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)
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)
Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships JS Kashima and JS Shimakaze take part in joint drills with NATO allies on June 6, 2022, in the Mediterranean Sea. (Michelle Tucker via DVIDS)
Paratroopers assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division conduct a systems check on their VROD/VMAX electronic warfare equipment before conducting a tactical exercise in El Paso, Texas, on November 20, 2018. (US Army Photo)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meet with Republic of Korea’s Minister of Defense Suh Wook for the 53rd US-Republic of Korea Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on December 2, 2021. (DOD Photo by Navy Chief Petty Officer Carlos M. Vazquez II)
Chinese J-20 stealth fighters of the People's Liberation Army Air Force perform at Airshow China 2022 in Zhuhai, China, on November 8, 2022. (CNS/AFP via Getty Images)
Ships from the US, Japan, and Republic of Korea conduct a trilateral ballistic missile defense exercise in the Sea of Japan, on October 6, 2022. (US Navy Photo by Gray Gibson)