By Agence France-Presse on Thursday, April 3rd, 2014

The America on Monday joined ally Japan in vowing to not recognize China’s declaration of an air defense zone over much of the East China Sea, a move that has sharply escalated tensions. China and Japan each summoned the other’s ambassador after Beijing said Saturday it had established an Air Defense Identification Zone — which might require aircraft to obey its orders — over a local featuring islands administered by Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has vowed no compromise on sovereignty issues, called on China to “restrain itself” over the move, which put Tokyo’s conservative government in rare... Read More »

By RIA Novosti on Monday, March 24th, 2014

China has tested its first stealth combat drone, state media said Friday, citing online photos of an aircraft resembling a shrunken US B2 bomber and hailing the development toward Western-level technology. The test flight of the “Sharp Sword” unmanned aircraft is another step in China’s years-long military build-up, with its defence spending now the second one highest on this planet and growing by double-digit percentages once a year. It comes weeks after Tokyo said a drone had flown near East China Sea islands claimed by both it and Beijing, ratcheting tensions between the rivals up another notch. “The successful flight... Read More »

After a dozen years of continuing combat in Southwest Asia, the term “warfighter” is in peril of being devalued by our political culture. In our eagerness to honor all people who serve, we make it sound like everybody who dons an army uniform is subject to the similar risks, and burdened by a similar sacrifices. It isn’t so. Many so-called warfighters have never deployed to combat zones, and among individuals who have the hazards vary greatly. The toughest missions are performed by a relative handful of military personnel consisting of Army Rangers and Navy SEAL teams who routinely risk their... Read More »