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Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante joinedhis Japanese counterpart in Tokyo in mid-June to launch the inaugural U.S.-Japan Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition, and Sustainment Forum. The top priorities are “missile co-production, co-sustainment of forward-deployed U.S. Navy ships and U.S. Air Force aircraft, and supply chain resiliency.” As the threat from China grows and the U.S. military and defense-industrial base struggle to meet growing requirements, U.S. security cooperation with key allies will become more important.
Following that forum, the United States, Japan, and South Korea conducted the inaugural Freedom Edge trilateral military exercise on June 27-29, focusing on “Ballistic Missile Defense, Air Defense, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Search and Rescue, Maritime Interdiction, and Defensive Cyber training,” according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. North Korea responded by threatening an “offensive and overwhelming” response, which included test-firing two ballistic missiles.
Due to anticipated rough weather and challenging seas, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on June 28 that the pier it installed in May along the coast of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid was moved to Ashdod, Israel. CENTCOM noted that the pier had enabled over 19.4 million pounds of aid to be delivered via the maritime corridor for distribution since May 17, with 10 million of that coming in the last week. The problem is that much of that aid has been sitting in a nearby assembly area and has not been delivered by the United Nations to those in need, due to security concerns and attacks on humanitarian convoys.
By Bradley Bowman
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