South Korea, U.S. to stop military drills for summit

South Korea and the United States have decided to suspend their annual combined military drills on the inter-Korean summit day, defense authorities here said Thursday.

N. Korea needs written guarantees that US will end drills to start talks

Pyongyang needs written guarantees of security and an end to military drills on the Korean Peninsula from Washington for negotiations between the sides to begin, a senior Russian senator, Vladimir Dzhabarov, has said.

US F-35s, B-1B Lancers Conduct Flybys to Show ‘Military Options' to Pyongyang

The US has “pretty much exhausted all the things that we can do at the [UN] Security Council at this point,” Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the UN, said Sunday regarding North Korea’s continued missile tests, adding she would be “perfectly happy” to pass the situation onto Pentagon chief James Mattis who has “plenty of military options.”

North Korea slams U.S., South Korea for naval exercises

North Korea denounced joint U.S.-South Korea naval exercises, calling the drills a "severe provocation" that is "pushing an already unstable Korean peninsula into the worst crisis."

Aggressive Russia: US to increase military presence in eastern Europe

The US is stepping up its troop presence in eastern Europe in response to an "aggressive Russia", the military has said.

From next year, three fully manned US combat brigades will be deployed.

NATO stages major military exercise in Latvia after Wales summit

RIGA - NATO staged a major military exercise in Latvia on Saturday in a practical demonstration of NATO leaders' commitment to defend its Baltic member states in the face of an assertive Russia.
A NATO meeting in Wales on Friday agreed to form a new rapid reaction force and to step up exercises in eastern Europe in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Allies in the Baltics fear Russian President Vladimir Putin could use the same rationale as he used to explain intervention in Crimea - defending Russian speakers - to justify an attack against one of the NATO countries in the Baltics, which also have Russian-speaking minorities.

Record number of NATO warships staying in Black Sea since Soviet times.(The Montreux Convention)

There are nine NATO warships in the Black Sea now, a record high number in decades, the RIA Novosti news agency reports citing a military-diplomatic source.

These include the US Vella Gulf Aegis-guided missile cruiser, the French Surcouf frigate and two reconnaissance ships – France’s Dupuy de Lome and Italy’s Elettra.

In addition, there’s a group of NATO minesweepers taking part in the Breeze-2014 naval exercises off the Bulgarian coast. Led by Italy’s ITS Aviere, it also comprises an Italian and Turkish minesweepers, ITS Rimini and TCG Akcay, and the Chiddingfold anti-mine ship of the British Royal navy.

Russia in Continued Military Overhaul (Putin)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday it was his government’s priority to defend the nation against potential military threats, with the help of improved armed forces.

“We are bringing [the military] to a whole new level to keep it on par with the requirements of the 21st century,” Putin said in a speech to military academy graduates in the Kremlin.

“It’s evident that only a mobile, highly effective army and fleet are capable of solving the strategic task of securing Russia’s safety, sovereignty and national interests. The main goal is to defend our citizens against potential military threats,” Putin said.

Su-24 crews hold bombing exercise in Kaliningrad region

Bombing and providing air cover for a ground grouping of troops were practiced by pilots from the Baltic Fleet (BF) bombing aviation crews, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"As part of routine drills the crews of Sukhoi Su-24 frontline bombers of the Fleet's aviation group carried out precision bombing strikes and destroyed the manpower and military hardware of an adversary at an aviation site in the Kaliningrad region," the BF said in a press release obtained by Interfax-AVN on Thursday.

The crews carried out precision bombing against full-size targets simulating engineering structures, manpower and hardware of an adversary.

NATO chief recommits to defending Eastern European, Baltic nations...

BRUSSELS — A reinvigorated NATO flexed old Cold War muscles Tuesday as the Atlantic alliance’s chief recommitted to defending Eastern European and Baltic nations rattled by Russia’s military moves and its annexation of Crimea.

At the opening of a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance has not seen signs of Russian troop withdrawals along the Ukraine border, as Moscow has claimed. A senior U.S. State Department official had called Russia’s promised pullback a “gesture,” but a welcome one.

NATO Secretary General and US President stress commitment to collective defence

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and US President Barack Obama stressed the Alliance’s strong commitment to collective defence during talks in Brussels on Wednesday (26 March 2014). “Our commitment to the defence of our Allies is unbreakable,” said the Secretary General.

Mr. Fogh Rasmussen expressed his strong appreciation for the leadership role the United States plays in the Alliance during his meeting with President Obama. The talks focused on the crisis in Ukraine, relations with Russia and implications of the crisis on the preparations for this September’s NATO Summit in Wales.

USA und Südkorea starten dreitägiges Manöver

Nordkorea testet eine Langstreckenrakete. Die Sanktionen folgen prompt. Nun kündigt Pjöngjang verklausuliert einen Atomtest an - und der Westen reagiert erneut: Eine Militärübung wird angesetzt.

Vor dem Hintergrund der jüngsten Atomtestdrohung Nordkoreas starten die USA und Südkorea am Montag ein gemeinsames Marine-Manöver. Die auf drei Tage angesetzte Militärübung soll im Japanischen Meer nahe der südkoreanischen Hafenstadt Pohang beginnen. An der Übung ist nach Angaben aus Seoul auch ein Atom-U-Boot der USA beteiligt.