed, and ordered the military to respond to future drone incursions by sending two or three drones across the border for every North Korean drone that invades South Korean airspace.

☆ South Korean Military Apologizes for Inaction Over North’s Drone Incursion
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

South Korea’s military apologized for failing to shoot down North Korean drones that flew across the border, an incident that raised concerns about South Korea’s defenses amid the North’s growing nuclear and missile threats. On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk -yeol criticized the military’s response to the border intrusion and vowed to fast-track plans for a military unit specializing in drones. On Monday, five drones from North Korea flew into South Korea, prompting Seoul to scramble jet fighters and fire warning shots. The drones reportedly all returned to North Korea.

☆ China Sends Wave of Warplanes Near Taiwan in Response to U.S. ‘Provocations’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Joyu Wang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TAIPEI—China’s People’s Liberation Army dispatched a swarm of jet fighters and other military aircraft on sorties near Taiwan on Sunday in a move that Beijing said was a response to provocation by Washington and Taipei. A total of 71 Chinese warplanes were detected flying in the region surrounding Taiwan, with a few dozen crossing the median line of the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait that separates the island from mainland China, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. The ministry also said it detected seven Chinese naval vessels in waters near Taiwan on Sunday.

☆ China Sends Wave of Warplanes Near Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Joyu Wang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Japan to hike annual defence budget by a quarter to buy Tomahawks and other weapons
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Tim Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Issei Kato/Pool/File PhotoTOKYO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Japan on Friday said it will hike defence spending by more than a quarter next year including $1.6 billion to buy U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles that will be part of its biggest military build-up since World War Two. The budget, which lawmakers will approve before April, allocates 897 billion yen for weapons development, more than in the previous four years combined. Tokyo plans to begin deploying those new weapons in around three years, a Ministry of Defence official said at a briefing. Japan, which relinquished its right to wage war after its defeat in World War Two, plans to double defence outlays to 2% of gross domestic product within five years. To reinforce its air fighting capability, it also plans to buy 16 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 stealth fighters for 250 billion yen.

[1/4] Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto poses for a picture during an interview with Reuters, in Rome, Italy, December 16, 2022. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, a co-founder of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, said Rome would make a final decision on how much to invest in the multi-billion-dollar project after more details had been defined. Crosetto said there should be no bar on joining forces with the rival European programme, adding that the GCAP should also aim to find new partners, especially within Europe. Italy has never disclosed details of its shipments, but Crosetto confirmed that Kyiv had requested air-defence systems, including the Franco-Italian SAMP/T. He added that Italy was also open to suggestions for joint procurement by the EU Defence Agency.

Meeting Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi in Taipei on Friday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said she expected greater defence cooperation with Japan. "Japan is making a late start, it is like we are 200 metres behind in a 400-metre sprint," he added. China defence spending overtook Japan's at the turn of the century, and now has a military budget more than four times larger. Japan says it wants ship-launched U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles made by Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) to be part of its new deterrent force. To pay for the military build-up, Kishida's ruling bloc earlier on Friday said it will raise tobacco, corporate and disaster-reconstruction income taxes.

In the mid-1990s, revelations that Israel may have shared U.S. fighter technology with China led Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wisc., to sponsor an amendment banning the not-yet-in-service F-22 stealth fighter from being exported. Unfortunately, this contributed to a negative outcome for the U.S. as well as its potential foreign partners. It’s true some U.S. defense partners maintain significant partnerships with potential military adversaries or may use U.S. arms in objectionable ways. If that happens, it could become impossible to rebuild domestic fighter production capacity fast enough to respond to a crisis. But it’s good for U.S. national security when our allies and partners retain an independent defense technology base rather than allowing their indigenous industries to atrophy.

☆ After years of arguing, Congress is finally letting the US Air Force send some A-10 Warthogs to the boneyard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Thomas Novelly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The defense policy bill for 2023 will allow the US Air Force to retire 21 A-10 Warthogs. The Air Force has wanted to get rid A-10s for years, but Congress has blocked it from doing so. The Air Force has another 260 A-10s in service, but lawmakers may be more open to scrapping them. That Air National Guard wing previously flew earlier models of the F-16 until they were replaced — to much fanfare — with the Warthog back in 2010. Airmen reconfigure weapons on an A-10 during an exercise at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in November 2019.

☆ Japan, Britain and Italy to build jet fighter together
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Japan, Britain and Italy are merging their next-generation jet fighter projects in a ground-breaking partnership spanning Europe and Asia that is Japan’s first major industrial defense collaboration beyond the United States since World War II. Amid what it sees as deteriorating regional security, Japan this month will announce a military build up plan that is expected to double defense spending to about 2% of gross domestic product over five years. “It’s also good for our international reputation”The proposed jet fighter aircraft Tempest, shown during the Farnborough Airshow, in southern England in July. Britain also wants Japan to improve how it provides security clearances to contractors who will work on the aircraft, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. “The United States supports Japan’s security and defense cooperation with likeminded allies and partners, including with the United Kingdom and Italy,” the U.S. Department of Defense said in a joint statement with Japan’s Ministry of Defense.

TOKYO/LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Japan, Britain and Italy are merging their next-generation jet fighter projects in a ground-breaking partnership spanning Europe and Asia that is Japan's first major industrial defence collaboration beyond the United States since World War Two. Amid what it sees as deteriorating regional security, Japan this month will announce a military build up plan that is expected to double defence spending to about 2% of gross domestic product over five years. Britain also want Japan to improve how it provides security clearances to contractors who will work on the aircraft, sources with knowledge of the discussion told Reuters. The United States, which has pledged to defend all three countries through its membership of NATO and a separate security pact with Japan, also welcomed the joint Europe-Japan agreement. "The United States supports Japan's security and defence cooperation with likeminded allies and partners, including with the United Kingdom and Italy," the U.S. Department of Defense said in a joint statement with Japan's Ministry of Defense.

TOKYO/LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Japan, Britain and Italy are merging their next-generation jet fighter projects in a bridge between Europe and Asia that marks Japan's first major industrial defence collaboration beyond the United States since World War Two. Britain also wants Japan to improve how it provides security clearances to contractors, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. The two new platforms would compete head-on with each other and the United States in the global fighter market. "There is going to be a Battle Royal in the next 10-15 years in positioning the various players," said UK defence analyst Francis Tusa. The United States, which has pledged to defend all three countries through NATO and a separate security pact with Japan, welcomed the new Europe-Japan agreement.

An artist’s rendering of what the new jet fighter, to be developed by Japan, the U.K. and Italy, will look like. Japan, the U.K. and Italy said they would jointly develop a next-generation stealth jet fighter by 2035 that they hope will surpass the U.S.-made F-35 in some capabilities. The three U.S. allies described the project as complementary to American military programs, but if the project is successful they could look to market it to other countries amid growing global demand for jet fighters.

TOKYO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Japan, Britain and Italy will announce a groundbreaking agreement as early as next week to jointly develop a new advanced jet fighter, two sources with knowledge of the plan told Reuters. The push to merge the British led Tempest jet fighter project with Japan's F-X fighter programme was first reported by Reuters in July. It will be the first time that Japan has collaborated with countries beyond the United States on a major defence equipment project. The announcement will come before Japan releases a new national security strategy and military procurement plan around mid December, the sources said. Reporting by Tim Kelly Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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