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)
President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi talk during their summit meeting at the Akasaka Palace on October 28, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan. (Getty Images)
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force mid-range multi-purpose missile is fired during a live-fire exercise at the East Fuji Maneuver Area on June 7, 2026, in Gotemba, Japan. (Getty Images)
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during the graduation ceremony of the National Defense Academy on March 22, 2020, in Yokosuka, Japan. (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump meets with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 19, 2026. (Getty Images)