Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on May 4, 2026. (Getty Images)
A Philippine Air Force Black Hawk helicopter lands on June 29, 2023, on Mavulis Island, which is the Philippines’ northernmost island and is roughly 88 miles from Taiwan. (Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
A production line of the Glide, a high-altitude glider that delivers munitions across thousands of miles, is seen at the defense tech startup Mach Industries in Huntington Beach, California, on September 11, 2025. (Getty Images)
Trailers with launchers for guided missiles of a German Patriot air defense system stand on a snow-covered field in southeastern Poland on April 3, 2023. (Getty Images)
Joe Biden poses for photographs with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after his arrival at the White House on January 13, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada speaks at the a joint press availability on January 11, 2023, at the US Department of State. (US Department of State via Flickr)
Korean Marines take part in joint exercises with Japanese, American, and Philippine troops in the Philippines on October 7, 2022. (US Marine Corps photo by Danny Gonzalez)
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Murasame-class destroyer JS Ikazuchi transits Uraga Channel in front of Mt. Fuji on February 17, 2016. (US Navy photo by William McGough)
Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force disembark from a US Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey as part of joint military drill Operation Keen Sword in Kumamoto, Japan, on November 16, 2022. (Marine Corps photo by Justin Marty)
Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Hyūga launches an MH-60J Seahawk helicopter during training in the Philippine Sea on January 21, 2022. (DVIDS photo by Jeremy Faller)