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John Currin

15 years in Royal New Zealand Navy

Australia fast-tracks its hunt for replacement frigates

Australia plans to retire a second Anzac-class frigate in 2026, leaving six in service until the first general-purpose frigate arrives in 2030. (Gordon Arthur/Staff)

By Gordon Arthur

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Australia has approached several foreign shipbuilders in an urgent quest to procure general-purpose frigates under Project Sea 3000, the Defence Department told Defense News.

The government sent requests for information to German, Japanese, South Korean and Spanish shipbuilders on May 24, the department said. However, a spokesperson for the department declined to provide further details “while the evaluation is underway, due to [the] commercial, procurement and probity process.”

A government review unveiled in February, titled “Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet,” recommended 11 general-purpose frigates replace eight existing Anzac-class frigates. To speed up the process, the first three would undergo construction overseas and the remainder in Western Australia.

The review pinpointed Germany’s MEKO A-200, Japan’s version 30FFM, South Korea’s FFX from the second and third batches, and Spain’s Alfa 3000 as contenders. It cites the two FFX batches as a single platform type, though it’s unclear why.

The shipbuilders were reportedly given four weeks to respond to the initial request, plus another three weeks to explain how follow-on frigates can be built in Australia.

Selection is expected to occur next year, with commissioning of the first overseas-built ship to take place in 2030. The fourth through sixth vessels, built in Australia, are to have an identical baseline. No decision has been made on the design of the seventh through eleventh frigates.

The Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet will feature a total of nine hulls in 2026, underscoring the looming capability gap before new frigates start arriving.

Shipbuilders approached by Defense News declined to go into detail regarding Australia’s procurement effort. For example, German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems confirmed it “participated in the tender” but added that “we’ll not comment on further details of the ongoing process.”

Ongoing construction of six Ulsan-class FFX-III vessels for the South Korean Navy is split between Hyundai Heavy Industries, SK Oceanplant and Hanwha Ocean. The construction of eight Daegu-class FFX-II ships concluded last year. A Hyundai Heavy Industries spokesperson confirmed it received the request for information.

“HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has great competitiveness with its rich experience in warship building, such as [research and development] and first ship of the latest Ulsan-class frigate,” the spokesperson said. “This will be an opportunity for HHI to show how they approach warship orders that fit the situation of each country.”

In reference to frigate designs, Rear Adm. Stephen Hughes, Australia’s head of naval capabilities, told the Combined Naval Event conference in the U.K. on May 23 that the country is using existing designs in order to quicken the introduction of the vessels into the fleet.

However, Australian frigates identical to the aforementioned parent ships — the exemplars have been built for Egypt, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea — raises potential difficulties because some of their weapons, sensors and systems were chosen by the original customers and could be unfamiliar to the Royal Australian Navy. Notably, Saab’s 9LV combat management system, which the Australian service uses across its fleet, isn’t incorporated into those ships. Likewise, the Australian-made CEA Technologies radars are also excluded.

“Whatever we choose, whatever standard we go with, we’re going to adopt that. We’re going to have discipline around that capability,” Hughes said, describing the acquisition process as “an opportunity, not a risk.”

“The risk is we don’t choose wisely and we don’t understand the designs.”

About Gordon Arthur

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

HMS Nelson (pennant number: 28) was the name ship of her class of two battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1920s.

They were the first battleships built to meet the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Entering service in 1927, the ship spent her peacetime career with the Atlantic and Home Fleets, usually as the fleet flagship. During the early stages of Second World War, she searched for German commerce raiders, missed participating in the Norwegian Campaign after she was badly damaged by a mine in late 1939, and escorted convoys in the Atlantic Ocean.

In mid-1941 Nelson escorted several convoys to Malta before being torpedoed in September. After repairs she resumed doing so before supporting the British invasion of French Algeria during Operation Torch in late 1942. The ship covered the invasions of Sicily (Operation Husky) and Italy (Operation Avalanche) in mid-1943 while bombarding coastal defences during Operation Baytown. During the Normandy landings in June 1944, Nelson provided naval gunfire support before she struck a mine and spent the rest of the year under repair. The ship was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in mid-1945 and returned home a few months after the Japanese surrender in September to serve as the flagship of the Home Fleet. She became a training ship in early 1946 and was reduced to reserve in late 1947. Nelson was scrapped two years later after being used as a target for bomb tests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nelson_(28)

The Army-Navy Gaza aid pier is back in the beach

By Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press and Tara Copp, AP

The U.S. military-built pier designed to carry badly needed aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the beach in the besieged territory after a section broke apart in storms and rough seas, and food and other supplies will begin to flow soon, U.S. Central Command announced Friday.

The section that connects to the beach in Gaza, the causeway, was rebuilt nearly two weeks after heavy storms damaged it and abruptly halted what had already been a troubled delivery route.

“Earlier this morning in Gaza, U.S. forces successfully attached the temporary pier to the Gaza beach,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters by phone Friday. “We expect to resume delivery of humanitarian assistance from the sea in the coming days.”

Cooper said operations at the reconnected pier will be ramped up soon with a goal to get 1 million pounds of food and other supplies moving through the pier into Gaza every two days.

The pier was only operational for a week before a storm broke it apart, and had initially struggled to reach delivery goals. Weather was a factor, and early efforts to get aid from the pier into Gaza were disrupted as civilians desperate for food stormed the trucks that aid agencies were using to transport the food to the warehouses for distribution.

However before it broke apart the pier had been gradually increasing aid movement each day. Cooper said Friday that the lessons learned from that initial week of operations made him confident higher levels of aid throughout could be attained now.

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By Geoff Ziezulewicz

A large section of the causeway broke apart May 25 as heavy winds and high seas hit the area, and four Army vessels operating there went aground, injuring three service members, including one who remains in critical condition. The damage was the latest stumbling block in what has been a persistent struggle to get food to starving Palestinians during the nearly eight-month-old Israel-Hamas war.

The maritime route for a limited time had been an additional way to help get more aid into Gaza because the Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah has made it difficult, if not impossible at times, to get anything through land routes that are far more productive. Israel’s Rafah military operations and military strikes in northern Gaza had also temporarily halted U.S. airdrops of food.

Cooper said Friday the U.S. also expects to resume those airdrops in the coming days.

President Joe Biden’s administration has said from the start that the pier wasn’t meant to be a total solution and that any amount of aid helps.

After the May 25 storm damage to the causeway, large sections were disconnected and moved to the Israeli port for repairs. In addition, two of the U.S. Army boats that went aground during the same bad weather near Ashkelon in Israel have been freed.

Two other Army boats two beached onto the Gaza shoreline took on a lot of water and sand and the Israeli Navy has been helping with the repairs, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said.

Biden announced his plan for the U.S. military to build a pier during his State of the Union address in early March, and the military said it would take about 60 days to get it installed and operational. The initial cost was estimated at $320 million, but Singh said earlier this week that the price had dropped to $230 million, due to contributions from Britain and because the cost of contracting trucks and other equipment was less than expected.

It took a bit longer than the planned two months for installation, with the first trucks carrying aid for the Gaza Strip rolling down the pier on May 17. Just a day later, crowds overran a convoy of trucks as they headed into Gaza, stripping the cargo from 11 of the 16 vehicles before they reached a U.N. warehouse.

The next day, as officials altered the travel routes of the convoys, aid finally began reaching people in need. More than 1,100 tons of aid were delivered before the causeway broke apart in the storm, Pentagon officials said.

About Tara Copp, AP

Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.

South Korea, Japan, and the United States to Hold ‘Freedom Edge’ Joint Multi-Domain Exercise

A formation of ships from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Republic of Korea Navy maneuver in the Pacific Ocean during a trilateral exercise (TRILATEX). TRILATEX is intended to increase interoperability, operational proficiency and readiness between partnering nations. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Keith W. DeVinney/Released)

South Korea, Japan, And The United States To Hold ‘Freedom Edge’ Joint Multi-Domain Exercise

During the Shangri-La Dialogue 2024 held in Singapore from May 31st to June 2nd, the Defense chief of the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the United States agreed to hold joint multi-domain exercises this coming summer under the name ‘Freedom Edge’.

Eunhyuk Cha  05 Jun 2024

On June 2nd, the Defense Chiefs of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Japan, and the United States held a trilateral meeting during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2024 in Singapore. During this meeting, the three countries released a joint statement announcing they will conduct a tri-nation exercise named “Freedom Edge” this summer. This exercise will involve simultaneous drills in various domains, including surface, underwater, air, and cyber warfare. As the first joint combined exercise that these three nations will conduct together, it demonstrates the growing cooperation between them and the improved relationship between South Korea and Japan.

The name of this new exercise, “Freedom Edge,” is a combination of two existing exercises: “Freedom Shield” (FS), an annual joint exercise conducted by South Korea and the United States simulating a North Korean invasion, and “Keen Edge,” a joint exercise conducted by the United States and Japan to respond to regional threats, including those from North Korea. The exact date and location of the “Freedom Edge” exercise have not been decided yet, but a local news outlet reported that the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) will take part in the upcoming exercise before its scheduled turnover with the USS George Washington (CVN 73).

Freedom Edge
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and ROK Defense Minister Won-sik Shin at the trilateral meeting (ROK MND Photo)

The three Defense Chiefs agreed to conduct the “Trilateral Tabletop Exercise” (TTX) to discuss effective deterrence and response measures for various threats on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region. Additionally, to institutionalize trilateral security cooperation, including high-level consultations, information sharing, trilateral exercises, and defense exchanges, they decided to establish the “Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework” by the end of the year.

Through this meeting, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to trilateral security cooperation to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and to achieve the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Prior to the trilateral meeting, the Defense Chiefs of the Republic of Korea and Japan held a bilateral meeting on June 1st and reached an agreement on measures to prevent the recurrence of the 2018 patrol aircraft dispute that was considered a major obstacle to strengthening trilateral military cooperation among the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Japan. The measures to prevent the recurrence of the dispute included the prioritization of ten radio communication frequencies to ensure smooth communication between the naval vessels and aircraft of both nations during encounters at sea.

In a related development, with North Korea’s ever-growing nuclear capabilities, illegal arms trade, constant threats of sending balloons filled with waste and unidentified objects over the DMZ, and GPS disruptions, the Korean government has decided to suspend the ‘September 19th Military Agreement,’ which bans all hostile acts on the ground, sea, and air between the two Koreas. By officially strengthening military cooperation against the North Korean threat through combined military exercises, the security partners surrounding the Korean Peninsula will affirm their dedication to ensuring stability and peace in East Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

The 53rd iteration of NATO’s Baltic Operations series of exercises is set to be the alliance’s largest amid the inclusion of new members and security concerns with Russia.

USS Paul Ignatius (DDG -117), departs Kiel, Germany following exercise Baltic Operations 2023 (BALTOPS 23), June 19, 2023. US Navy Photo


Thirty warships from 20 nations have assembled over the past week at Klaipėda in Lithuania in preparation for NATO’s premier annual naval exercise in the Baltic Sea. Between June 7-20, four amphibious task groups and multinational task units composed of more than 50 vessels, 25 aircraft and 9,000 personnel from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States will participate in various maritime drills around the region.

Activities planned include antisubmarine warfare, gunnery drills, amphibious operations, mine clearing and medical responses.

“Year over year, BALTOPS delivers credible results in building our collective defense capability and the strength, agility and cohesion of the alliance,” Vice Admiral Thomas Ishee, commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet and Naval Striking Support Forces NATO, told reporters in a pre-sail conference at Klaipėda.

Since its inception in 1971, the exercise has increased in both size and complexity as NATO has accepted new members in the Baltics and faced a renewed threat from the east. BALTOPS 2024 will bring the largest assembly of amphibious and mine-hunting forces in the exercise’s history, according to a U.S. Navy release.

“If anything that Russia’s brutal aggression in Ukraine has shown us is that you have to be able to adapt to the environment in combat, so that’s a focus for me and both my U.S. command and NATO command,” said Ishee.

The 6th Fleet commander highlighted that Russia was still a capable adversary, citing its “significant capabilities” in the maritime domain, including antiaccess and area denial. From Kaliningrad, an enclave in the NATO Baltics, the Russian Baltic Fleet is stationed alongside numerous surface-to-air missiles and antiship systems.

While Sweden has participated in the exercise since the 1990s, 2024’s iteration will be the first to include the previously neutral country as a fully fledged NATO member. Stockholm previously committed to join the military alliance alongside Finland in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, the pressing challenges of Russian naval forces and what Sweden claims to be a fleet of merchant vessels equipped with surveillance equipment still remains.

In line with NATO’s collective defense principle, Ishee also stressed that Russian capabilities “are something that we [NATO] have to be concerned with as we work to defend all of the alliance, now including Finland and Sweden, which have a lot of the coastline in the Baltic Sea.”

Maritime lessons from the war in Ukraine were acknowledged by Ishee, who told reporters “We are very much aware of what’s going on in the Black Sea in the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

NATO’s new warfighting plans for the defense of the Euro-Atlantic Area will also be put into practice during the exercise.

Another first for this year’s BALTOPS will be the deployment of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command-assigned naval forces, according to a NATO press release. The specific assets being deployed from the combatant command were not specified.

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NATO

Royal Navy warship deployed to protect trade routes

HMS Duncan will replace HMS Diamond in the Middle East

Curtis Lancaster, BBC News

A Royal Navy warship, HMS Duncan, has deployed on a mission to protect international trade routes in the Middle East.

The vessel set off from Portsmouth on Sunday and headed towards the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

It will replace HMS Diamond, which has been protecting the region since before Christmas and which in April shot down a missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

The Royal Navy said 200 men and women have worked to make HMS Duncan ready to deploy.

‘Our people will succeed’

Commanding Officer, Cdr Dan Lee, said: “I am immensely proud of the work the ship’s company have done to ready HMS Duncan for this important deployment.”

He said the Type 45 destroyer will be ready to work around the clock to “protect trade routes from Houthi attacks”.

“We have spent the past week readying the ship and saying our farewells to our families and loved ones who turned out to wave us off from Round Tower in Portsmouth.”

Cdr Lee added: “Our people will succeed on operations and support stability where tasked.”

LPhot Belinda Alker HMS Diamond being watched by people in Portsmouth as it sets sail for the Middle East
HMS Duncan set off from Portsmouth on Sunday bound for the Middle East

The Duncan spent five months leading a NATO task group in the Mediterranean Sea last year.

It has more than 60 new members of the crew for the latest deployment.

Among them is Able Rating 18-year-old Charles Henderson, a seaman on his first ship and first deployment.

He said: “I am immensely excited to be deploying but I’m highly focused on the operations ahead and ready to put all my training into practice.”

The ship will now carry out training in the Mediterranean before it sails through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea and the coast of Yemen.

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French Charles De Gaulle Carrier Strike Group Finishes Mediterranean Deployment

240502-N-MW930-1066 MEDITERRANEAN SEA (May 2, 2024) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and the French aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) participate in a photo exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, May 2. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S., allied and partnered interests. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eric Edinger/Released)

DZIRHAN MAHADZIR – MAY 30, 2024 7:04 PM

The French Charles De Gaulle Carrier Strike Group wrapped up its Mission Akila deployment to the Mediterranean on Sunday, according to a French Navy news release.

Along with FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) and its embarked air wing of 18 Rafale M fighters, two E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning and Control and two Dauphin helicopters, the French CSG included French frigates FS Chevalier Paul (D621) and FS Provence (D652), Portuguese frigate NRP Bartolomeu Dias (F333), Italian frigate ITS Carabiniere (F593), Greek frigate HS Kountouriotis (F462), French nuclear attack submarine SNA Émeraude (S604) and French and fleet oiler BRF Jacques Chevallier (A725).

Charles De Gaulle and several of its escorts left Toulon on April 22 to begin the deployment. The CSG participated in NATO exercise Neptune Strike 24-1 from April 26 through May 10, which saw the French CSG go under NATO operational control for the first time.

The French CSG subsequently took part in the Italian-French naval exercise Mare Aperto 24/Polaris. Mare Aperto 24 is a multinational exercise conducted by the Italian Navy that began on May 3. The drills became the hybrid Mar Aperto 24/Polaris on May 16 with the participation of the French CSG.

The French Navy first conducted its Polaris exercise in 2021. The drills were built on the concept of a free play force-on-force combat exercise and this year combined it with Mare Aperto for a similar force-on-force drill. The French CSG formed the red force and faced an opposing blue force CSG led by Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (550), which carried a mixed air wing of F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters fighters and AV-8B Harrier jets.

“Among the innovations this year, I would like to highlight the connection between Mare Aperto and the Polaris exercise of the French Navy, which in the hottest phase will lead to the confrontation between the attack groups of the Cavour and Charles de Gaulle aircraft carriers,” Vice Adm. Vice Aurelio De Carolis, the commander-in-chief of the Italian Navy, said in a news release about the exercise.

French amphibious assault ship FS Dixmude (L9015), along with embarked French amphibious troops and helicopters, joined the blue force as part of the Italian amphibious task group. An earlier phase of Mar Aperto 24 saw the Spanish Navy amphibious transport dock ESPS Galicia (L-51), with embarked Spanish Marines and frigate ESPS Reina Sofía (F-84), integrate with Italian Navy amphibious transport docks ITS San Giorgio (L9892) and ITS San Marco (L9893). Both Italian amphibs carried embarked Italian marine units to carry out the amphibious drills. The forces performed various other drills, including at-sea tactical drills and replenishment at-sea and mine hunting exercises, during Mar Aperto 24.

Fifty surface ships, six submarines, 63 aircraft, 300 amphibious vehicles and over 10,000 personnel took part in the exercise, according to an Italian Ministry of Defense news release issued at the conclusion of Mar Aperto 24. Of the 10,000 personnel, 3,600 were from Italy, 2,700 were from France, 1,400 were from Spain and the remainder came from 26 other countries, including 11 NATO nations.

The French CSG traveled more than 10,000 nautical miles for the deployment, according to the French Navy release about Akila. Charles De Gaulle carried out more than 650 catapults of Rafale fighters and E-2C Hawkeyes for a total of 1000 hours of flight. The CSG’s five helicopters flew 200 times, with a total of 300 hours of flight, and the Atlantique 2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, stationed in Souda, Crete, recorded 12 missions for 90 hours of flight.

During the entire Akila deployment, the French CSG carried out 10 air defense exercises, five anti-submarine warfare drills, two anti-ship warfare exercises and four shooting drills. The French CSG also performed two Aster missile launches, one each from the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle and frigate Chevalier Paul.

Jacques Chevallier replenished a total of 35 French and allied ships during the deployment, according to the release. The CSG also experimented with resupplying and siloing Aster missiles at sea and transferring of materials via drones between the French CSG escorts.

Last remaining Blackburn Beverley saved from scrapheap and given new home

30th May 2024 at 11:32am

Blackburn Beverley XB259 "Big Bev" is being transported to her new home in pieces (Picture: Solway Aviation Museum)
Blackburn Beverley XB259 ‘Big Bev’ is being transported to her new home in pieces (Picture: Solway Aviation Museum)

The last remaining Blackburn Beverley in the world has been saved from the scrapheap and is being transferred to her new home in Cumbria.

RAF transport aircraft XB259, affectionately known as Big Bev, is being taken apart for the journey to the Solway Aviation Museum near Carlisle Lake District Airport.

Big Bev, who had been sitting at Fort Paull in Hull, is the first production Beverley to have been built and is the last of the original 49 that were ever made.

Big Bev was sold at auction in September 2020 and then partly dismantled. She was acquired by the Solway Aviation Museum earlier this year following a JustGiving appeal.

It had been feared she might be scrapped should she fail to find a buyer, but the museum was able to save the historic aircraft after receiving more than £70,000 in donations to cover the cost of further dismantling work then transporting Big Bev to Cumbria.

Chairman Dougie Kerr told Forces News the museum was hoping to raise a total of £100,000, which would let staff carry out restoration work, repaint the aircraft and put her on permanent display – a project that could take around two years.

Big Bev's control surfaces have been removed ahead of her restoration (Picture: Solway Aviation Museum)
Big Bev’s control surfaces have been removed ahead of her restoration (Picture: Solway Aviation Museum)

XB259 is being disassembled and transported to Cumbria by road, with the whole aircraft expected to have reached her new home by the end of June.

Mr Kerr said the aircraft is in fairly complete condition and will be repainted in silver with an orange nose rather than the overseas scheme of light stone and dark earth that she currently wears.

When complete, visitors will be able to go inside the transport aircraft to get a better idea of her huge size and carrying capacity.

Watch: Last remaining Blackburn Beverley up for auction

The Blackburn Beverley was a large transport aircraft, being designed for carrying large and bulky payloads and landing on rough or damaged runways, and even fields or dirt strips. 

Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Freer, who served in Singapore and Malaysia in the 1960s, recognised the capability offered by this ungainly looking aircraft, describing it as “like something out of the Ark, but it was a superb supply dropper”.

Anyone who would like to support Solway Aviation Museum’s preservation effort can donate via its JustGiving page.

Sailors watch as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) sails alongside amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA-7) prior to a photo exercise for Valiant Shield 2022 on June 12, 2022. US Navy Photo

220612-N-IL330-1219 (PHILIPPINE SEA) – Sailors watch as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) sails alongside amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA 7) prior to a photo exercise for Valiant Shield 2022, June 12, 2022. Exercises like VS 22 allow forces across the Indo-Pacific the opportunity to integrate Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Airforce, Space Force, to train in precise, lethal, and overwhelming multi access, multi domain, effects that demonstrate the strength and versatility of the joint force. Tripoli is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Austyn Riley)

The Japan Self-Defense Forces will participate for the first time in the U.S. military’s Valiant Shield exercise, with part of the exercise taking place in Japan, said Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara on Friday. Meanwhile, China continues its Joint Sword-2024A exercise around Taiwan, which is scheduled to wrap up on Friday.
The exercise runs from June 7 to 18 and includes various tactical training exercises, mainly in the maritime airspace around Japan and at JSDF facilities, including Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Hachinohe Air Base, Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) Matsushima Air Base, and Iwo Jima. “As the security environment surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe, I believe it is highly significant for the Self-Defense Forces to participate in this exercise to strengthen our joint operational capabilities and the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance, as well as to expand our partnership with like-minded countries,” said Kihara.

In a Friday release, the Joint Staff Office (JSO) of Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) said that Valiant Shield 2024 would take place mainly in five areas; JSDF facilities, U.S. military facilities and areas in Japan, the sea and airspace surrounding Japan, the sea area extending from Japan to the Philippines, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and the sea and airspace surrounding the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau. The JSO also stated that multiple “like-minded” countries would participate in the exercise but the participation would be in areas outside of Japan.

Valiant Shield is a multinational, biennial field training exercise (FTX) with a focus on integrating joint training among U.S. and partner-nations forces in relation to current operational plans, and normally takes place around Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau. The U.S. military will perform a live-fire test of its prototype for a joint-fires network during this year’s iteration of the exercise.

Graphic of a People’s Liberation Army costal rocket forces as part of the Joint Sword-2024A exercise. PLA Graphic

During the press conference, Kihara was asked about China’s Joint Sword-2024A exercise around Taiwan but declined to comment specifically on the exercise, though he stated the MOD was watching developments there “with great interest” and will take all possible measures to conduct surveillance activities in the sea and airspace surrounding Japan. He reiterated that Japan’s consistent position is that it expects the issues surrounding Taiwan to be resolved peacefully through dialogue.

In a video press reply on Friday to questions on the Joint Sword-2024A exercise, China Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Snr. Col. Wu Qian stated that the Eastern Theater Command of the PLA organized its army, navy, air force, rocket force and other forces to conduct joint exercises around Taiwan to test the troops’ actual combat capabilities, “this action is aimed at combating the arrogance of ‘Taiwan independence’ and deterring external interference and intervention,” said Wu.

Wu condemned Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying that Lai, as soon as he took office, seriously challenged the one-China principle, blatantly sold the two-state theory, and attempted to seek independence through force and through foreign forces and pushed Taiwan compatriots into a dangerous situation of war. “This is completely playing with fire, and those who play with fire will get burned,” he warned.

He reiterated that Taiwan was part of China and the resolution of the Taiwan issue was for the people of China, and that the PLA defends national sovereignty and territorial integrity with practical actions. “Every time ‘Taiwan independence’ provokes, our countermeasures will be pushed forward until the complete reunification of the motherland is achieved.” concluded Wu.

China’s Eastern Theatre Command only issued a brief release on the exercise on Friday, with the command’s spokesperson, Senior Colonel Li Xi, stating they continued to carry out training in subjects outlined by Qian in his video release. The command also released a 3-D animation video showing PLA ground, sea and air platforms conducting a mass simultaneous missile strike on Taiwan, and images of troops and platforms participating in the exercise.

On Friday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) stated that from 6 a.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, 49 PLA aircraft, 19 People’s Liberation Army Navy ships and 7 China Coast Guard ships have been detected around Taiwan, and 35 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwestern air Defence identification zone (ADIZ). The MND also stated that Taiwan’s military monitored the situation and responded accordingly, and posted a short video to social media reiterating its military’s determination to protect Taiwan from China.

Fair winds and following seas, USS Leyte Gulf

By Geoff Ziezulewicz  May 23, 2024,

The Navy cruiser Leyte Gulf completed its final deployment late last week.

The 36-year-old ship left Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on Jan. 28 for a cruise in the waters of U.S. 4th Fleet and returned to Norfolk on Friday, according to a Navy release.

Named after the legendary World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippine Sea in 1944, Leyte Gulf was built in 1985 and commissioned in 1987.

“This ship is full of history,” Capt. Nathan Diaz, Leyte Gulf’s commanding officer, said in a statement. “Each period brings its own far-off journeys, along with generations of sailors who have manned the helm.”

“Our last deployment was full of sailors who made their own mark on the story of this great warship.”

Leyte Gulf’s final deployment comes as the Navy and Congress continue to disagree as to the pace of retirement for the aging cruiser fleet.

Navy leaders want to retire the ships as soon as possible in the next few years to free up money for new ships and maintenance, even as billions have been sunk into cruiser modernization efforts in the past decade, with mixed results.

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By Geoff Ziezulewicz

Lawmakers on the committees that decide on Navy shipbuilding counter that the cruisers should be kept in service as long as possible to prevent any capability gap.

But far from these high-level discussions, the men and women of the Leyte Gulf took the cruiser on one last deployment, where the ships generally built for ballistic missile defense took on drug interdiction missions with their Coast Guard partners.

The Leyte Gulf team at one point seized a drug smuggling submarine carrying 5,224 pounds of “illicit drugs” that were sent to the briny depths during a sinking exercise, and 15 drug traffickers were nabbed during such operations.

“This is a profound final chapter for one of the Navy’s finest ships, and their crew should be proud of all they accomplished,” U.S. 2nd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Doug Perry said in a statement.

About Geoff Ziezulewicz

Geoff is the editor of Navy Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at [email protected].