I got an interview by ARD German TV

I got an interview by ARD German TV this morning. I talked about US President Trump's possible weapon sales to Japan and South Korea amid rising tensions with North Korea.

My latest piece for Jane's Defence Weekly

Four JASDF personnel missing following UH-60J helo crash off coast of Shizuoka Prefecture

Kosuke Takahashi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
18 October 2017

Four Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) personnel are missing, presumed dead, after their UH-60J search-and-rescue helicopter crashed off the coast of Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture on 17 October.Four JASDF personnel are missing, presumed dead, after their UH-60J helicopter (similar to this one) crashed off the coast of Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture on 17 October. (JASDF)
Four JASDF personnel are missing, presumed dead, after their UH-60J helicopter (similar to this one) crashed off the coast of Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture on 17 October. (JASDF)

The UH-60J vanished from radar screens some 30 km south of the JASDF’s Hamamatsu Air Base at about 18.00 h local time while conducting nighttime search-and-rescue drills, according to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Tokyo.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said many parts of the aircraft have been found floating on the sea, indicating that the platform crashed in that area.

Before the incident the JASDF operated 37 UH-60J helicopters, which were built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries under licence from Sikorsky, and 26 U-125A (Hawker 800) aircraft for search-and-rescue activities, according to the MoD.

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My latest story for Jane's Defence Weekly

Japan scrambled fighter aircraft 561 times in first half of FY 2017

Kosuke Takahashi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
16 October 2017

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled its fighter aircraft a total of 561 times in the first half of fiscal year 2017 (FY 2017) in response to foreign military aircraft approaching the country's airspace: a decrease of 5.6% compared with last year’s record-setting figure.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Tokyo said in a statement on 13 October that while there were 33 fewer scrambles than during the first half of the previous FY, the latest figures represent the second-highest total ever recorded in a half year.

The latest announcement by Tokyo comes amid heightened tensions between Japan and some neighbouring countries such as China and Russia over territorial disputes.

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(111 of 420 words)