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Japan has protested to Russia over multinational military exercises being conducted on Russian-held islands claimed by Japan, and is seriously concerned about shooting drills by Russian and Chinese warships off Japan’s northern coast, an official said Monday. Beijing has been increasing its military cooperation with Moscow, and has been taking part in the multinational “Vostok 2020” drills since late August at a number of locations in Russia’s far east. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno criticized Russia for holding exercises on two of the four disputed islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, in the Kuril chain off Japan’s northernmost...

The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that its “Vostok 18” military exercises, billed as the largest since 1981, have begun, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin will personally attend the exercises on Thursday. According to Army General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, the exercise will run from September 11 to 17, with the first two days reserved for planning. He added that it will reportedly involve around 297,000 personnel; more than 1,000 aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles; up to 36,000 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and other military equipment; as well as 80...

N. Korea behind recent mine explosion in DMZ: Defense Ministry 2015/08/10 10:30 SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to have masterminded the bloody explosion of land mines in the demilitarized zone last week, the Defense Ministry said Monday, in the latest military provocation by the North, happening just weeks before a scheduled joint military exercise between South Korea and the U.S. The mine blasts took place on the morning of Aug. 4 on the southern side of the DMZ near the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, while eight South Korean Army troops carried out a regular scouting...

I was sitting at my Computer here in Pinellas County ,Florida this morning and there was a loud boom and my house shook. News reports said it's related to military exercises in the Gulf Of Mexico. Anyone else hear it?

The armies of India and Pakistan are mobilising for separate large-scale war games on either side of the international border this month to experiment with concepts they will employ in the event of a war with each other. Each side has informed the other — as is normally done in peace time — that it is conducting military exercises near the international boundary and that the movement of troops, tanks, guns and fighter aircraft is not a sign of aggressive intent. Pakistan Air Force combat aircraft landed on and took off from a motorway on Saturday in an exercise named...

Breaking news now on Al-Arabiya TV: Russian and Chinese naval forces are heading through the Arabian Sea towards the Persian Gulf. Their intentions are not known at this time, as requests for intention have gone unanswered.

<p>Russia said Tuesday it was pulling out of joint military exercises with the United States scheduled for later this month because of unspecified problems with U.S. personnel. A Defense Ministry statement announcing the decision to cancel the Torgau-2006 exercises suggested it was connected to a dispute between NATO and countries participating in the NATO "Partnership for Peace" program.</p>

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Russia began their first-ever joint military exercises on Thursday aimed at boosting cooperation between the former adversaries and sending a message to the United States about their growing influence in the region. The eight days of war games between the giant neighbours, who share a 4,300-km (2,700-mile) border, also present a commercial opportunity for Russia, China's biggest supplier of arms and weapons technology, to flog its wares, analysts say. "The main target is the United States. Both sides want to improve their position for bargaining in terms of security, politics and economics," said Jin Canrong,...

Instability in Afghanistan and growing activity by terrorist organizations complicate the situation in Central Asia, the chief of the CIS anti-terrorist center, Colonel-General Boris Mylnikov has said. He was speaking at the opening of an anti-terrorist command staff exercise in the Caspian. “The Afghan society is on the brink of another civil war and this may have adverse effects on the situation in the whole region of Central Asia,” Mylnikov said. He recalled that secret services back in 2002 warned that the leaders of Al-Qaeda and Taliban had regrouped their forces with the aim to destabilize situations in Central Asian...

China warns Taiwan with military exercisesBy Yan Hua HONG KONG - As a pre-election warning to Taiwan's pro-independence forces, China has conducted limited military exercises over coastal areas opposite Taiwan, including parachute landings, beach invasions and air-combat maneuvers, Asia Times Online has learned. China has ratcheted up its standard gunboat diplomacy - the repeated warnings that it would use force if necessary to unite the island and mainland - more than a month before Taiwanese voters go to the polls on March 20 to elect a president and express their views on nearly 500 Chinese missiles targeted at the island....

Mongolia, US hold joint military exercises ------------------------------------------ www.chinaview.cn 2003-09-14 20:41 ULAN BATOR, September 14 (Xinhuanet) -- About 50 US marines arrived in Mongolia and held joint field exercises with Mongolian troops, reported the UB Post paper on Sunday. The joint exercises, named The Khaan Quest 2003, were held at the Tavantolgoi training center, about 40 kilometers west of Ulan Bator. The exercises were mainly intended for US army training Mongolian troops in peacekeeping operations, reported the UB Post. About 200 Mongolian military servicemen left for Iraq at the end of last month, and the second group of the same number...

RUSSIA: Pacific Fleet Back In Business August 27, 2003: For the first time in 15 years, Russia held major military exercises in the far east, off the Kamchatka peninsula. Over ten days, twelve missiles were fired from ships, warplanes and subs at surface targets. Forces involved included about 75 Russian ships (including five nuclear submarines), at least 20 aircraft and some 30,000 troops and civilians. Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, Russia's Pacific fleet has largely been slowly crumbling. There was not enough money to even maintain many ships, which could be seen tied up and growing...

Iran and Pakistan plan to hold joint military exercises in 2003, according to a new intelligence report. Islamabad and Tehran have stepped up contact since the US-led war against terrorism, the report says. Both countries are working to find a foothold in a rapidly changing region, but their closer ties will not shut the door to working with others. The report notes that the two countries have had "mixed relations" in the past, and previous military cooperation has been limited to minor maritime exercises, some training and small arms and ammunition sales. "Since the United States launched its war against...

Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer August 15, 2002 Bragg Ends Confinement Of Soldiers By Henry Cuningham, Staff writer Fort Bragg has released hundreds of soldiers who had been forbidden to go home because of a missing piece of equipment. The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers were released at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday because the commanders decided to turn the search into a criminal investigation, a spokesman said. Officials will not say what is missing, only that it is a "sensitive item." "We have searched everywhere the sensitive item could be," said Maj. Rich Patterson, a spokesman for the division. "Once that search is exhausted,...