Japan’s Defense Ministry has denied a report that it is considering selling surface-to-air missiles to the Philippines, even as it acknowledged that Tokyo may soon loosen long-standing restrictions on arms exports.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced a plan to deliver 300,000 cheap, lightweight drones to U.S. service members over the next several years.

The Navy is moving ahead with plans to expand and modernize vast training areas used in waters off Hawaii and California, including the addition of mine warfare ranges, the service announced.

Japan is considering whether to sell surface-to-air missiles to the Philippines as Tokyo moves to loosen export restrictions and respond to rising security threats in the region, according to a local media report.

Its primary role for now is in drug identification, but follow-on testing could expand its use to combat or the detection of biochemical warfare substances or hazardous materials.

The ship is the first of two new vessels that combine icebreaking capability with significant firepower. It mounts an AK-176MA 76mm gun in a turret on the foredeck — the same weapon used on Russian Navy corvettes. 

The Navy wants to build 12 Columbia-class submarines to replace the service’s aging Ohio-class fleet at an estimated cost of about $126.4 billion.

The system has been battle-tested in Ukraine, where local forces have used it to shoot down Russian-made Shahed drones and other incoming threats.

The 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks is in the closing stages of its annual Hawaii rotation of its Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center training as it puts one of the Army’s first “mobile brigades” to the test.

A software program that uses artificial intelligence to prioritize and destroy drone swarms will become the backbone of the Army’s new unified command and control system, according to its manufacturer.