Category: War & Conflicts

As South Korea draws visitors chasing beauty, dodgy practices pose risks

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Seoul, South Korea – When Alex looked into the price difference between rhinoplasty, commonly known as a “nose job”, in the United States and South Korea, she thought that flying to the Asian country for the surgery was a no-brainer.

“$30,000 or $6,000, the choice was clear,” Alex, who asked not to be referred to by her real name, told Al Jazeera, describing her decision to undergo the procedure in the country “known to be number one in plastic surgery”.

But less than a year later, the entertainer found herself grappling with severe complications.

The implant from her surgery had begun protruding through her skin, necessitating emergency removal back in the US.

“Had I known what I know now, I would have never done it,” she said, visibly distressed as she described her ongoing struggle with complications, including a crooked nose and visible hole that required corrective surgery.

“I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Korea to do surgery because of this.”

South Korea has the highest rate of plastic surgery procedures per capita in the world, according to Expert Market Research, with a market worth $1.7bn in 2023.

The sector is expected to grow to be worth $5.19bn by 2032, driven by the global popularity of Korean pop culture, or “hallyu”, which has popularised Korean beauty standards and fuelled interest in Korean cosmetic procedures worldwide.

In the capital Seoul, the affluent district of Gangnam is awash with clinics and hospitals specialising in cosmetic procedures and surgery, offering everything from double eyelid surgery to facial contouring, liposuction and breast augmentation.

A pedestrian walks past an advertisement for a plastic surgery clinic at a subway station in Seoul on March 26, 2014 [Jung Yeon-Je/AFP]

While they also cater to local customers, international patients are a highly lucrative part of their business.

Last year, South Korea attracted 605,768 non-resident foreign patients for medical services, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, with the highest numbers coming from Japan, China, the United States and Thailand.

Plastic surgery accounted for 16.8 percent of procedures – more than 114,000 surgeries – making it the second most sought-after medical speciality after dermatology.

But beneath the glossy marketing and viral social media videos luring medical tourists from around the world, foreign patients face a multitude of barriers to access, misinformation and deceptive practices, putting their health at risk, an investigation by Al Jazeera has found.

One of the biggest challenges for medical tourists is the language barrier.

In key markets like China and the US, prospective patients often turn to a variety of online platforms for advice, including open chat groups, Reddit pages, and even niche forums ostensibly dedicated to topics like designer handbags.

These murky digital spaces are filled with anonymous users discussing procedures while exchanging clinic and doctor recommendations, procedure tips, so-called blacklists and translator contacts.

The abundance of unverified information and lack of accountability make it challenging for users to discern genuine experiences from potentially biased accounts or covert advertisements.

They are also a hunting ground for illegal brokers who can make substantial commissions for simply referring clients.

While soliciting to foreign patients is legal, it requires a government licence. Eligible companies must have a registered Korean office address, maintain specified capital and carry insurance.

Hospitals face more stringent requirements to be able to legally receive foreign patients, including having at least one specialist per medical department and higher levels of medical malpractice insurance.

When posing as a potential patient on a number of platforms, Al Jazeera was approached within minutes by anonymous facilitators who admitted they did not have the required certification.

In 2020, the dangers of the industry were thrust into the spotlight when Bonnie Evita Law, a heiress to a Hong Kong fashion empire, died during a liposuction procedure at a Seoul clinic.

Law was reportedly introduced to the hospital through an illegal broker.

The operating surgeon, later revealed to be an orthopaedic specialist rather than a plastic surgeon, was charged with professional negligence resulting in death. The outcome of the case was not publicly revealed.

While only certified specialists can officially call their practices “plastic surgery clinics”, any licensed medical doctor in South Korea can legally perform cosmetic surgeries as Korean medical law does not restrict doctors to only working in their specialised field.

In a more recent case, a Chinese woman died in January shortly after receiving liposuction surgery at a clinic in Gangnam.

The problem of Chinese cosmetic surgery patients falling victim to unscrupulous and unsafe practices has become so prevalent that the Chinese embassy in Seoul in January issued a notice warning its citizens to “be wary of advertising and risks” and “carefully choose intermediary agencies”.

Pedestrians walk outside the Chinese embassy in Seoul on January 10, 2023 [Anthony Wallace/AFP]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare, through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), operates a centre for reporting illegal soliciting of foreign patients.

The number of reports has risen significantly – from 11 cases in 2021 to 16 in 2022, to 59 last year.

An official at KHIDI, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that “cases handled as suspected violations are subject to follow-up measures such as fines and penalties”.

“Those confirmed as illegal solicitation are administratively disposed of by local governments in accordance with the law,” the official said.

However, when pressed for specifics on how many cases were actually investigated or processed, the official did not provide figures, only stating that the number would “inevitably be lower” than the number of cases reported.

Kang Ki-yoon, a lawmaker with South Korea’s ruling People Power Party, last year raised concern about the lack of clarity around the handling of cases, suggesting that despite the increase in reports, there appeared to be little follow-up action.

“It’s a national disgrace for foreigners seeking our country’s world-class medical technology to fall victim to unethical practices by some medical institutions,” Kang said, calling for more rigorous management of such cases.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a friend of Law, the deceased Hong Kong heiress, expressed concern about the risks associated with overseas surgeries.

“With social media glamourising Korea’s beauty industry, people treat getting surgery in Korea as casually as getting beauty treatment. They should be aware of the dangers and the difficulties of seeking recourse if complications arise,” the friend told Al Jazeera.

Another concern is the prevalence of misleading and potentially illegal reviews.

While Korean medical advertising law prohibits the use of influencers for testimonial marketing, the practice is widespread, especially involving foreign patients, which complicates enforcement.

Al Jazeera reviewed a contract that required a foreign influencer to produce multiple promotional videos and social media content about a plastic surgery clinic in exchange for free surgery, with the clinic dictating specific positive language to be used in posts.

The clinic required that that influencer produce the content before knowing the final results of the surgery, stipulated that it would review all content before its release, and included confidentiality terms that effectively prevented disclosure of the sponsored nature of the surgery.

The influencer delivered the required content but expressed reluctance to use specific positive language demanded by the hospital as she was not happy with the results of the surgery.

The hospital claimed that she had not fulfilled her agreement and demanded that she pay for the surgery and other associated costs, including airfare.

However, according to correspondence from her lawyer, these threats abruptly ceased when the hospital was reminded about the illegality of such practices under medical advertising laws.

‘Conveyor belt’

The case is not isolated.

Al Jazeera spoke to three patients who claimed they were offered discounts in exchange for positive reviews.

Claiming damages for a “medical accident” where “damage occurs to a person’s life, body, or property due to the medical practice of a healthcare provider” is possible through dispute mediation, but both sides need to agree to arbitration.

Alternatively, a lawsuit can be filed, but the process can be lengthy and costly.

Many large clinics boast on their websites that they are “accident-free”.

Such claims are difficult to verify, as patients who share negative experiences publicly can face legal consequences under South Korea’s defamation laws, which can penalise even statements that are true.

Alex, the American who travelled to South Korea for a rhinoplasty, said she found herself rushed into surgery within an hour, despite reservations and the absence of an in-house translator.

Post-surgery, she experienced severe complications, including disfigurement due to the implant protruding through her skin, necessitating emergency removal surgery in the US.

“I felt abandoned, like I was on a conveyor belt,” she said.

“Once they had done the surgery, they didn’t want to deal with me any more. They kept saying I was still healing when I knew something was seriously wrong.”

Frustrated by inadequate aftercare and unable to secure a refund, Alex wrote a review with photos on the Gangnam Unni app, a popular plastic surgery review platform marketed as Unni outside South Korea.

Eager to avoid negative publicity, the hospital offered a full refund, but only after she agreed to delete the review and sign a confidentiality agreement.

The document, which was reviewed by Al Jazeera, prohibits her from discussing the contents of the agreement and her experience on any platform, with failure to comply resulting in financial penalties.

On Gangnam Unni, users can only sort reviews by “recent” or “recommended”, with no option to filter from lowest to highest rating, making it difficult to find negative reviews.

Al Jazeera reached out to Healing Paper, the company behind the app, for comment on their handling of negative reviews and the practice of patients being pressured to remove critical feedback, but received no response.

While risks exist, many patients have positive experiences with plastic surgery in South Korea, and efforts are being made to improve safety and transparency in the industry.

Gangnam Medical Tourism Centre [Raphael Rashid/Al Jazeera]

One such initiative is the Gangnam Medical Tourism Centre, run by the Gangnam district office in Seoul.

As a public entity, the centre does not receive commissions or make referrals, but instead, aims to help foreigners navigate the system and connect with professional, licensed medical translators.

The centre maintains a list of vetted medical institutions, providing an additional layer of security for foreign patients seeking reliable care.

As part of its vetting, the centre verifies that hospitals are registered to treat foreign patients, have specialists in each department, maintain proper malpractice insurance, and possess adequate facilities and staff to handle emergencies.

The centre also conducts on-site inspections of partner institutions and provides training for medical interpreters.

An official at the centre emphasised the importance of careful consideration when seeking medical procedures abroad. “We advise patients to prioritise their health and safety above all else.”

“While cost is a factor, it shouldn’t be the primary consideration when choosing a medical provider or procedure,” the official told Al Jazeera, requesting anonymity.

Jeet Dhindsa, who runs a licensed medical tourism facilitation company that has also helped patients who fell prey to illegal brokers and deceptive practices, stressed the importance of due diligence. “It’s crucial to verify the credentials of both the medical facilities and any intermediaries involved in the process,” Dhindsa told Al Jazeera.

“It’s always best to contact people who are transparent about who they are.”

Reflecting on her experience, Alex said: “Make sure you have someone who can advocate for you if things don’t go as planned.”

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12/23/2024
Navy, Air Force cleared to fly Ospreys after inspecting gears

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The Navy and Air Force are now cleared to resume flying their grounded V-22 Ospreys after conducting inspections on a crucial gearbox in the tiltrotor aircraft, and some are already back in the air.

The military temporarily stopped flying some Ospreys on Dec. 9 after a near crash in New Mexico in November. The Marines soon resumed its Osprey flights, but the Navy and Air Force kept them on the ground longer while they further reviewed what was causing metal components to fail.

Naval Air Systems Command, or NAVAIR, issued a bulletin to the fleet Friday morning ordering crews to verify how many hours each aircraft’s proprotor gearbox had flown.

If an Osprey’s gearbox meets or exceeds a particular number of flight hours — NAVAIR would not say how many due to operational security concerns — it can resume flying under limitations issued in March.

But if the gearbox is found to have fewer flight hours, it will have to fly under a new and stricter set of limitations, Air Force Special Operations Command Spokeswoman Lt. Col. Becky Heyse told Defense News. Heyse said the groundings were not absolute, and some Ospreys kept flying to conduct necessary operations.

The fatal crash of an Air Force CV-22 near Japan in November 2023 was caused by a cracked gear, which had impurities called inclusions that weakened the metal. Similar metal weaknesses may have also caused the near crash near Cannon Air Force Base last month.

Osprey manufacturer Bell is working with the V-22 Joint Program Office to upgrade some of the aircraft’s gears to make those weakening impurities less common.

But that will take some time to roll out, Heyse said, and the military had to find a way to get its Ospreys back in the air in the meantime.

“It’s really important we don’t keep these aircraft grounded,” Heyse said. “This allows us to fly and keep pilot proficiency while a longer-term fix is put in place.”

Studies of the Osprey have shown that when those impurities cause gear cracks, Heyse said, it typically happens in their early life. Once they have flown a certain number of hours and are “broken in,” she said, they are less likely to crack and the military is more confident in them. That is why the Ospreys under the flight hour threshold must adhere to the more conservative restrictions, she said.

The stricter guidelines for those Ospreys will stay in place until their gearboxes are upgraded, or they exceed the flight hour threshold, NAVAIR said.

Air Force Special Operations Command had already been inspecting some aircraft before today and verifying how many flight hours their gearboxes had, according to Heyse. Those Ospreys are already flying, she said.

The inspection process for each aircraft doesn’t take long, she said.

The military declined to say how many Ospreys are affected by these changes, and what their additional flight restrictions are, for security reasons.

The Marine Corps has by far the most Ospreys in its fleet, at about 350. The Air Force has about 52 Ospreys, and the Navy has roughly 30.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

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12/21/2024
Taiwan gets US Abrams tanks, hardening final defenses in an invasion

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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Taiwan, which ratified a record defense budget of $20.2 billion in August as it contemplates rising Chinese aggression, received a first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams tanks on home shores this month.

After being unloaded at Taipei’s port on Dec. 15, the tanks were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County southwest of Taipei. Around ten will remain there for training purposes.

The M1A2T is a customized M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams version, and these are the first new tanks Taiwan has received in nearly a quarter of a century. Taiwan previously received M60A3 TTS tanks from the U.S. between 1995 and 2001.

Following this month’s first batch, 42 more Abrams tanks would be delivered next year, and the final 28 in 2026, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Taiwan had ordered them in 2019.

Chen Kuoming, a Taipei-based military analyst, told Defense News the weapons are meant “most importantly” for defending the Taipei capital area. They will outfit an armored brigade in Linkou in Taipei, and another brigade in Hukou in Hsinchu.

The Abrams represents a significant step up in terms of firepower and protection compared to the existing fleet of M60A3 and M48H/CM11 models, which are armed with a 105mm main gun.

Chen said those tank types were too old and outdated, although 108 new Abrams “are just not enough” to cover replacements in central and southern Taiwan as well.

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Tanks essentially represent a final line of defense against any Chinese invasion. Taiwan’s earlier lines of defense against an amphibious assault include anti-ship missiles, artillery and rockets as well as attack helicopters.

“From the Russia-Ukraine war, we’ve seen drones and loitering munitions attacking tanks,” Chen said. He therefore expressed a need for the new M1A2Ts to be upgraded against such aerial attacks.

In that context, the analyst warned of diminishing returns for tank investments. Instead, he suggested the budget should be used on other equipment like small drones and loitering munitions, Javelin antitank missiles, Stinger air defense missiles or lighter armored vehicles.

“I want to encourage army officers to think about future wars, so they’ll change their thoughts about buying heavier tanks,” he urged.

Taiwan is also in receipt of an initial 11 of 29 M142 HIMARS rocket launchers. The defense ministry revealed that the first tranche arrived in October, with 18 more systems due before the end of 2026. These HIMARS were delivered to the 58th Artillery Command in Taichung, a city midway down Taiwan’s west coast.

Taiwan’s army has received a first batch of an undisclosed number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the U.S. too. Fired from the HIMARS launchers, the ATACMS’s range of 186 miles (300km) puts mainland China within strike range.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

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12/20/2024
This winter, there are no blessings and no goodness in Gaza

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Winter used to be a beloved season in Gaza. It was thought to bring “khayr” and “baraka” – goodness and blessings. Children and adults alike looked forward to the arrival of the cold season for relief from the summer heat.

When the rain would finally come, children would rush into the streets, joyfully singing “Shatti ya doniya shatti, wa arawi kul al-aradi, li-yazraa al-falah khokh wa roman wa tufah” – “Rain, world, rain and water all the lands, so the peasant can grow peaches, pomegranates and apples.”

For water-stressed Gaza, the rains were indeed a blessing. Farmers would welcome them and start preparing for the new crop season. The markets would be full of locally grown vegetables like spinach, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and fruit like oranges, kiwis, persimmons and strawberries.

For city dwellers, the rainy days would be a time to relax at home, snuggling under warm blankets or gathering around a fire to make tea or sip “sahleb” – a sweet drink made of milk, starch, coconut shreds and nuts.

On the occasional night when electricity would be restored, families would cosy up in front of the TV to watch a movie or a soap opera.

On cold and dry days, many would venture out to the seashore, enjoying a stroll or meeting friends. The aroma of sweet grilled corn and chestnuts would fill the air. Many would also stop by the famous dessert shop “Abu Al Saoud” to have a warm kunafeh – either the nut-stuffed Arabian variety or the cheese-filled one called nabulsia.

These Gaza winters now seem from the distant past. Abu Al Saoud’s shop is no more. There are no cosy gatherings and sweet chatter, no sahleb, no TV. There are no children outside singing “Shatti ya doniya shatti” when it rains.

This year, winter did not bring khayer and baraka. It brought more suffering and utter despair.

The rains have been a curse. People are praying for dry weather, fearing what floodwaters could do to the camps for the displaced.

The sound of thunder has now become like the sound of bombs – it terrifies. Many Palestinians have nowhere to shelter from a storm. Aid groups say that at least one million people have no basic protection from winter weather.

Makeshift shelters are made from textiles, tarpaulins, blankets, cardboard and even old rice sacks. They can hardly withstand the wind and rain. At night, families are forced to stay awake, desperately holding their tents in place so they don’t fly away, while water seeps in from underneath, soaking their mattresses, blankets and other belongings.

Often, the shelters are so flimsy that the rain destroys them, throwing into despair families that had already lost everything. The price of tents and materials to build makeshift ones has skyrocketed, leaving those whose shelters are blown or washed away exposed to the elements.

Some have become so desperate that they return to their bombed-out homes to take refuge. Even if the building is so badly damaged that it can collapse at any moment, people remain in it, having no other choice.

Staying warm is also nearly impossible. Wood has become unaffordable for many; 1kg now costs $9. Those who cannot afford to buy it have to set out to search for it themselves – an exhausting, gruelling task. Even if there is enough wood for a fire, that is not enough to keep a family warm throughout the freezing night.

What makes the winter cold even more unbearable is the hunger. Since October, food prices in Gaza have skyrocketed. A bag of flour costs as much as $200. Meat and fish have completely disappeared from the markets; vegetables and fruit are scarce and at exorbitant prices.

Bakeries have closed because they have no supplies to bake. UNRWA and the World Food Programme, which normally provide for the most vulnerable, cannot cope with demand. Soup kitchens distribute meals of chickpeas, lentils and rice, but each family gets just one plate, barely enough for one person.

At night, in every displacement camp, the cries of hungry children can be heard as they beg their parents to give them food.

Memories of the warmth and joy that once filled homes during the winter in Gaza have faded. Despair and misery reign supreme in the cold. The suffering of the Palestinian people seems to have no end. So many survive on the flickering hope that the war and the genocide will end, that food will become available again and people will have proper shelter. That khayr and baraka will return to Gaza one day.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

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12/20/2024
US troops doubled in Syria before Assad’s overthrow, Pentagon says

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The U.S. more than doubled its number of troops in Syria — from 900 to around 2,000 — before the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the Pentagon said Thursday, publicly disclosing the surge for the first time.

In a rare step, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder opened the regular Thursday briefing at the Pentagon with the admission.

“I learned today that, in fact, there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria,” he said.

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Ryder had previously told reporters that there were 900 such forces in the country as part of America’s decade-old fight against the Islamic State group. These troops are deployed for nine to 12 months at a time, he said Thursday, as opposed to the 1,100 extra forces who are being surged for a shorter window of 30 to 90 days.

Ryder could not share where the troops came from, what units are involved or their specific mission — other than it concerns the mission against ISIS and that most of the troops are from the Army.

Pentagon spokespeople were scrambling Thursday to answer further questions from reporters, including where the troops are operating and how it’s possible so many extra forces are in the country without their knowledge.

“I’m confident that the secretary is tracking U.S. forces deployed around the world,” Ryder said. “There oftentimes are going to be diplomatic or operational security considerations as it relates to the deployment of forces,” and whether they’re made public, he said.

Ryder said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not order the surge of troops to be kept private. Ryder also did not directly respond to a question about whether any part of the Defense Department attempted to conceal the information, since the Pentagon has publicly said the number of troops in the country is 900 for years.

He said Austin and Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, have not discussed the issue despite the two speaking often.

Late last month, Syria’s ruling Assad regime fell after 50 years in power, when rebels stormed the capital of Damascus following a rapid offensive. The U.S. and Israel have since been pounding the country with airstrikes, hitting targets that were once off-limits due to the regime or Russian forces operating in the area.

U.S. Central Command conducted two large strikes in the last two weeks, the crescendo to a rising campaign against ISIS that’s involved more raids in Syria and Iraq over the last several months.

The extra forces were inside Syria before the regime fell, Ryder said.

Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has publicly called for the U.S. not to get further involved in the country. During his first presidency, Trump tried to withdraw American forces from the country, leading his first defense secretary to resign.

Since Israel’s war in Gaza began last year, American troops in the Middle East — including Syria — have been under increasing fire. There have been at least 181 attacks on U.S. forces in the region since Oct. 17, 2023.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

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12/20/2024
US Army extends Palantir’s contract for its data-harnessing platform

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The U.S. Army has awarded Palantir a $400.7 million contract to continue providing its artificial intelligence-enabled Vantage system as the service’s main data platform, the company announced Wednesday.

The contract covers a period of up to four years and could ultimately be worth nearly $620 million if additional options are exercised.

The service first brought Palantir on to provide its Army Data Platform, or ADP, in 2018, taking roughly 180 disparate data sources across the enterprise and consolidating them into one ecosystem.

“The Army has leveraged Palantir’s software to transform how it uses data and artificial intelligence (AI) to more effectively perform essential missions and enable faster decision-making across the force,” the Dec. 18 company statement reads.

The capability grew from a focus on a data platform that could help understand personnel and combat readiness to a system that “powers warfighters at every echelon and supports a diverse set of use cases across every data domain including readiness, logistics, recruiting, force management, talent management, financial management, risk management and installation management,” according to the statement.

The Army plans to continue to grow the capability.

“Our continuous addition of new AI capabilities enables the Army’s own ability to develop applications and incorporate the benefits of effective data analysis across nearly every high-priority mission in the Army,” Akash Jain, Palantir USG president, said in the statement.

As emerging technologies are developed, they will be introduced into Vantage on a continuous basis, according to the company.

Vantage now has over 100,000 users within the service and that number is growing, Palantir said.

Palantir’s business with the Defense Department and particularly with the Army has grown dramatically since 2018 when it won, in a head-to-head competition with Raytheon, a contract to provide the Army a new tactical version of its Distributed Common Ground System-Army, or DCGS-A, an intelligence analysis platform.

The company famously sued the Army over its DCGS-A procurement strategy in 2016 — and won — prior to scoring the new contract for the system.

Since then, the Army has taken different approaches in how it procures software capabilities and is developing a software acquisition policy that outlines how to best work with the software industry to obtain the right capability for the service at a much faster pace.

Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

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12/19/2024
Special ops leaders eye alarming levels of adversary collaboration

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Adversaries of the United States have ramped up partnerships, both in combat and influence operations, in ways that may require the unique intervention abilities of the special operations community to avoid conflict.

Christopher Maier, the outgoing assistant secretary for Special Operations-Low-Intensity Conflict, said today at a Center for a New American Security event that SOF troops have recently increased work in the competition and crisis phases that often precede an armed conflict.

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“Progress in recent years has been expanding that aperture to look at competition and crisis as warfighting challenges as opposed to what was often the case in an exercise or tabletop, where we … fast-forward through [and say], ‘A bunch of things happen, there were some diplomatic things, a little bit of SOF things and that’s war,’” Maier said.

Furthering that sentiment, Army Gen. Bryan Fenton, head of Special Operations Command, highlighted the “convergence” of adversaries in multiple geographic regions during a Dec. 7 discussion at the Reagan National Defense Forum.

In the public sphere, these unions have taken shape in the form of more than 12,000 North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine, or Iranian military personnel training Russian troops on munitions the Middle Eastern nation has supplied to Moscow.

“This is not just Russia fighting Ukraine,” Fenton said. “It’s Russia, backed by Iranian drones, North Korean personnel and indirect Chinese contributions.”

Additionally, nation-state adversaries are teaming with non-state actors to achieve goals. That’s been the case for decades between Iran and militias like Hamas and Hezbollah. It’s also true for the Iranians and the Houthis, who have continued to fire on U.S. and civilian ships in the Red Sea over the past year.

“We’re in a decisive decade,” Fenton said. “The convergence of threats demands a convergence of our own capabilities.”

Military Times reported in 2023 on a West Virginia Army National Guard exercise that brought together personnel from all military branches, local law enforcement, government officials and SOF personnel.

The “Ridge Runner” exercise sought to drop participants into a scenario that would mirror what such forces might face in a European theater now. In some ways, it looked a lot like what forces in Ukraine have encountered since Russia invaded the country in 2022.

The SOF personnel involved in the exercise — mostly Army Green Berets — connected local forces with U.S. military capabilities and other government services as their counterparts in the field assisted those local elements in a simulated fight against an “invading force.”

That exercise is indicative of the larger shift in irregular warfare, a practice that has been given a host of labels in recent decades — “gray zone” conflicts, for example. The Pentagon adopted and redefined the term following a shift in the National Defense Strategy to focus military efforts on countering adversaries rather than counterterrorism and counterinsurgency.

Combinations of psychological operations, civil affairs and special operations personnel now work closely in smaller teams to assist allies in competing with and deterring Russia, China and Iran in their respective areas.

Deterrence is where much of the SOF work will take place in the years ahead, Maier added. And that, he said, will involve SOF “campaigning,” which has not traditionally been the role of the 70,000-strong U.S. special operations community.

A 2023 CNAS report by Becca Waser, a senior fellow in the CNAS Defense program who served as the moderator at the Dec. 18 event, outlined how the think tank’s experts see SOF and conventional forces evolving.

The campaigning approach links civil government resources with military assets and personnel to respond to challenges from Russia or China, or other events that require military action, such as regional conflicts or natural disasters, according to the report.

The CNAS report advises the Pentagon to develop a more tailored campaigning approach specific to the geographical region where forces are operating.

That gives U.S. planners the chance to build military forces in key areas of the Indo-Pacific and Europe. It also lets military forces showcase new capabilities, weapons and tactics to discourage adversaries from initiating conflict.

Lastly, Waser wrote that campaigning in this region-specific way allows U.S. forces to already be in the area when a crisis arises.

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

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12/19/2024
Corruption may slow China’s ability to one day invade Taiwan, DOD says

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Rampant corruption in the Chinese military may be slowing its ability to one day launch an invasion of Taiwan, according to the Pentagon’s annual report on China’s armed forces released Wednesday.

While the People’s Liberation Army is still progressing overall — deploying ships farther from its shores and displaying longer-range missiles — a yearslong anti-corruption probe may delay some of its goals related to 2027, an important mile marker for the PLA.

Between July and December of 2023, at least 15 senior members of China’s military and defense industry were sacked over suspicions of graft, the report found. And the subjects extend to the very top.

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In November, a member of China’s governing seven-member military board was removed and placed under inquiry. Beijing’s Defense Minister Dong Jun is also reportedly being investigated for corruption, though different parts of the U.S. government aren’t yet certain. If charged, Dong would be the country’s third consecutive defense minister to be charged with corruption.

Uprooting graft in the PLA has long been a priority of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and a place of insecurity despite its growing power. Beijing has the world’s largest navy, an increasingly advanced fleet of aircraft and a surging nuclear arsenal.

These advances are part of what U.S. officials say is the largest peacetime military buildup since the 1930s. The new equipment, however, is far easier to track than the overall quality of China’s military, which hasn’t fought a war in more than 40 years.

Xi has told the PLA it should have the ability to invade Taiwan by 2027, though he hasn’t issued orders to do so, according to American intelligence. A senior U.S. defense official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said Xi had “reaffirmed his commitment” to that goal but that the corruption probe may be hindering it.

“It’s having some impact already,” the official said.

Despite multiple questions, the official wouldn’t say whether China was on track to meet its aims for 2027, which have to do with using more advanced technology and training different parts of its military to operate together. Nor would the official say, specifically, what the impact of the anti-corruption purge would be for Taiwan.

“The substantial problems they have with corruption that have yet to be resolved certainly could slow them down on the path toward the 2027 capabilities-development milestone and beyond,” the official said.

In simpler terms, China has specific goals planned around the year, which if achieved could help with an invasion of Taiwan. Losing so many of its military leaders due to corruption may interrupt that progress.

Other important weaknesses noted in the report include the quality of commanding officers, urban warfare and logistics — all surely key in any attack on Taiwan, separated from the mainland by 100 miles of rough seas.

These notwithstanding, Xi has made it a hallmark of his time in office to continue China’s pursuit of a “world-class” military by the middle of this century. In 2024, the Pentagon estimated, Beijing spent between $330 and $450 billion on its armed forces, a number hard to track because of the closed nature of China’s government.

In the last year alone, China also added around 100 operational nuclear warheads, reaching 600 by mid-2024, according to the report. American officials have tracked the rapid growth in Beijing’s arsenal for the last few years and have been frustrated by what they say is an unwillingness to discuss the motives behind the buildup in their discussions with the PLA.

“They’ve often stated with us that they continue to maintain their nuclear force at the level that’s required for their national security needs. Our response to them has been that they must judge that their national security requirements have changed,” the official said.

The annual China Military Power Report is America’s most detailed public assessment of its main competitor and this year’s report marks the last during Joe Biden’s presidency. President-elect Donald Trump has filled his incoming National Security Council and State Department with China hawks, though his return to the White House also brings uncertainty, as captured in his invitation for Xi to attend the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

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12/18/2024
Slovakia buys Black Hawk helicopters, leaving Vipers up for grabs

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WARSAW, Poland — After months of pondering, Slovakia has decided to purchase 12 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for its military, according to Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák. The move could encourage Ukraine to intensify its lobbying in Washington as Kyiv seeks the 12 AH-1Z Viper helos that Bratislava rejected.

The Black Hawk offer, comprising second-hand modernized copters, was submitted by Ace Aeronautics which is part of the Helicopter Alliance group, local daily Denník N reported. The group is controlled by Czech entrepreneur Jaroslav Strnad, the founder and former owner of local defense group Czechoslovak Group. The holding is currently owned by the founder’s son Michal Strnad, and operates a number of production facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Black Hawks were recently offered to Bratislava for around €150 million ($158 million) without weapons, compared with the Vipers’ revised price which exceeded €550 million, according to the minister. The Black Hawk is manufactured by Lockheed Martin’s subsidiary Sikorsky, and the Viper is produced by Bell.

In July 2024, the U.S. State Department authorized a tentative foreign military sale of 12 Vipers to Slovakia for an estimated $600 million. This represented a sizable increase compared with the initial $340 million price tag pitched to the previous Slovak cabinet. That discount resulted from the fact that a deal with Pakistan, the initially envisioned recipient of the copters, had fallen through.

Slovakia’s previous government was offered discounted Vipers under the country’s attack helicopter program, but the government that took over power in October 2023 has long hesitated over the purchase.

A senior industry official close to the talks told Defense News that Ukrainian decision-makers requested the Vipers from Washington some 20 months ago, and the latest decision is likely to further intensify Kyiv’s lobbying activities to secure the aircraft.

“They’d have been flying them by now,” the official said in a reference to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Slovak military has a fleet of nine UH-60 Black Hawks.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

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12/18/2024
Ursa Major tests long-range rocket motor for Army as firm eyes growth

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Raytheon and growing propulsion firm Ursa Major on Wednesday announced they have conducted successful missile flight tests with a long-range solid rocket motor for the Army.

In a briefing with reporters Tuesday, Ursa Major CEO Dan Jablonsky said his company has so far twice flown this motor with Raytheon, an RTX company, at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.

The tests of Ursa Major’s motor — and the rapid pace at which it was developed — show that the nine-year-old company is taking an increasingly prominent role in the military’s propulsion sector, Jablonsky said.

“In this particular program, we went from concept and design to firing and flight on the range in just under four months, which is lightning fast … for solid rocket motors,” Jablonsky said. “Using our additive manufacturing techniques, … agile manufacturing systems and using the expertise and know-how that we’ve developed as propulsion engineers, we were able to work with Raytheon in a very, very quick time frame.”

Since starting its solid rocket motor program 14 months ago, Ursa Major has grown it to more than 40 people, Jablonsky said. Its manufacturing process cell is producing its own energetics on site to power the motors and has developed several configurations for programs including the Navy’s Standard Missile platform.

These tests show Ursa Major’s agile manufacturing techniques work, Jablonsky said, and that the company can field a system that could be used in several programs.

“Part of it was not just proving that we could do this once in this configuration, with gear that’s not adaptable to other sets, but the same manufacturing cells that were used to configure and build these can be used for other types of rounds as well,” Jablonsky said.

Ursa Major plans to next conduct more tests of this motor, including with an extended-range version, in 2025, according to Jablonsky. The system is expected to be qualified in 2026.

Jablonsky said he could not identify the Raytheon program its motor flew on, but said it has a diameter of less than 10 inches and a range of less than 1,000 kilometers.

Ursa Major wants its work on this program to prove it can scale up its ability to produce solid rocket motors to industrial level and help meet U.S. defense needs, Jablonsky said.

RTX was one of several firms that invested in Ursa Major in 2023 to help the company further develop its solid rocket motor program and expand its production capabilities.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

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12/18/2024