Latest news with #militarybuildup
Reuters
14-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Berlin pledges decision on Patriots for Kyiv within 'days or weeks'
WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - Berlin and Washington will take a decision about sending two U.S.-made Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv within days or weeks, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday after talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Germany has offered to buy U.S. Patriot units to supply them to Ukraine which has suffered some of the heaviest Russian attacks of the war over the past weeks. Speaking in Washington, Pistorius said talks would continue at the working level to finalize details, including the number of launchers and missiles that might be included in the agreement. With a deal in place, the first Patriot unit could be sent to Ukraine within months, he said. He declined to comment on whether the talks also addressed offensive weapons for Kyiv. Germany has donated three of its own Patriot units to Kyiv, retaining nine systems - much fewer than the 36 Patriot batteries it had at the height of the Cold War. Pistorius received a warm welcome in Washington, reflecting Germany's evolving role as a major contributor to NATO's largest military buildup since the Cold War after being a laggard in defence spending for decades. As European officials fret over a possible future attack from Russia and brace for a drawdown of U.S. forces, Germany loosened its constitutional debt brake to meet NATO's new core military spending target of 3.5% of national output by 2029. The move will boost German defence spending to 162 billion euros ($189 billion) in 2029 from 95 billion euros in the draft budget for 2025. Pistorius said Berlin had sent a letter of request to Washington for the purchase of U.S. Typhon missile launchers, with a decision on whether to place an order to be taken later. He described the system as a potential stop-gap solution while European partners work to develop their own land-based long-range weapons. "Together with Great Britain and other partners, we are developing land-based long-range systems, but this will take 7 to 10 years," Pistorius told reporters. "This is why we need a stop-gap solution." Capable of launching missiles with a range of some 2,000 km(1,243 miles), Typhon could bridge the gap between the deployment of U.S. long-range missiles to Germany, scheduled from 2026, until the development of European ground-launched long-range weapons, according to the minister. Pistorius did not manage to get clarity, however, on whether Washington remains committed to temporarily deploying long-range missiles to Germany from 2026, as agreed under former President Joe Biden. "I am very confident that last year's agreement is still valid, but we are still waiting for a final decision," he noted, adding the deployment was being reviewed at the moment. The deployment would include systems such as Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,800 km (1,118 miles) and the developmental hypersonic weapon Dark Eagle with a range of around 3,000 km. Russia has criticised the plans as a serious threat to its national security and dismissed NATO concerns that it could attack an alliance member. Another key issue in Pistorius' talks in Washington was an ongoing review of the U.S. force posture worldwide that could lead to troop cuts in Europe where around 80,000 U.S. soldiers serve, including some 40,000 in Germany. European allies have been urging Washington to ensure any drawdown is coordinated to prevent capability gaps that might leave NATO members vulnerable to Russian aggression. Pistorius said Hegseth had agreed to a coordinated and transparent approach should the U.S. actually pull troops from the continent. ($1 = 0.8555 euros)
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Japan urges China to stop flying fighter jets too close to Japanese military aircraft
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has demanded China stop flying its fighter jets abnormally close to Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft, which it said was happening repeatedly and could cause a collision. Japan's Defense Ministry said a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber flew as close to 30 meters (98 feet) to a YS-11EB electronic-intelligence aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on Wednesday and Thursday. The ministry said it occurred outside Japanese airspace over the East China Sea and caused no damage to the Japanese side. China had no immediate comment on the latest incident. Previously, Beijing has alleged Japan flew close to its aircraft and was spying on China's ordinary military activity and demanded Japan stop its actions. Japan is concerned about China's acceleration of its military buildup, especially in Japan's southwestern areas. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Thursday that its vice minister Takehiro Funakoshi expressed 'serious concern' to Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao and strongly requested Beijing to stop the activity that could 'provoke accidental collisions' and strongly urged China to ensure that similar actions are not repeated. The countries traded accusations over similar close encounters last month. Japan said a Chinese combat aircraft flew extremely close to Japanese navy P-3C surveillance aircraft over the Pacific Ocean, where two Chinese aircraft carrier s were seen operating together for the first time.
Al Arabiya
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Japan Urges China to Stop Flying Fighter Jets Too Close to Japanese Military Aircraft
Japan has demanded China stop flying its fighter jets abnormally close to Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft, which it said was happening repeatedly and could cause a collision. Japan's Defense Ministry said a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber flew as close to 30 meters (98 feet) to a YS-11EB electronic-intelligence aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on Wednesday and Thursday. The ministry said it occurred outside Japanese airspace over the East China Sea and caused no damage to the Japanese side. China had no immediate comment on the latest incident. Previously, Beijing has alleged Japan flew close to its aircraft and was spying on China's ordinary military activity and demanded Japan stop its actions. Japan is concerned about China's acceleration of its military buildup, especially in Japan's southwestern areas. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Thursday that its vice minister Takehiro Funakoshi expressed serious concern to Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao and strongly requested Beijing to stop the activity that could provoke accidental collisions and strongly urged China to ensure that similar actions are not repeated. The countries traded accusations over similar close encounters last month. Japan said a Chinese combat aircraft flew extremely close to Japanese navy P-3C surveillance aircraft over the Pacific Ocean where two Chinese aircraft carriers were seen operating together for the first time.
Associated Press
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Japan urges China to stop flying fighter jets too close to Japanese military aircraft
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has demanded China stop flying its fighter jets abnormally close to Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft, which it said was happening repeatedly and could cause a collision. Japan's Defense Ministry said a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber flew as close to 30 meters (98 feet) to a YS-11EB electronic-intelligence aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on Wednesday and Thursday. The ministry said it occurred outside Japanese airspace over the East China Sea and caused no damage to the Japanese side. China had no immediate comment on the latest incident. Previously, Beijing has alleged Japan flew close to its aircraft and was spying on China's ordinary military activity and demanded Japan stop its actions. Japan is concerned about China's acceleration of its military buildup, especially in Japan's southwestern areas. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Thursday that its vice minister Takehiro Funakoshi expressed 'serious concern' to Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao and strongly requested Beijing to stop the activity that could 'provoke accidental collisions' and strongly urged China to ensure that similar actions are not repeated. The countries traded accusations over similar close encounters last month. Japan said a Chinese combat aircraft flew extremely close to Japanese navy P-3C surveillance aircraft over the Pacific Ocean, where two Chinese aircraft carrier s were seen operating together for the first time.
Al Arabiya
09-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
Japan Starts Deploying Osprey Fleet at a New Base to Beef Up Southwestern Defense
The Japanese army on Wednesday began deploying its fleet of V-22 Ospreys on a newly opened permanent base in southwestern Japan–the country's latest move to beef up its defense amid growing tension in the region. The first of the fleet of 17 Ospreys safely arrived at its new home base of Camp Saga, Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force said Wednesday. The move is part of Japan's accelerating military buildup, especially in the southwest in recent years, as a deterrence to China's increasingly assertive maritime actions in the area. The tilt-rotor aircraft have been temporarily based at Camp Kisarazu near Tokyo since 2020 during construction of the base and other necessary facilities. The rest of the fleet is scheduled to complete its relocation in mid-August, the JGSDF officials said. With the full permanent deployment at Camp Saga, Japan plans to operate the Ospreys more closely with the country's amphibious rapid deployment brigade at Ainoura in the nearby naval town of Sasebo as part of the ongoing plan to reinforce the defense of southwestern remote islands, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters Tuesday. 'The security environment surrounding Japan has been increasingly severe, and it is our pressing task to strengthen our island defense capabilities,' he said. Camp Saga ground forces also work with 50 helicopters based at another nearby camp, Metabaru, as well as with air force and navy personnel based in the area. The use of the V-22 remains controversial in Japan, especially in southern Japan, due to a series of accidents involving the aircraft. In November 2023, a US Air Force Osprey crashed off Japan's southern coast, killing eight people. In October 2024, a Japanese army V-22 Osprey tilted and hit the ground while attempting to take off during a joint exercise with the US military, and an investigation has found human error was the cause.
