Guam
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Airfield upgrade highlights Northern Mariana Islands’ growing role in Free and Open Indo-Pacific
FORUM Staff The covenant creating the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a 300-mile-long archipelago in the Western Pacific, was approved by legislators and voters in 1975. The territory is poised to celebrate five decades as a commonwealth in March 2026 — the 50th anniversary of then-United States President Gerald Ford signing the joint resolution creating the commonwealth “in political…
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Northeast Asia
Allies and Partners expand complex air exercises across Indo-Pacific
FORUM Staff Advanced air training is enhancing interoperability and forging relationships among Allies and Partners across the Indo-Pacific. Cope North 2025 in Guam, the United States Pacific Air Forces’ (PACAF) largest multilateral exercise, included more than 2,300 personnel from Australia, Japan and the U.S. Upwards of 80 air assets participated, including fighter jets, command and control and transport aircraft, tankers…
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Northeast Asia
U.S. boosts ‘resilience and survivability’ of Indo-Pacific air bases
FORUM Staff The United States is bolstering its air bases against potential attacks to ensure a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. The U.S. continues “to invest in infrastructure and technology to enhance the resilience and survivability of our bases and facilities across the theater, including hardening airfields and buildings while investing in advanced security systems to protect our personnel and assets,”…
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Global Commons
U.S. missile intercept test bolsters Free and Open Indo-Pacific
FORUM Staff, wire report For the first time, the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has intercepted an air-launched, medium-range ballistic missile target during a test off Guam, marking a milestone in the U.S. territory’s defense capabilities. The Western Pacific island is a strategic location for U.S. military assets. Less than 3,000 kilometers from the People’s Republic of China, Guam…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Expanded Valiant Shield 2024 highlights advanced warfighting capabilities in Indo-Pacific
FORUM Staff A series of firsts marked Valiant Shield 2024. The 12-day biennial exercise in Guam, Japan, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and other Indo-Pacific locations allowed the United States and Allies and Partners to focus on interoperability in a multidomain environment. The exercise prepared forces to rapidly respond to crises and contingencies across a spectrum of operations from humanitarian…
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Global Commons
Allies and Partners invest in, collaborate on missile defense systems
FORUM Staff Expanding nuclear and nonnuclear missile arsenals across the Indo-Pacific contribute to security dilemmas throughout the region. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) relies on growing capabilities — including intercontinental and inter-regional ballistic missiles along with medium- and short-range ballistic weapons — to assert expansive sovereignty claims. Meanwhile, a provocative North Korea persists with its United Nations-banned weapons programs,…
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Global Commons
U.S. Bomber Task Force missions demonstrate credible military capabilities to preserve peace in the Indo-Pacific
U.S. Strategic Command Bomber Task Force (BTF) missions demonstrate the United States’ capability to efficiently oversee its bomber forces for all assigned missions anywhere in the world at any time, often integrating and training with Allies and Partners throughout the region. In 2023, BTF missions routinely and visibly demonstrated that together Allies and Partners are stronger and more effective at…
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Global Commons
U.S. Air Force B-52s help forge key Indo-Pacific partnerships
U.S. Pacific Air Forces The United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) conducted more than 30 sorties during a recent Bomber Task Force deployment to the Indo-Pacific. More than 215 Airmen from PACAF’s area of responsibility and four B-52H Stratofortress aircraft from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, conducted the first trilateral integration with Japanese and Republic of Korea (ROK) forces. A…
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Global Commons
Guam cyber resilience event launches whole-of-government effort to protect critical infrastructure
FORUM Staff In the wake of a multinational, multi-agency disclosure that malicious computer code was discovered in telecommunications systems serving Guam and other strategic United States locations, cybersecurity experts are working to bolster resilience in the U.S. territory and beyond. The malware is linked to a group of Chinese Communist Party-backed cyber criminals dubbed Volt Typhoon by U.S. tech company…
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Partnerships
Inaugural cyber defense drill builds partnerships, capabilities at Balikatan
FORUM Staff Exercise Balikatan 2023, the 38th iteration of the annual training between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States military, featured an inaugural joint cyber defense exercise (CYDEX) in April 2023. Combined teams of Philippine and U.S. cyber defense experts at Camp Aguinaldo outside Manila, along with Philippine law enforcement personnel, trained on a U.S.…
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