# MGG Geopolitics
> Geopolitics, defence and great power competition
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. Use `/llms-full.txt` for consolidated page and post context.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).

## Pages
- [About this site](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/about.md) - MGG Geopolitics is an independent platform for geopolitics, defence and great power competition. The name is a deliberate reference to the original “Great Game”, the 19th-century contest for influence in Central Asia. This site takes that idea and applies it to the present: a world in which major p…
- [Analysis](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/analysis.md) - In-depth analysis of geopolitics, strategy, and great power competition.
- [Home](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/home.md) - Featured Latest News Latest Analyses
- [News](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/news.md) - Latest news and developments in geopolitics and defence.
- [Sectors](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/sectors.md)
- [Videos](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/videos.md) - Documentary analysis of a multipolar world

## Posts
- [Pentagon Backs $400 Million Australian Scandium Deal to Break China's Grip](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/featured/pentagon-backs-400-million-australian-scandium-deal-to-break-chinas-grip.md) - The US Department of War has committed $400 million in conditional financing to an Australian miner to build a Western scandium supply chain, moving to loosen China's grip on a metal used in advanced fighter aircraft and semiconductors. The Office of Strategic Capital, the department's investment a…
- [Russian Shadow Fleet Escorts Drive 25% Rise in Royal Navy Monitoring](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/featured/russian-shadow-fleet-escorts-drive-25-rise-in-royal-navy-monitoring.md) - Russian warships escorting sanctioned oil tankers through British waters have driven a sharp rise in Royal Navy monitoring operations, with activations to track Russian movements up 25% over the first seven months of the year, the Ministry of Defence said. The Royal Navy deployed four warships and…
- [US Marines Test Fireteam-Level Attack Drones in South Korea](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/featured/us-marines-test-fireteam-level-attack-drones-in-south-korea.md) - The US Marine Corps is beginning to give its smallest combat formations precision-strike power previously beyond the reach of traditional infantry weapons. Marines operating under 4th Marine Regiment have completed the Corps’ first series of live-fire first-person view attack-drone flights in South…
- [How China’s State-Owned Telecom Firms Stayed Inside America’s Internet](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/featured/how-chinas-state-owned-telecom-firms-stayed-inside-americas-internet.md) - The United States spent years restricting three Chinese state-owned telecom carriers from its regulated communications market. A bipartisan congressional investigation says they nevertheless retained significant positions inside American internet infrastructure. Between 2019 and 2022, the Federal C…
- [Why the US Navy Is Reclassifying 19 Virginia-Class Submarines](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/why-the-us-navy-is-reclassifying-19-virginia-class-submarines.md) - The US Navy is now classifying 19 planned Virginia-class submarines as guided-missile submarines, although nothing about their design has changed. Announced on 3 August, the new designation applies to boats equipped with the Virginia Payload Module. Until now, they had been classified as nuclear-po…
- [Why Vietnam Matters to America’s Strategy Against China](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/why-vietnam-matters-to-americas-strategy-against-china.md) - The arrival of the USS George Washington in Da Nang is the latest sign that Vietnam has acquired an important place in America’s strategy against China. The US Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier entered the Vietnamese port on 30 July accompanied by the cruiser USS Robert Smalls and the destro…
- [Pentagon Commits $820 Million to Performance Drone Works to Cut China Reliance](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/pentagon-commits-820-million-to-performance-drone-works-to-cut-china-reliance.md) - The United States Department of War has offered up to $820 million in loan financing to Performance Drone Works to build domestic manufacturing capacity for critical drone components, part of a federal push to rebuild American supply chains for unmanned systems. The Office of Strategic Capital anno…
- [Australia’s Prototype Missile Shield Could Draw on the Navy’s Arsenal](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/australias-prototype-missile-shield-could-draw-on-the-navys-arsenal.md) - Australia’s prototype land-based missile shield could eventually fire some of the same missiles carried by the navy’s Hobart-class destroyers and planned for its future Hunter-class frigates, according to Lockheed Martin. The claim points to a potential shortcut in Canberra’s effort to build a medi…
- [US to Fund Philippine Coast Guard Pier and Lift Military Aid Against China](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-to-fund-philippine-coast-guard-pier-and-lift-military-aid-against-china.md) - The United States will fund new port infrastructure and raise military financing for the Philippines, deepening its support for Manila as the country struggles to hold ground against China in the South China Sea. A State Department fact sheet released on 22 July committed $9 million to expand a Phi…
- [US Marines Test Satellite-Independent Link Between Philippines and Australia](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-marines-test-satellite-independent-link-between-philippines-and-australia.md) - US Marines have established a direct high-frequency radio link between the Philippines and northern Australia, demonstrating how two increasingly important forward forces could remain connected if satellite communications were disrupted. The test linked Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia in Man…
- [US Targets PAC-3 and THAAD Propulsion Bottleneck in Missile Production Push](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-targets-pac-3-and-thaad-propulsion-bottleneck-in-missile-production-push.md) - The United States has signed two seven-year framework agreements with L3Harris to expand propulsion production for PAC-3 MSE and THAAD interceptors, bringing a critical node in the missile supply chain into Washington’s wider production drive. The agreements extend the strategy below prime contract…
- [Saab Secures SEK 10.1bn GlobalEye Order From Unnamed Middle East Buyer](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/saab-secures-sek-10-1bn-globaleye-order-from-unnamed-middle-east-buyer.md) - An unnamed Middle Eastern state has ordered two Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft, raising the possibility that the system has secured its second operator in the region. Saab values the contract at SEK 10.1 billion, around $1.04 billion, with both aircraft due for delivery…
- [South Korea Is Rebuilding Its Marine Corps. But for Which War?](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/south-korea-is-rebuilding-its-marine-corps-but-for-which-war.md) - American and South Korean marines will spend 12 days conducting live-fire drills, amphibious operations and logistics training across South Korea from 28 July. The exercise, known as KMEP 26.2, is designed to improve their ability to operate together during a crisis. It comes as Seoul reverses Mari…
- [BAE Systems Unveils Brontanax as Britain Re-enters Combat Drone Race](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/bae-systems-unveils-brontanax-as-britain-re-enters-combat-drone-race.md) - BAE Systems has unveiled Brontanax, Britain’s first domestically designed Collaborative Combat Aircraft, with a first flight planned for 2027 and availability for Royal Air Force service targeted before the end of the decade. The aircraft gives Britain a tangible route back into a global competitio…
- [UK Awards BAE Systems £708m for Tempest Work Under GCAP](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/uk-awards-bae-systems-708m-for-tempest-work-under-gcap.md) - Britain has awarded BAE Systems a £708 million contract extension for future combat-air technology, securing the national work underpinning Tempest after months of British budget delays had weakened confidence in the wider Global Combat Air Programme. The award completes a rapid stabilisation of Br…
- [Dark Eagle May Have Deployed to Guam as US Hypersonic Inventory Remains Thin](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/dark-eagle-may-have-deployed-to-guam-as-us-hypersonic-inventory-remains-thin.md) - New US Army photographs have raised the possibility that America’s longest-range ground-launched weapon trained on Guam during Exercise Valiant Shield, placing mainland China within its publicly declared reach. The images show Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Pacific Command, observing soldie…
- [Why Japan is Building a Missile Wall Across the Nansei Islands](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/why-japan-is-building-a-missile-wall-across-the-nansei-islands.md) - Japan is turning its south-western islands into a missile screen across the routes China’s navy uses to reach the open Pacific. The Nansei chain runs for more than 1,000 kilometres from Kyushu towards Taiwan. It is broken by several navigable gaps, including the Osumi and Miyako straits and the wat…
- [Can Saronic’s $3.2 Billion Port Alpha Shipyard Help Fix US Navy Shipbuilding?](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/can-saronics-3-2-billion-port-alpha-shipyard-help-fix-us-navy-shipbuilding.md) - Saronic Technologies plans to build a $3.2 billion shipyard at the Port of Brownsville, promising to produce autonomous vessels at a scale rarely attempted by an American defence start-up. If it succeeds, Port Alpha could give the US Navy a new source of ships outside the small group of yards strug…
- [Japan and Vietnam Explore Joint Production of High-Speed Landing Craft](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/japan-and-vietnam-explore-joint-production-of-high-speed-landing-craft.md) - Japan and Vietnam will begin talks on the possible joint development and production of high-speed landing craft, moving a defence relationship built largely around training and maritime assistance towards direct industrial cooperation. Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Vietnamese Deput…
- [Northrop Grumman and Airbus Sign MOU on NATO MQ-4C Triton Fleet](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/northrop-grumman-and-airbus-sign-mou-on-nato-mq-4c-triton-fleet.md) - Northrop Grumman has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus Defence and Space covering plans to supply NATO with up to five MQ-4C Triton surveillance aircraft, formalising the role of a major European partner in the proposed programme. The companies signed the agreement during the NATO Su…
- [UK Commits £26 Billion to Naval Bases, Including £15.1 Billion for Faslane](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/uk-commits-26-billion-to-naval-bases-including-15-1-billion-for-faslane.md) - Britain will invest approximately £26 billion over the next decade to modernise the Royal Navy’s three main bases, including £15.1 billion for HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, in what the Ministry of Defence calls the largest naval infrastructure programme since the end of the Cold War. Defence Mini…
- [Papua New Guinea Opens Allied Military Drill Days After Australia Defence Pact Takes Effect](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/papua-new-guinea-opens-allied-military-drill-days-after-australia-defence-pact-takes-effect.md) - Papua New Guinea has formally opened a multinational military exercise with forces from Australia, the United States and New Zealand, days after a new mutual-defence treaty elevated Port Moresby and Canberra to allies committed to integrating their armed forces more closely. Soldiers from the Papua…
- [How US Missile Deployments Near Taiwan Are Becoming a Fixture in the Philippines](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/how-us-missile-deployments-near-taiwan-are-becoming-a-fixture-in-the-philippines.md) - A chain of Philippine islands stretching south from Taiwan is becoming a recurring operating ground for American and allied missile forces, as temporary exercises evolve into longer rotations designed to defend strategic waters from China. The Hawaii-based 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment spent roughly…
- [Germany Funds 50,000 AI-Guided Drones Built to Hunt Through Russian Jamming](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/germany-funds-50-000-ai-guided-drones-built-to-hunt-through-russian-jamming.md) - Germany is financing 50,000 Ukrainian attack drones equipped with US-designed guidance software built to track moving targets after their connection to a human operator is disrupted, in one of the largest disclosed Western drone orders for Kyiv. The approximately €90 million programme combines Shri…
- [US Deepens Guam Submarine Support Amid China Missile Threat](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-deepens-guam-submarine-support-amid-china-missile-threat.md) - The US Navy is building Guam into a more capable submarine hub, able to keep its boats ready closer to potential flashpoints in Asia. The arrival of USS Tucson this month—an outwardly routine exchange of one vessel for another—highlights the supporting network behind that effort. USS Tucson, a Los…
- [UK Places First Contracts in European Race for Cheap Drone Defences](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/uk-places-first-contracts-in-european-race-for-cheap-drone-defences.md) - Britain has awarded £3.16 million ($4.2 million) to three companies developing low-cost weapons to intercept drones, becoming the first of five European partners to place national contracts under a joint air-defence initiative. The relatively modest awards address one of the most pressing problems…
- [Canada’s TKMS Submarine Bet Comes With Strategic Costs](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/canadas-tkms-submarine-bet-comes-with-strategic-costs.md) - Canada has chosen a highly capable German submarine and a partnership that fits comfortably within its established NATO role. It has also passed up a rarer opportunity to connect its Arctic defence requirements with its ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on 6 July t…
- [Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness: Is the Quad Moving Fast Enough?](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/indo-pacific-maritime-domain-awareness-is-the-quad-moving-fast-enough.md) - The Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance picture is becoming clearer. In May 2026, Australia, India, Japan and the United States launched the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration, or IPMSC. The new Quad initiative will coordinate national surveillance efforts, facilitate real-time informa…
- [Australia Accelerates Missile Shield After Live-Fire Success at Woomera](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/australia-accelerates-missile-shield-after-live-fire-success-at-woomera.md) - Australia and the United States shot down a cruise missile target in a first-of-type live-fire test of a prototype ground-based air defence system, as Canberra accelerates work on a missile shield to guard against growing threats in the Indo-Pacific. The Australian Defence Force fired a Standard Mi…
- [Belgium's €3.1 Billion Skyranger Deal Puts Rheinmetall at the Centre of Europe's Air Defence](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/belgiums-eur3-1-billion-skyranger-deal-puts-rheinmetall-at-the-centre-of-europes-air-defence.md) - Belgium confirmed a €3.1 billion air-defence package at the NATO summit in Ankara on 8 July, built around 20 Rheinmetall Skyranger short-range systems. The deal also takes in 10 NASAMS launchers and 14 Ground Master 200 radars, bought through existing Dutch framework contracts to speed delivery. De…
- [Lockheed Tests Guam Missile-Defence Battle Manager at Valiant Shield](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/lockheed-tests-guam-missile-defence-battle-manager-at-valiant-shield.md) - Lockheed Martin tested a new command-and-control system for Guam’s missile defence during Valiant Shield 2026, demonstrating software designed to link sensors, interceptors and battle-management systems across one of the most important US military hubs in the Western Pacific. The company said the d…
- [Japan Uses NATO Summit to Build Defence Links With Europe](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/japan-uses-nato-summit-to-build-defence-links-with-europe.md) - Japan used the NATO summit in Ankara to deepen defence ties with European partners, moving beyond symbolic alignment with the alliance as Tokyo seeks a larger role in the security architecture linking Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met counterparts from Denmark, Swed…
- [US Navy Tests UUVs and Harpoon Missile Strikes at RIMPAC 2026](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-navy-tests-uuvs-and-harpoon-missile-strikes-at-rimpac-2026.md) - The US Navy is using RIMPAC 2026 to test how unmanned underwater drones can support submarine targeting and long-range anti-ship fires, a pairing it says is central to holding its edge under the Pacific as China’s own submarine fleet keeps growing. Commander, Submarine Force, US Pacific Fleet, know…
- [What CARAT Thailand Reveals About Indo-Pacific Alliances: A Web of Diverging Interests](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/what-carat-thailand-reveals-about-indo-pacific-alliances-a-web-of-diverging-interests.md) - Thai and American forces opened the 32nd iteration of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, known as CARAT, at Sattahip on 6 July. This year's version included two firsts: the debut of US Coast Guard fast response cutters in the exercise, and the integration of a Royal Canadian Navy boarding t…
- [Four NATO States Order Up to Five MQ-4C Triton Surveillance Drones](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/four-nato-states-order-up-to-five-mq-4c-triton-surveillance-drones.md) - Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway agreed to acquire up to five Northrop Grumman Corp. MQ-4C Triton surveillance aircraft for NATO, signing a letter of intent on Tuesday at the alliance's annual summit in Ankara. The high-altitude drones would join NATO's alliance-owned intelligence force and wat…
- [Denmark’s P-8 Buy Shows Boeing Is Winning Europe’s Submarine-Hunting North](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/denmarks-p-8-buy-shows-boeing-is-winning-europes-submarine-hunting-north.md) - Denmark is buying Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, joining a northern group of NATO allies that are standardising around the same American submarine-hunting jet as Russia’s undersea threat returns to the centre of European defence planning. Copenhagen said on Tuesday it would acquire…
- [Germany Expands Its Arrow 3 Shield as Europe's Air Defence Autonomy Slips](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/germany-expands-its-arrow-3-shield-as-europes-air-defence-autonomy-slips.md) - Germany has confirmed plans for a second site for its Arrow 3 missile shield (July 1), the interceptor that will guard its cities against ballistic attack from beyond the atmosphere. The system is Israeli-led and needed American approval to be sold. It is not European, and that is the dilemma of Eu…
- [HMS Prince of Wales in NATO's High North: What Britain's Carrier Mission Achieves](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/hms-prince-of-wales-in-natos-high-north-what-britains-carrier-mission-achieves.md) - British F-35B jets have flown NATO air policing missions from HMS Prince of Wales off Iceland, the first time the alliance has generated such patrols from a European aircraft carrier. The deployment places the Royal Navy flagship at the centre of collective defence in the High North. The Ministry o…
- [China's Submarine Missile Test in the Pacific: Why It Matters](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/chinas-submarine-missile-test-in-the-pacific-why-it-matters.md) - China test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the South Pacific on Monday, dropping a dummy warhead inside the South Pacific's nuclear-free zone within hours of Australia and Fiji signing a mutual defence pact. The People's Liberation Army Navy described the launch as routine annual…
- [Australia-India Uranium Deal Would Test the Quad's New Energy Agenda](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/australia-india-uranium-deal-would-test-the-quads-new-energy-agenda.md) - India is pushing to convert a decade-old nuclear agreement that has barely been used into a working uranium trade when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Australia this week. Should a commercial supply deal follow, it would offer one of the first hard tests of whether the energy-security agenda th…
- [Why the US Marines Are Betting on Israel's Iron Dome to Survive a Pacific War](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/why-the-us-marines-are-betting-on-israels-iron-dome-to-survive-a-pacific-war.md) - The US Marine Corps has moved an Iron Dome-derived air-defence system into the Western Pacific, closing a gap in its own Pacific war plan that had left forward Marines without medium-range protection for the first time in a generation. The service announced late last month that III Marine Expeditio…
- [Japan Puts Itself at the Centre of a New Indo-Pacific Order With India Pact](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/japan-puts-itself-at-the-centre-of-a-new-indo-pacific-order-with-india-pact.md) - India and Japan closed their annual summit in New Delhi on Thursday with a run of agreements that pushed their partnership deeper into defence and energy than at any point in two decades of formal ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi welcomed agreement in p…
- [US Builds Up Australia as Forward Base to Counter China](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/the-us-military-is-building-two-australias-into-its-pacific-war-plan.md) - The US military is expanding its footprint across Australia at a pace not seen in decades, building the country into a forward base for a possible conflict with China. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth set out the scope at annual AUSMIN talks with Australian ministers in Washington in December. He p…
- [China Surrounds Scarborough Shoal With Patrols as Coast Guard Presence Hits Record](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/china-surrounds-scarborough-shoal-with-patrols-as-coast-guard-presence-hits-record.md) - China's military and coast guard staged combat-readiness patrols around Scarborough Shoal on 30 June, days after Philippine and United States forces drilled in nearby waters, in the latest turn of a confrontation cycle that has become routine at one of Asia's most contested reefs. The People's Libe…
- [Rolls-Royce Breaks Ground on Derby Reactor Site to Power AUKUS Submarines](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/rolls-royce-breaks-ground-on-derby-reactor-site-to-power-aukus-submarines.md) - Rolls-Royce Submarines broke ground on Friday on a new manufacturing facility in Derby that will more than double the size of its reactor site, expanding capacity to build nuclear propulsion units for the Royal Navy and Australia's future attack submarines under the AUKUS pact. The work at the Rayn…
- [Royal Navy Launches Combat-Proven Nyan Strike Drone From Warship for First Time](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/royal-navy-launches-combat-proven-nyan-strike-drone-from-warship-for-first-time.md) - The Royal Navy and British Army have launched a domestically built strike drone from a warship at sea for the first time, a step towards a fleet that pairs crewed vessels with cheap uncrewed weapons. The trial saw the Nyan One-Way Effector, a small attack drone made by BAE Systems subsidiary Callen…
- [Why Europe Is Turning to Ukraine for Missile Production](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/why-europe-is-turning-to-ukraine-for-missile-production.md) - Ukraine and France are negotiating a licence that would allow Kyiv to build SCALP cruise missiles on its own soil, the clearest sign yet that European missile production is moving toward the country those weapons were recently built to supply. Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed the talks o…
- [Israel's SPYDER Keeps Winning Europe's Air-Defence Race](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/israels-spyder-keeps-winning-europes-air-defence-race.md) - Romania's agreement to buy Israel's SPYDER air-defence system in a framework worth more than €2 billion, signed in late June, is the largest export contract in the history of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the second-largest deal ever recorded by Israel's defence industry. It confirms that Isr…
- [US Weapons Take More Than 12 Years to Field Despite Pentagon Speed Push](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-weapons-take-more-than-12-years-to-field-despite-pentagon-speed-push.md) - The Pentagon is taking longer than ever to put its most expensive weapons into service, with the average time to field a new capability now exceeding 12 years, according to a congressional watchdog report that casts doubt on repeated pledges to speed up delivery. The US Government Accountability Of…
- [New Pentagon Drone ‘Czar’ to Close Gap With US Rivals](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-creates-pentagon-drone-czar-to-close-gap-with-rivals.md) - The United States has consolidated oversight of almost all of its military drone and autonomous-systems programmes under a single new office, as the Pentagon races to close a fielding gap with rivals it now openly concedes are producing unmanned weapons at far greater speed. US Secretary of War Pet…
- [America's F-15EX Bet at Kadena: More Firepower, Same Missile Problem](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/americas-f-15ex-bet-at-kadena-more-firepower-same-missile-problem.md) - The US Air Force has begun rehearsing the return of permanent fighter power to Kadena Air Base, flying an F-15EX Eagle II into Okinawa on 29 June alongside two F-15E Strike Eagles. Kadena, the closest major American air base to Taiwan, has spent nearly four years without a resident fighter squadron…
- [US Marines Use Civilian Ferries to Haul China-Deterrent Missiles Near Taiwan](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-marines-use-civilian-ferries-to-haul-china-deterrent-missiles-near-taiwan.md) - US Marines moved land-based anti-ship missile launchers across islands near Taiwan aboard contracted Philippine commercial ferries this month, a workaround that underscores how far Washington's plan to counter China at sea has run ahead of the ships built to carry it. During the KAMANDAG exercise,…
- [Vanuatu Signed Australia's Pact While Keeping China's Door Open](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/vanuatu-signed-australias-pact-while-keeping-chinas-door-open.md) - Australia has the Pacific security pact it wanted with Vanuatu. What it does not have is the veto it asked for. When Anthony Albanese and his Vanuatu counterpart, Jotham Napat, signed the Nakamal Agreement in Canberra on Monday, both leaders turned to the language of partnership and triumph. The tr…
- [UK Adds £15 Billion to Defence Budget, Still Lags NATO Allies](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/uk-adds-15-billion-to-defence-budget-still-lags-nato-allies.md) - The UK pledged an additional £15 billion for its armed forces and lifted planned defence spending to almost £300 billion over four years, in a package delivered by Prime Minister Keir Starmer that fell short of the increase military chiefs had demanded and left Britain trailing its main NATO allies…
- [US Reveals Its Stealth Bomber Can Sink Ships in Warning to China](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-reveals-its-stealth-bomber-can-sink-ships-in-warning-to-china.md) - The US Air Force has disclosed for the first time that its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber can launch the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, revealing a penetrating maritime-strike capability designed to hold China's expanding navy at risk. Pacific Air Forces announced on Monday, 29 June, that it had conducte…
- [US-Italy Military Ties Deepen Even as the Trump-Meloni Feud Sours the Alliance](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/us-italy-military-ties-deepen-even-as-the-trump-meloni-feud-sours-the-alliance.md) - When President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrive in Ankara next week for the NATO summit on 7-8 July, it will be the first time they have shared a room since their relationship dissolved into public insult. The optics will be studied closely. Yet the more revealing story runs be…
- [Japan's Mogami vs UK Type 31: The Frigate Battle for New Zealand](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/japans-mogami-vs-uk-type-31-the-frigate-battle-for-new-zealand.md)
- [UK Scraps Destroyer Plan for Hybrid Drone Warships in Naval Overhaul](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/uk-scraps-destroyer-plan-for-hybrid-drone-warships-in-naval-overhaul.md) - Britain will build at least six new warships designed to command fleets of drones across the air, surface and seabed, moving away from earlier plans for a next-generation destroyer in favour of a “hybrid” navy built around crewed and uncrewed systems. The Royal Navy will procure a minimum of six Co…
- [China-Russia Bombers Patrol Sea of Japan Again as Joint Missions Become Routine](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/china-russia-bombers-patrol-sea-of-japan-again-as-joint-missions-become-routine.md) - The 11th joint strategic air patrol flown by China and Russia on June 27, over waters near Japan and South Korea, will read to many in the region as just another entry in a lengthening logbook. That sense of routine is the point. What began in 2019 as a single, attention-grabbing flight of Chinese…
- [Australia's New Spy Jet Patrols Northern Waters as China Pushes South](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/australias-new-spy-jet-patrols-northern-waters-as-china-pushes-south.md) - Australia has begun flying its newest surveillance and electronic-warfare aircraft from the country's north, widening its ability to track Chinese military movements through its maritime approaches as Beijing sends its navy further south. An MC-55A Peregrine from the Royal Australian Air Force's 10…
- [Boeing Wins $2 Billion Space Force Deal for Military Satellites](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/boeing-wins-2-billion-space-force-deal-for-military-satellites.md) - June 25: Boeing won a US Space Force contract worth as much as $2 billion to develop and build two new military communications satellites, beating incumbent Lockheed Martin Corp. and handing the company’s troubled space unit a rare boost. The award covers the next phase of the Mobile User Objective…
- [Why Japan's Warship Exports Are Reshaping Indo-Pacific Power](https://www.mgg-geopolitics.com/why-japans-warship-exports-are-reshaping-indo-pacific-power.md) - When reports emerged in late April that Japan had offered India the design plans for its prized Mogami-class frigate, the significance went well beyond a single contract. According to the South China Morning Post, Tokyo proposed letting India build the ships in its own yards using Japanese material…

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