MGG Geopolitics (Page 3)

Why the US Marines Are Betting on Israel's Iron Dome to Survive a Pacific War

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 Expeditionary Force, its only permanently forward-deployed MEF, had integrated the Medium-Range Intercept Capability, known as MRIC. Marines exercised the system on Guam during Valiant Shield 2026, the multina

Analysis Indo-Pacific

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 5, 2026 — 3 min read

Japan Puts Itself at the Centre of a New Indo-Pacific Order With India Pact

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 principle on what would become the first defence co-development project between the two countries. They also adopted a joint declaration on economic security and pointed to private-sector investment de

Analysis Indo-Pacific

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 5, 2026 — 4 min read

US Builds Up Australia as Forward Base to Counter China

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 pointed to upgraded airbases in Queensland and the Northern Territory for more American bomber rotations, and to expanded logistics in Darwin so more Marines could rotate through and keep their MV-22 O

Analysis Indo-Pacific

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 4, 2026 — 3 min read

China Surrounds Scarborough Shoal With Patrols as Coast Guard Presence Hits Record

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 Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command said its naval and air forces had patrolled the territorial waters and airspace around the shoal, according to Reuters. The China Coast Guard said separately tha

Analysis Indo-Pacific

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 4, 2026 — 3 min read

Rolls-Royce Breaks Ground on Derby Reactor Site to Power AUKUS Submarines

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 Raynesway site will add more than 100,000 square metres of manufacturing and office space and create 1,170 skilled jobs, the company said. It forms part of a plan first announced in June 2023 to double th

News Europe

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 3, 2026 — 3 min read

Royal Navy Launches Combat-Proven Nyan Strike Drone From Warship for First Time

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-Lenz, launched from the experimentation ship XV Patrick Blackett off the south coast of England last month. It formed part of Exercise Neptune Reach under Project Vantage, a Royal Navy programme set

Analysis Europe

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 3, 2026 — 3 min read

Why Europe Is Turning to Ukraine for Missile Production

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 on 29 June, saying there had been steady progress on intellectual property and the mechanics of standing up a production line, while cautioning that no deal was final. The negotiations followed a meeti

Analysis Europe

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 3, 2026 — 3 min read

Israel's SPYDER Keeps Winning Europe's Air-Defence Race

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 Israeli air defence has secured a durable place in the European market, and it points to the quality that increasingly sets SPYDER apart from its competitors. The system can be sold without American permi

Analysis Europe

MGG Geopolitics

Jul 3, 2026 — 3 min read