military exercises

NATO is planning to stage its largest war games exercise since the end of the Cold War to prepare for a possible invasion from Russia.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China on Tuesday confirmed it has been conducting joint patrols with Russia near the Alaskan coast.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China sent several large formations of combat aircraft toward Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

U.S. and Philippine pilots launched a joint training exercise called Cope Thunder on Monday, flying together for the first time in over 30 years as a Cold War-era bilateral fighter training program was renewed in the face of Chinese aggression.

The people of Taiwan, both active military and civilians, are rushing to buy an unofficial air force patch that depicts a Formosan black bear punching Winnie-the-Pooh in the face.

China responded to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen by conducting three days of aggressive military drills off the coast of Taiwan over the weekend. 

North Korean state media on Monday said dictator Kim Jong-un personally oversaw drills on Saturday and Sunday that simulated his regime’s “war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability,” meaning a nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea. The drill included the troubling launch of solid-fueled ballistic missile from a hidden underground silo.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday that China’s temper-tantrum military exercises after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island were actually a boon to the Taiwanese military, as constantly scrambling to intercept Chinese forces helped Taiwanese aviators hone their flight skills.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry delivered a report to the legislature on Thursday that said China’s belligerent military exercises around the island included “combat drills to carry out simulated attacks on U.S. ships that enter into the first island chain.”

The Taiwanese military conducted live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday, simulating a stiff defense against the sort of attack China has been simulating with its own live-fire drills ever since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island last week.

The navies of Iran, China, and Russia launched a three-day joint maritime drill on Friday in the northern Indian Ocean designed to signal a “common future” between the three nations, Iranian Rear Admiral Mostafa Tajoldini told Iranian state television.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko met in Moscow on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin to put the finishing touches on a 28-point plan that will more tightly integrate Belarus with Russia.

North Korea launched two cruise missiles from its western coast on Sunday, marking Pyongyang’s first missile test since April 2020.

China announced on Tuesday that it will hold military exercises in the South China Sea this week, providing few details of the operation beyond roughly where it will be staged. An American carrier battle group is currently conducting a freedom of navigation patrol in the area. Meanwhile, Taiwan held an air defense exercise after a record number of menacing Chinese military incursions into its air defense zone over the weekend.

On the eve of a major joint military exercise between the U.S. and Southeast Asian nations, the U.S. State Department accused China of deliberately blocking access to trillions of dollars in oil and natural gas resources that rightly belong to other nations.

Two U.S. defense officials told NBC News on Friday that Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, the two annual large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea, will no longer be held. President Donald Trump has complained about the high cost of the exercises and reportedly believes ending them will reduce tensions with North Korea.

3,200 Chinese troops are expected to join about 300,000 Russians for the war games, with commensurate support from ground vehicles, aircraft, and naval forces.

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis announced on Tuesday the United States will resume military drills on the Korean Peninsula, ending a suspension of exercises that formally began after President Donald Trump met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in June.

A Chinese government official said on Friday that the United States should not have “official contact in any form” or maintain military relations with Taiwan. This demand was issued two days after the U.S. Senate passed a bill calling for increased high-level military and civilian government contacts with Taiwan.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that the annual “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” joint military exercise with U.S. troops has been suspended as part of ongoing negotiations with North Korea.

Representatives of both Koreas began preliminary discussions Thursday on the potential denuclearization of Panmunjom, the “peace village” on the Korean border that hosted the first meeting between two Korean heads of state.

President Donald Trump’s announcement that joint U.S. military exercises with South Korea will be suspended as part of ongoing negotiations with North Korea was met with consternation in Seoul and Tokyo, along with some confusion in Washington.

Taiwan’s air force scrambled several aircraft on Friday to shadow a pair of Chinese H-6 heavy bombers that flew around the island in one of the Chinese military’s increasingly frequent “training missions.”

The Pentagon denied rumors this week that the United States is planning to scale back scheduled joint military exercises with South Korea ahead of the June 12 meeting between American President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

South Korea scrambled fighter jets on Monday in response to a provocative Chinese aircraft exercise over the Sea of Japan. At two points during the exercise, the Chinese planes – including two fighters, two bombers, and a recon plane – penetrated South Korea’s air defense identification zone.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry filed a report to lawmakers on Friday that judged that North Korea’s new missile has the range capability to reach Washington, DC. Satellite imagery reveals the North Koreans may be preparing to launch another missile from the same site.

In a state media broadcast Wednesday, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro alleged that “at least one million” civilians participated in an obstacle course organized by the government and branded “Bolivarian Sovereignty Exercises 2017,” meant to train civilians for war with America.

TEL AVIV – The IDF conducted a surprise drill this week simulating a large-scale attack from Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah. called up thousands of soldiers from its Northern Command conscript divisions Sunday to conduct a surprise military exercise on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

The Israeli air force is among four other nations participating in a joint exercise that began yesterday in Greece. The Iniohos 2017 exercise, which is being hosted at Greece’s Andravida Air Base, will be a “complex exercise” according to the Greek Air Force and will include fighter planes from the US, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Italy and Greece.