Maritime Operations
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
U.S. Navy’s port call in Cambodia highlights nations’ deepening engagement
FORUM Staff Cambodian defense officials welcomed a United States Navy littoral combat ship to the Southeast Asian nation’s main deep seaport in mid-December 2024, saying the port call would “strengthen and expand the bonds of friendship.” The Independence-variant USS Savannah docked just days before Adm. Samuel Paparo, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, arrived in Cambodia for talks on promoting…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Japan’s maritime security initiatives support Pacific Island partners
Felix Kim Japan is deepening its maritime security partnerships with Pacific Island nations through targeted initiatives to bolster maritime domain awareness (MDA). The efforts reflect Japan’s strategic vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) while addressing pressing regional challenges such as illegal fishing, environmental threats and geopolitical competition. Japan’s engagement with nations including Fiji, Micronesia and Palau has shifted…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Indonesia intensifies maritime patrols amid heightened tensions in North Natuna Sea
Gusty Da Costa Indonesia is intensifying maritime patrols and surveillance in response to repeated incursions by People’s Republic of China (PRC) coast guard vessels into its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This follows a series of confrontations, including an October 2024 incident in which Indonesian patrol vessels intercepted and expelled a Chinese ship interfering with a seismic survey. The moves underscore…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Singapore’s new Invincible-class submarines enhance security of key SLOCs
Sarah Chan Singapore has bolstered its maritime defenses with the commissioning of two new Invincible-class submarines, RSS Invincible and RSS Impeccable, part of the Republic of Singapore Navy’s (RSN) modernization in the face of evolving security challenges. The vessels, built by Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems in Germany, are equipped with automation and air-independent propulsion that allow them to operate quietly and…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
CCP coercion stands in stark contrast to Coast Guard cooperation by Allies and Partners
FORUM Staff An increasingly aggressive coast guard signals the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) willingness to risk escalation in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, analysts say. Meanwhile, like-minded nations are cooperating to uphold stability in the region. Rather than focusing on traditional law enforcement missions targeting smugglers or providing search and rescue, the CCP has militarized coast guard ships…
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Partnerships
Multinational exercises in Philippines: ‘Partnerships that allow us to maintain peace and stability’
FORUM Staff Philippine and United States forces, joined by participants from six nations, conducted near-simultaneous military exercises in and around the Philippines in October 2024. Exercise Sama Sama, a Filipino phrase meaning togetherness, expanded in its eighth iteration to include training on shore and in waters off the northern Philippines, building on a legacy of Philippine-U.S. maritime collaboration. Part of…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
At Malabar 2024, Quad nations promote maritime order for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
FORUM Staff Australian, Indian, Japanese and United States naval forces concluded Exercise Malabar 2024 in mid-October with drills in the Bay of Bengal to promote the Allies and Partners’ collective planning and integration of advanced warfare tactics to ensure a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. The 28th iteration of the exercise combined training in surface, subsurface, air and information domains, and…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Quad leaders to expand maritime security cooperation in face of PRC aggression
FORUM Staff Australia, India, Japan and the United States will launch joint Coast Guard patrols in the Indo-Pacific in 2025. The enhanced security cooperation will improve interoperability and boost maritime safety, the leaders of the four member nations of the Quadrilateral partnership, or Quad, announced after their late September 2024 summit in the U.S. The initial Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Allies, Partners conduct joint naval exercises in South China Sea for Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Reuters The armed forces of five Allies and Partners conducted joint maritime exercises in a portion of the South China Sea in late September. New Zealand joined for the first time. Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the United States also participated in the exercises in Manila’s exclusive economic zone that sought to improve the militaries’ interoperability, the Armed Forces of…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Indonesia’s collaborative patrols enhance maritime security
Gusty Da Costa Indonesia’s Navy and Maritime Security Agency, which performs functions similar to a coast guard, will conduct more joint patrols in the country’s territorial waters, partnering with other maritime security agencies. The initiative highlights the critical role of such patrols in countering maritime threats. The 2024 Joint Patrol Operation, which ran from March to June, served to sharpen…
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