Capabilities
Troops from 30 nations join Cobra Gold, demonstrating strength, military ties
Beijing raised defense spending by 7% for 2026, a bid to keep modernizing its military and pressuring Taiwan. Neighbors are responding with bigger defense budgets of their own and more cooperation with Washington.
The patrols tested air-maritime coordination north of Luzon, pushing the partners' cooperative activity beyond the South China Sea.
Since domestic mining is years away from significant yields, New Delhi is ransacking e-waste for lithium and rare earths vital to defense, artificial intelligence and clean energy ambitions.