Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- August 15, 2019

Military honour guards attend a flag-raising ceremony at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, in Taipei, Taiwan March 16, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Reuters: Taiwan sharply boosts defense budget amid China tension

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan unveiled its largest defense spending increase in more than a decade on Thursday amid rising military tensions with its giant neighbor China, which considers the self-ruled island its own and has not renounced the use of force against it.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s cabinet signed off on an 8.3% increase in military spending for the year starting January to T$411.3 billion ($13.11 billion), its largest yearly gain since 2008, according to Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.

If approved by lawmakers, which is likely given the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s control of parliament, it will be the highest since records started in 2001, data from the statistics agency show.

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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- August 15, 2019

Taiwan Boosts Military Spending as China Looms -- Foreign Policy

Taiwan unveils ‘suicide’ drone at arms expo as Taipei expands military spending -- SCMP

Taiwan Reveals Land-Based Variant Of Naval Point Defense Missile System To Guard Key Sites -- Warzone/The Drive

South Korea moves to kick its missile defense shield up a notch -- Defense News

South Korea to Deploy New Batch of Troops to Gulf of Aden - Reports -- Sputnik

U.S., South Korea burden-sharing talks spur worries of widening rift -- UPI

The F-35 Preps for Weapons Upgrade by Dropping New Bombs & Firing Guns -- Warrior Maven

Non-deployability rates drop in Air Force — without kicking anyone out -- Air Force Times

Team of Hackers Finds Several Serious Vulnerabilities in US F-15 Fighter Jets -- Sputnik

Marines and sailors practice fighting at sea using an 80-year-old communication tactic -- Marine Times

Pentagon eager to resolve JEDI contract as China races to develop military cloud computing system -- CNBC

Washington blacklists Chinese nuclear firms for ‘helping military acquire US technology’ -- SCMP/Bloomberg

Amid Iran Crisis, U.S. Offers Big Military Aid Boost to Azerbaijan -- LobeLog

Iran's Rouhani criticises US military build-up in Gulf -- Sputnik

U.S. Arranges Secret Talks Between Israel, U.A.E. Over Iran -- The Wall Street Journal

Think Tank: China Manipulates Coverage of Military Exercises to Sway Taiwanese Public Opinion -- Frank Fang, Epoch Times

Beijing starts military exercise in disputed South China Sea as tensions with Vietnam rise -- SCMP

Weaponizing Biotech: How China’s Military Is Preparing for a ‘New Domain of Warfare’ -- Defense One

Europe faces security threat from the rise in Chinese military power -- Gary Schmitt, The Hill

Turkey Building Second Base in Qatar Amid Gulf Tensions - Reports -- Sputnik

Russian Nuclear Accident Highlights New Cruise Missile -- Washington Free Beacon

NATO accuses Russian jet of conducting "unsafe" maneuver during aerial encounter -- CNN

Germany’s Merkel reneges on NATO defense pledge, causing friction with U.S. -- Jerusalem Post