Tensions between China and Taiwan have been on the rise in recent years — particularly since Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed his intent to ensure that the People’s Liberation Army would be prepared and equipped to “unify” (or invade) its smaller neighbor by 2027. Although Beijing sees the island as a piece of its territory, Taipei has been under the rule of its own separate government for roughly 75 years.

The security situation in the Indo-Pacific seems more uncertain this week, after Taiwan national security officials raised alarm that they’re detecting a large fleet of warships, high-altitude surveillance balloons and other markers of potential future aggression they associate with China’s military.

“We have remained focused on the [People’s Republic of China’s] activity for quite some time. That’s why the PRC has been our pacing challenge for the last four years. We’ve talked about their coercive actions in the region. And certainly, this latest activity is something that we will continue to monitor and make sure that that nobody does anything to change the status quo in the [Taiwan Strait],” Austin said during a press briefing to close out a multi-day trip to Japan, which will mark his final visit to the Indo-Pacific as the U.S. defense chief.

The secretary highlighted joint pursuits that America and Japan executed on during his tenure, including an ongoing push to collaboratively upgrade their militaries’ command-and-control frameworks and expanding their shared operational responsibilities.

Notably, the Taiwan Strait is considered one of the world’s most critical waterways for global shipping, as heaps of valuable trade assets pass through it every day. Beijing so far does not appear to have made it clear whether the capabilities its surging near the strait this week are part of a training exercise, military drill — or some other, more threatening scheme.

Responding to DefenseScoop’s questions in Japan Wednesday, Austin didn’t say if he’s spoken to his Taiwanese counterparts about the still-evolving incident, or if his team has any indications of China’s reasoning for the deployments near the island this week.

“Our policy hasn’t changed. We’ll continue to do what we can to help Taiwan acquire the means to defend itself. Again, that work continues on. But this latest activity — we’ll continue to monitor it and see what happens,” he said.

Austin also expressed confidence that the U.S. military will continue to have the capacity and focus to deter China and work with its allies to promote peace around the Indo-Pacific, even as conflicts around the Middle East and in Ukraine continue to expand.

“Throughout [the last four years], the PRC has been our pacing challenge. And we have done a number of things that — globally — can help our partners and allies,” he told DefenseScoop. “A combination of what we’ve done to help Ukraine defend itself and put more pressure on Russia, to help Israel do what it’s done, has made Russia weaker and Iran weaker as well. And so that has had an impact.”

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Those bilateral engagements followed stops earlier that day at both U.S. Forces Japan headquarters at Yokota Air Base, and separately the Yokohama North Docks, where Austin heard directly from military personnel about maturing efforts to modernize the alliance’s command-and-control capabilities.

They also came as the two allies work on refining requirements to reconstitute USFJ into a joint force headquarters.

“As the security situation in the region is increasingly severe, I would like to continue to move forward with important initiatives of the alliance and cooperating our efforts to strengthen alliance capabilities to deter and respond, as well as to mitigate the impacts on local communities,” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told Austin and his team during the open-press portion of their bilateral meeting.

Austin also emphasized how the two nations are operating in a clear-eyed manner regarding the challenges to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and other areas of the world.

“That includes coercive behavior by the People’s Republic of China in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and elsewhere in a region. It includes Russia’s reckless war of choice in Ukraine, and it includes [North Korea’s] support for Moscow’s war, as well as its other destabilizing and provocative activities,” he said. “But we’re meeting these challenges with confidence and resolve, and we remain committed to advancing our historic trilateral cooperation with [the] Republic of Korea.”

As the defense leaders alluded to, their meetings this week unfolded as Syria continues to erupt in political chaos, South Korea confronts backlash and works to recuperate from its president’s recent, temporary declaration of martial law, and conflicts continue to play out both in Ukraine and around Israel.

While the main portions of the Pentagon chief’s engagements were closed to the press on Tuesday, senior U.S. defense officials briefed a small group of journalists traveling in Austin’s delegation on the progress and implications of the deepening U.S.-Japan military partnership.

“The department has been working to realize the vision that Secretary Austin outlined in July” at a 2+2 dialogue in Tokyo, one senior official said.

There, American and Japanese national security officials solidified a plan to revamp their alliance’s command and control — or C2 — capabilities, including by enabling more collaboration on next-generation technologies within their defense industries and by expanding joint, cross-domain missions.

“The United States and Japan are on track to deliver that vision, as [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] continues to convene working groups with Japanese counterparts to build out alliance coordination procedures and other operational measures for enhanced bilateral cooperation. There have been several such working groups so far,” the senior defense official said.

They added that, at the same time, America is also moving to reshape USFJ into a joint force headquarters by revamping its resources and facilities to expand and enable more cooperative missions and responsibilities.

“We are in a good position to implement these requirements in the months ahead, ensuring that the JFHQ is in a strong position to operate effectively with Japan and that the alliance can respond in peacetime and contingencies,” according to the senior defense official.

In their view, “Japan has been investing more than ever in its own capabilities.”

They pointed to how, in particular, the island nation has been moving to take on more roles and missions in the alliance and the broader region — including by standing up its own joint operations and command center that should open up sometime early next spring.

“And in the context of that, we made an alliance decision to upgrade U.S. Forces Japan, which has largely been in the business of managing the alliance itself, but not an operational command,” the senior U.S. defense official said.

They committed to sharing more information on the technical aspects of this pivot in the near future.

“But currently, the U.S. Forces Japan commander is dual-hatted as the 5th Air Force commander — and the decision that Secretary Austin made this summer as an alliance decision is to split those and to have a standalone [USFJ] commander that would be in command of this upgraded command, and one of the principal responsibilities of that will to be linking up with Japan’s new joint operational command in a way that we have not done before in the U.S.-Japan alliance,” the official said.

Additionally, they pointed out that the original language lawmakers proposed for the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (the House-Senate negotiated version of the NDAA was released Saturday) incorporates a reporting requirement that if passed would mandate Defense Department personnel to inform Congress members about the progress that’s been made since the nations first agreed to boost their military partnerships.

“That’s just another sign and symbol of the bipartisan congressional interest and support that we see on this issue,” the senior defense official said.

During the official bilateral dialogues with Nakatani and Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday, Austin repeatedly emphasized that — despite intensifying warfare in multiple regions around the world — he believes that the U.S.-Japan alliance is presently stronger than ever.

“We share a vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, and I’m proud of how much we’ve accomplished over the past four years. We’ve announced major improvements to our force posture, advanced groundbreaking defense industrial agreements and taken steps to upgrade our command and control, and we’ve worked more closely than ever with our partners across this region in support of stability, deterrence and peace,” the Pentagon chief said.

In his opening remarks with Austin, which reporters were permitted to observe ahead of the closed-door meeting, Ishiba said the global conflict landscape is changing “very quickly, on a weekly basis” — and that current events now playing out in Syria and South Korea were difficult to imagine or predict not that long ago.

“A century from now, we will consider what’s happening in 2024 as something historic. So, we need to be accountable for today’s world, as well as the world of tomorrow’s generations,” he said.

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“And so, we want to see this region, this area, remain open to freedom of navigation and the ability to fly the skies and international airways whenever we want to. We want to see that remain, and so we’re going to continue to work with our allies and partners to ensure that we can do that — and yes, you play a critical role in that, and in sending that message,” he said.

Yokosuka is the first of several military bases Austin and his team are set to tour in Japan this week, on what will ultimately be his 13th and final trip to the Indo-Pacific during his leadership tenure as America’s defense chief. After motorcading to Hardy Barracks, he and his team arrived on the Naval base in Black Hawk helicopters.

During closed-press meetings inside the aircraft carrier, he engaged with senior U.S. Naval Forces Japan leaders — as well as some of the top-performing sailors on the vessel.

Then, he took the stage on the flight deck and addressed what defense officials said were up to approximately 1,800 service members.

“I know this is a very complex endeavor, but I want you to know that I appreciate the sacrifices that you and your families make, and we’re going to continue to do everything we can to help you make moves easier and enable you to focus on what you do each and every day better,” Austin told the crowd.

Since it was docked at the Naval base last month, USS George Washington is currently the only forward-deployed U.S. aircraft carrier anywhere in the world. In this context, it’s also considered the first time that the Navy’s forward-deployed carrier air wing is equipped with fifth-generation aircraft — the stealthy F-35C.

“That is a very, very capable platform. And so, again, I think any U.S. Naval ship deployed anywhere is a statement of the U.S.’ commitment. And certainly, when you send a carrier battle group, it is a strong statement of the U.S.’ commitment,” Austin told DefenseScoop in a short press gaggle after finishing his address to the sailors.

“USS Washington is extremely important,” he added.

When asked about his team’s latest assessment of whether China’s military is presently on track to be prepared to invade Taiwan by 2027 — a stated goal of Beijing’s leadership — Austin noted that there’s been a lot of speculation lately about whether Chinese President Xi Jinping “will decide to do one thing or another.”

“I would just say from my vantage point — at this point in time — I don’t think an attack [on Taiwan] is either imminent or unavoidable. So, again, our goal is to make sure that we continue to work with likeminded partners and allies to ensure that we maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific. And we’ve been pretty successful at that,” the secretary told DefenseScoop.

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Here, he’ll spend the next three days engaging with U.S. troops and Japanese leaders about ongoing joint command-and-control upgrades the two militaries are pursuing, as well as a range of other nascent cooperative efforts designed to expand and modernize their shared arsenals of warfighting assets.

During an 11-hour flight overseas from California, a senior U.S. defense official traveling in Austin’s delegation briefed a small group of reporters on the demonstrations and activities the secretary and his team are set to observe and participate in at multiple military installations around the island nation.

“Throughout the next three days, we’re going to see a lot of ‘firsts’ in Japan,” the senior defense official said.

It might be his last visit to the close U.S. treaty ally as secretary, but this trip also marks Austin’s fourth official time in Japan while steering DOD.

In the senior defense official’s view, “it’s fitting that the secretary would travel again to Japan at the end of this year because his first overseas trip as secretary in March 2021 was to the Indo-Pacific — and his first foreign stop on that trip was Japan.”

On Monday, Austin will head to Yokosuka Naval Base and tour the USS George Washington, which has been docked there since last month and is the only forward-deployed U.S. aircraft carrier worldwide at this time.

According to the senior official, it’s also the first time, in this context, that the Navy’s forward-deployed carrier air wing includes fifth-generation aircraft, the stealthy F-35C.

“So, this really marks a very significant milestone for our force posture efforts in Japan. And importantly, it showcases just how we are continuously modernizing the alliance’s capabilities, especially since we’ve started in 2021,” they said.

Next up, on Tuesday, the secretary will head to Yokota Air Base, where U.S. Forces Japan is now headquartered.  

“He’s actually going to get a progress report on how we are doing on command and control, or C2, and the upgrades that they’re actually making underway,” the senior defense official explained.

At a 2+2 dialogue in Tokyo this summer, top U.S. and Japanese national security officials solidified a plan to strategically update their alliance’s C2 capabilities, largely by deepening defense industry and advanced technology cooperation, and enhancing cross-domain operations.

“We have to get this right — but we also have to do it the right way. So, I think Tuesday’s briefing is going to give [Austin] a chance to really take stock on what’s been happening, what’s progressed today, what’s expected of this ongoing effort,” the senior defense official said.

Further, Japan is currently developing its military’s own, first-ever Joint Operations Center, with aims to officially stand it up in March 2025. Austin and his counterparts are looking to discuss changes America is making to U.S. Forces Japan to ensure they can eventually link up with that new joint operational command in a way that they have not been able to before.

From there, Austin and the team will head to Yokohama North Dock to meet directly with the U.S. Army’s 5th Composite Watercraft Company.

“This is significant because this company was actually activated in February of this year. It’s not only the first time this is deployed — now, it’s the first time [any of the] companies deployed outside the United States,” the senior defense official told reporters.

And then to close out Tuesday’s packed schedule of events, Austin is set to attend an office call with Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and then a working dinner with Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani.

“These engagements are going to give the secretary the opportunity to really take stock of the progress that we’ve made together over the years, thank the two of them, really, for the partnership, and underscore the importance of the alliance as a cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” the official noted.

They and others have suggested to DefenseScoop that China’s intensifying employment of political, economic and military coercion to essentially reshape the international order in the Indo-Pacific — for its own benefit — is considered a major motivation for the U.S. and Japan’s steadily strengthening alliance in the region.

Finally, on Wednesday, Austin will conclude the trip after traveling to Camp Asaka to observe the multi-day military exercise Yama Sakura unfolding in real-time.

“This exercise has taken place every year since 1982, but this is the first time that we’re actually incorporating more and formal Australian participation, which is something that Secretary Austin and his counterparts in Australia and Japan announced a few weeks ago in Darwin,” the senior defense official said.

Over recent months, leaders within the trilateral security alliance between Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. have been hosting nascent discussions with their Japanese counterparts about cooperating on a project-by-project basis under AUKUS Pillar 2, which entails the co-development of disruptive warfighting technologies across six focus areas.

In response to questions from DefenseScoop on Sunday regarding what capability areas may be prioritized first with Japan, the senior defense official confirmed consultations are ongoing, but declined to identify the specific technologies in question for nearest-term acceleration.

They committed to sharing more information after the trip to Tokyo ends.

“Importantly, we continue to work with Japan on deepening our trilateral and multilateral security partnerships — whether that’s with the Republic of Korea, Australia, the Philippines and others,” the senior defense official repeatedly emphasized during the briefing.

Notably, ahead of departing for this trip, DOD planners told reporters who were invited that there was a possibility that the secretary and his crew would also visit South Korea along the way. That changed after South Korea‘s President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Dec. 3 — and subsequently lifted it hours later after massive public outcry and lawmakers unanimously rejected the decree.

“When Secretary Austin meets with his counterparts, they often spend a good deal of time comparing assessments of major events in the region. And the trilateral relationship between the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea has been a top tier priority for the Biden administration from the very start,” the senior defense official said in response to questions from DefenseScoop about whether the secretary planned to discuss the chaos and still-unfolding fallout in South Korea with his Japanese partners.

“And I think there is every reason to expect that all parties involved will remain quite committed — and certainly between Washington and Tokyo — quite committed to carrying on that progress,” they said.

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Speaking at a press briefing in the capital city of Suva alongside Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Austin and his counterpart unveiled plans to deepen their militaries’ cooperation in the near term — including negotiations on a new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that would enable American and Fijian personnel to operate jointly on the same bases and train side-by-side on a more routine cadence.

“We discussed the unique and various security challenges in the Pacific Islands region. Maritime security is essential. So, I’m pleased that our first delivery of rigid-hull inflatable boats will arrive in the next several months. Soon after, we’ll deliver a new boat ramp to support maritime patrols of your borders, and we’ll continue expanding our exercises and engagement together,” Austin said. 

His stop in Fiji marked the first time in history that a U.S. defense secretary toured the country. And it was the final leg of Austin’s latest weeklong trip to four nations across the region, after he visited Australia, the Philippines and Laos.

In each location, the Pentagon chief and his counterparts underscored their commitments to collaboratively promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” particularly as China continues to flex its military presence there.

A senior defense official who previewed the Defense Department’s top objectives with Fiji ahead of the main events, said part of the ultimate aim is for the militaries to jointly plan and “be more present together in the region.”

Pointing to recent conversations with their Fijian partners, the official said the forces align on many overarching objectives.

“They certainly want a more capable military. They want a more professionalized military — and they’ve told us this directly. They want ways to train with the United States so they can, again, build that capacity. And they also want to be more able and more efficient and effective in responding to regional needs, from humanitarian assistance projects to disasters. It’s really important,” the senior defense official said. 

During that sidelines briefing with the traveling press corps, and in Austin’s meetings with American and Fijian journalists on the following day, officials shed light on the mechanisms and deliverables through which the countries’ militaries are moving quickly to expand cooperation.

Notably, they revealed that their governments recently kicked off formal negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement that, once signed, will legally permit deeper collaboration through bilateral exercises and other mil-to-mil engagements.

Ahead of that announcement, senior defense officials told reporters that working more closely with the Fiji Military Forces will offer U.S. troops the strategic benefit of diversifying their own force posture in and around the Indo-Pacific region. 

“The SOFA will enable us to deploy and redeploy forces in support of Fiji and help us train with the Fijians on a very routine basis. I look forward to routine rotations, training rotations — where possible — to be conducted. There is no notion of any permanent basing to be established here in Fiji. We did not have any discussions like that, but we do enjoy training with our great partners here in Fiji and look forward to more of that in the future,” Austin told reporters. 

The defense secretary also announced that the two nations signed an Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement to speed up their transfer of resources and logistics capacity, and allow each military to access the other’s maintenance facilities during emergencies. 

According to the senior defense official, ACSAs are “a default” between the U.S. and its closest partners — and this one with Fiji is the result of nearly a decade of negotiations.

Austin’s other major announcement at the briefing was that America will provide $4.9 million in foreign military financing for small-arms recapitalization to the Fijian forces, if lawmakers approve it.  

“This will go really straight to what they’re asking for and what their needs are,” a senior defense official said.

In response to questions from reporters from both nations, military and political leaders expressed confidence that the U.S. commitments to Fiji would continue under the incoming Trump administration. 

They also emphasized their countries’ shared intent to prioritize safety and security across the Indo-Pacific.

“We all pray [this deepened partnership is] not an indication that we are looking at some dangerous years ahead. We’re here to talk about peace and how we guard, and protect, and promote that peace,” Fiji’s PM Rabuka said.

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On Saturday, Austin will join his top counterparts from that country to announce the initiation of negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which is designed to advance U.S. military efforts and joint operations in the region.

The nations will also be signing an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) to enable deeper bilateral logistics cooperation — including by enabling the transfer of fuel and medical supplies, and access to maintenance facilities during emergencies. The U.S. is also set to commit $4.9 million in new security assistance to accelerate Fiji’s defense modernization through enhanced Foreign Military Financing, pending congressional approval.

But before that, when Austin and his team touched down at the Fiji military’s headquarters for Joint Task Force Command at Black Rock Camp, he was greeted with a traditional welcoming ceremony that demonstrated the historic weight of his visit.

Fiji’s military band, which has been playing for more than a century, welcomed Austin and his delegation with the United States’ national anthem. After a full performance a bit later, they also played American music hits including “Eye of the Tiger.”

Austin was offered and consumed the island drink Kava — and he was presented with multiple traditional Fijian gifts, including a roasted hog and a whale’s tooth. The latter is significant in that whale teeth were an original form of Fiji’s currency.

At the military base near Fiji’s capital of Suva, Austin also enjoyed a rugby match among the military and a local team — after which he presented them with signed rugby balls, U.S. Department of Defense baseball caps, and a medal for each team. Austin — who played rugby during his days at West Point — told reporters he particularly enjoyed that game.

He also thanked the Fijian military a number of times for their hospitality and generosity. 

The stop in Fiji marks Austin’s final stop on a week-long trip to four nations in the Indo-Pacific as the Pentagon looks to enhance defense ties with countries in the region amid strategic competition with China. 

In a press briefing ahead of the visit, a senior defense official told DefenseScoop that part of the U.S. move to partner more deeply with Fiji is because it’s one of three Pacific Island countries with a professional, standing military.

“We need partners who have that capability to work with us,” the official said.

They added that the stop in Fiji will be a “very impactful, packed series of programming we have.”

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Austin is representing the United States and participating in formal exchanges with multiple international military partners at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) on Wednesday and Thursday, marking the latest stop of his week-long trip to multiple nations across the Indo-Pacific region. 

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview his plans ahead of the events, two senior U.S. defense officials attending in Austin’s entourage briefed reporters on the secretary’s agenda for the conference.

Leading up to the ADMM-Plus, those and other Pentagon officials suggested there was a chance Austin and Dong would directly connect on the sidelines of the event. Hope was building over the course of this week on the U.S. side for the possible linkup — particularly following President Joe Biden’s meeting with People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping in Peru on Nov. 17.

But the night before the main ADMM-Plus events kicked off, the U.S. officials told reporters that Beijing — through an American defense attache — rebuffed Austin’s invite for the formal meet-up.

“I regret that the PRC chose not to meet here. The PRC decision is a setback for the whole region. As I’ve said consistently, the right time to meet is anytime now,” Austin told reporters in a press briefing late Wednesday after his meetings at the ADMM-Plus concluded.

U.S.-China relations are historically complex, and America’s contemporary national defense strategy identifies the Chinese military as the Pentagon’s top pacing threat. The nations’ rivalry could reach a tipping point in the near future regarding Taiwan, a self-governing island in East Asia that’s considered one of the United States’ closest partners in the region — which the PRC also claims as part of its territory. 

The senior defense officials told reporters that the rationale that Beijing provided for its rejection was related to the roughly $2 billion weapons sale package the U.S. approved for Taiwan in October, consisting primarily of missile and radar systems.

However, they also noted that, in their view, it’s all part of a long-standing pattern of PRC behavior that involves turning military-to-military communications on and off — due to whatever political reason fits their purposes at the time. Examples in the recent past, they said, include the 2023 Chinese spy balloon incident and then-House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022. 

The U.S. officials additionally pointed to what they view as intensifying corruption issues across China’s government — and a hesitancy from that nation so as to not show vulnerability in such discussions with their Western counterparts — as reasoning for the PRC’s refusal to chat at the ADMM-Plus.

Despite no plans with Dong on the ground in Laos, Austin’s meeting schedule at the summit is packed with engagements. On Wednesday, the secretary joined other defense chiefs in separate bilateral meetings with New Zealand, Laos, Cambodia and Singapore. 

He also participated in the U.S.-ASEAN Informal Defence Meeting with the military leaders and defense ministers from the countries in attendance. 

While these events weren’t open to the press onsite, the U.S. defense officials said Tuesday that Austin planned to spotlight significant concerns about some of the regional and global security challenges in the Indo-Pacific — including the PRC’s ongoing coercion in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and North Korean troops training with Russian forces as the war in Ukraine wages on.

At this year’s ADMM-Plus, Austin is also set to unveil a new “Department of Defense Vision Statement for a Prosperous and Secure Southeast Asia.”

According to a draft summary of that document shared with reporters ahead of its release, “the United States seeks to advance the collective capacity of ASEAN and individual Southeast Asian nations by investing in” the following areas: exercises, education and training, defense industrial capacity building, defense mitigation of climate impacts, and domain awareness and defense.

Though mentions of specific technology-driving initiatives were light in that document, the U.S. indicated it’s committed to helping its Asian partners with “securing domain awareness, whether in the air, maritime, cyber space, or information environment.” 

“The United States will enhance maritime capacity building programs with a focus on using commercially available technologies to expand maritime domain awareness, continuous presence, and scientific research through unmanned systems complemented by artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to maximize awareness,” according to the vision statement.

Briefing the press on Wednesday after the summit, Austin said this new vision statement will be put forward on Thursday, and it’s “focused on practical cooperation and mutual respect — and that includes training the next generation of leaders and tackling emerging challenges and deepening maritime cooperation.”

“I’m also pleased to announce the second ASEAN-U.S. maritime exercise for next year, which ASEAN member states approved earlier today, and I look forward to meeting with key allies and partners,” Austin told reporters.  

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“Our cooperation continues to grow. That means deepened information-sharing, combined maritime activities, joint training and capacity building. And we can do even more in the future,” Austin told American and Philippine reporters in a press briefing.

This marked Austin’s second stop in the Philippines during his fourth trip to the island nation — the most any U.S. defense secretary has made to that country to date. At the press briefing, Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro said Austin requested to pay a personal visit to WESCOM on this stopover.

On the ground at the headquarters, his team toured the C2 Fusion Center and observed in-development drone and interoperability technologies that the two militaries are jointly refining. That center is one of several built by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in the Philippines to enhance information-sharing and collaboration.

“I just watched the Philippine Navy demonstrate the capabilities of a T-12 unmanned surface vessel. The T-12 is one of several unmanned capabilities funded and delivered this year through U.S. security assistance,” Austin said.

On the sidelines of that event, U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Logan Hampton briefed DefenseScoop on some of the intricacies of that platform.

“It’s made by Martac, which is a U.S. company, and it’s called the Mantas. It’s a 12-foot unmanned surface vessel. It has redundant comm pathways for over-the-horizon and local — so, line of sight. Then it has autonomous avoidance, and then it has a clear camera for a [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance or ISR] payload,” Hampton said.

The drones are primarily deployed to help increase the military forces’ maritime domain awareness. They operate as a sort of littoral monitoring station that can be sent out and then feed back data and imagery to inform commanders about operations and incursions at sea.

When equipped with all the add-on assets and packages available, according to Hampton, the USVs can reach a range of about 30 nautical miles.

“So this unit is a developmental unit. They have four of those — two of them in ISR configuration, two in a sonar configuration. One of them is actually on the water in Oyster Bay here that’s conducting surveys now. And they have a larger vessel — that’s a T-38 — that’s a 38-footer that it’s in [Subic Bay right now], and it’s being controlled by these two operators here. So, both boats that are on the water right now are being controlled by Phil Navy personnel [who are] USV operators,” the staff sergeant told DefenseScoop.

Notably, the USVs are enabled partially via Starlink capabilities powered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellites, which Hampton called “a force multiplier.”

“It makes everything easier — very plug-and-play. You can see there’s a mini Starlink right there that’s powering them right now, for the internet … as they’re controlling from afar. And then there is a maritime Starlink on each of the vessels and this Fusion Center being ran by Starlink. So, it’s pretty useful,” Hampton said.

In Hampton’s view, this work is a strong example of how the U.S. and Philippine militaries are facilitating pathways to strengthen inoperability in real-world missions.

“We’re doing AAR — or after-action reviews — and we’re just, together, on the Philippines and U.S. side, just trying to develop this as quick as possible,” he said.

Hampton expected to be stationed in Palawan and working in this capacity until sometime in the first quarter of 2025. However, he emphasized that — while this is all unfolding in partnership with American forces — these are strictly the Philippines’ capabilities.

“We don’t control them. We are partners, and we help them with enhanced cooperability and integration. But this is theirs. So, I can’t tell them, like, ‘Hey, go do this. Go do that.’ It’s all about building relationships and working by, with and through the partners. And it’s their show. We’re just here to support,” Hampton said.

Later, at the press briefing, Austin confirmed that “many more platforms like this” will likely be delivered to the Philippines in the near term — particularly through the $500 million in foreign military financing he announced during his last visit to the nation.

The military allies are currently puzzling out the platforms and capabilities the U.S. will supply — but officials suggested an early focus will be on cyber and asymmetric capabilities.

“We want to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to help [Teodoro] increase his domain awareness, his ability to protect his sovereign territory and his interests — and cyber plays a critical role in that respect. You saw evidence of that earlier today when the T-12  was on display out there. And the … T-12, as you know, a fundamental part of that is the ability to command and control that using cyber capabilities. We have to protect those capabilities,” Austin told DefenseScoop.

“And we have to ensure that also that as we acquire more of these systems, that our supply chains are protected, and that we meet the demands as conditions change and things evolve,” he added.

Building on that, Teodoro told DefenseScoop that his national government is in the process of developing convergence measures to protect the country’s critical infrastructure, domestic supply chains and telecommunication systems from vulnerabilities that they could face now and in the future.

In response to questions from Philippines-based reporters, the defense secretaries said that they could not speculate on whether these and other high-stakes U.S.-Philippines joint military pursuits will carry on after Donald Trump is inaugurated as America’s next president in January.

“But I believe that this will remain an important country to us for many, many years. And the strength of our alliance, I think, will transcend changes of administration going forward,” Austin said.

Teodoro noted that the U.S. is a treaty ally, so his nation “would like certainty or guarantee with our bilateral relations.”

“But we should feel also on the other side of the coin, equally, with our anticipating of the possible and what will happen [with regard to the] United States next year, we should be calling out what [Chinese President Xi Jinping] is thinking about in so far as China is concerned — because the alternative factor, a positive factor, which has caused this alliance to be as robust as it is, is Chinese overreach and aggression in this party of the world,” Teodoro said.

Amid intensifying coercion in and around the South China Sea, he further said that Chinese military personnel have increasingly been denying his nation access to its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

“They have really placed a lot of these pseudo-military vessels disguised as Coast Guard vessels, hence, maritime vessels in the areas of the West Sea. And they have been very aggressive in their information operations against the Philippines,” Teodoro said.

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“It’s part of the strategic approach to facing our shared threats that both of our countries have invested a lot of resources, a lot of manpower, and a lot of brain power. And I’m sure it will benefit future generations of both our peoples to come,” Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro said.

After the events, a senior defense official and another defense official deeply involved in these efforts shared new details about the new center, or CCC, and the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

“Signing this agreement will now allow the United States and the Philippines to exchange classified information in a smoother way and in a more frequent way — and that will facilitate deeper cooperation in a whole number of realms,” the senior defense official said, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.

Broadly, the GSOMIA is a legal framework negotiated between the American government and a foreign government to establish that each party will properly protect and handle classified military information to an equivalent degree of protection that is required by the organization releasing it.

“Whether it’s with a pilot and an aircraft or to exchange information that we’re seeing through various technologies — manned or unmanned — it will give us a faster way to exchange this information,” the senior defense official told DefenseScoop.

This trip marked Austin’s fourth to the Philippines — the most times that a U.S. secretary of defense has visited the island nation. 

During his last visit, the U.S. announced $500 million in foreign military financing for the country.

“We are going to use that $500 million in cooperation with the Philippines to prioritize asymmetric capabilities, cyber capabilities. And across these types of capabilities, there will be an element where being able to engage more smoothly in the classified space will enhance our ability to work effectively,” the senior defense official said.

They confirmed that Pentagon leadership is actively working with the Philippines to map out the initial capabilities they want to purchase.

In Manila, the defense leaders also participated in the groundbreaking for the new Combined Coordination Center.

Officials told reporters that the CCC will be another mechanism via which the nations will be deepening their relationships and coordination, particularly with regard to the South China Sea, across multiple domains.

“We’ve been doing this on an ad-hoc basis for a long time. And I think as we expanded our exercise series, and particularly Exercise Balikatan over the last couple of years, it was clear there was a need to take this out of random conference rooms and into a more dedicated center, especially one that had the right types of information feeds coming in — both classified and unclassified information — that we could see together [and] serve space that we work in,” a defense official said on condition of anonymity.

The militaries are planning to open the new CCC by fall 2025.

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“During this trip, we will deliver results to advance cooperation, strengthen our relationships, and build an enduring network of allies and partners. I am proud of the historic progress we’ve made over the last four years and the depth of continuing U.S. commitment to the region,” Austin said in a statement ahead of takeoff.

Earlier this week, senior defense officials previewed plans for the trip on the condition of anonymity during a briefing at the Pentagon with a small group of reporters invited to accompany Austin on his journey. They spotlighted aims to promote deeper research and technology-driving partnerships and further the U.S. military’s interoperability with partners in the region.

First, the secretary and his entourage will land in Darwin, Australia. There, he’ll participate in a trilateral defense ministerial meeting with his Australian and Japanese counterparts. 

Senior U.S. defense officials said those involved plan to make “significant strides” to evolve their joint air and missile defense and information-sharing capabilities.

“On the interoperability front, you will see the three ministers … announcing that Japan is committing to integrate its forces into Marine Rotational Force Darwin rotations to train alongside the United States and Australia in Darwin starting next year in 2025. So that’s going to be a very critical … deliverable rounding out those trilateral discussions,” one of the background briefers said. 

After that first stop, Austin and his crew will continue on to the Philippines, where they’ll spend a full first day in Manila and then a half day on the island of Palawan.

He’ll visit Camp Aguinaldo, the Philippines’ military base where their Department of National Defense is housed, to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new bilateral Combined Coordination Center, or CCC, where forces from both nations’ militaries will sit side-by-side to conduct operational planning.

Next up, in Palawan, Austin will visit Philippines Western Command headquarters, which is a key node for ongoing naval operations in the South China Sea.

“Then Secretary Austin will head to the C2 fusion center, a site built by [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] for military information sharing — for a Philippine Navy tech demonstration of a T-12 unmanned surface vessel,” a senior defense official told reporters in the briefing.

In response to questions from DefenseScoop, the official said there will not be any announcements associated with the U.S. pre-positioning uncrewed assets in these Pacific nations to deter China, but the demo will involve military personnel from the Philippines operating some of the drone systems that the Pentagon has provided to them.

“Those types of systems will be a strong theme throughout the effort, for sure,” they told DefenseScoop.

From there, Austin and the team will go to Laos for the ASEAN defense ministers meeting. 

On the sidelines, the Pentagon leader is expected to unveil multiple new partnership initiatives and announce what officials called the “first-ever U.S. DOD vision statement for a prosperous and secure Southeast Asia.”

Austin’s last stop on this journey will be in Fiji — notably marking the first time an American leader serving in that capacity visits the nation. 

“Significantly, this is the big announcement. He will announce that our countries will begin negotiations on a U.S.-Fiji SOFA, the Status of Forces Agreement … You know this is important, because it really spells out how the United States, our forces, can operate in the country, and it will empower us to do more together with them,” a senior defense official told reporters. 

Austin is also set to sign a new “acquisition and cross-servicing agreement,” which the official said will enable America to send logistical support to the island nation “very quickly in any kind of emergency.”

“I am proud of the historic progress we’ve made over the last four years and the depth of continuing U.S. commitment to the region,” Austin said in the statement.

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