Asia-Pacific

December 20, 2024

Gallipoli Barracks was recently the scene for an inspection of one of the ADFs new level two counter-IED weapons technical intelligence (L2 WTI) laboratories being delivered by Project Land 154-2 in association with the Defence Science and Technology Group. Each L2 WTI facility is a self-contained containerised and deployable processing facility that allows ADF personnel to ...

December 9, 2024

Nearly 100 live samples of the deadly Hendra virus have been lost in a biosecurity bungle at a state-run Queensland laboratory. An investigation has been launched after it was revealed 323 virus samples went missing from Virology Laboratory in 2021 in a “major breach” of biosecurity protocol, Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced on Monday. The material, ...

December 6, 2024

A man has been charged over explosions at two separate legal offices in Gosford. Dozens of employees were evacuated from a building on Donnison Street just after 2:30pm on Thursday, with some reporting black smoke coming from the third floor. NSW Police said in a statement there were reports of explosions and a short time later ...

December 3, 2024

Japanese divers working magnetic surveys for the government at two sites on Okinawa discovered 20 pieces of unexploded ordnance believed to be left over from World War II. Most recently, divers found a 5-inch shell on Nov. 26 in 52-foot waters where the Naha Military Port replacement facility is expected to be built, a spokesman with ...

November 25, 2024

A post-blast investigations (PBI) training exercise codenamed “Exercise Solar Wind VI” was held in Brunei from 4 to 7 November 2024. The exercise was jointly conducted by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), supported by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA). The ...

November 25, 2024

This year, countries in the international drone coalition will allocate €1.8 billion to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umierov revealed that this decision was communicated by partners from Latvia, which co-leads the drone coalition with the United Kingdom. “This decision will enable Ukraine to enhance its technological edge on the battlefield ...

November 13, 2024

The ADF has, for the first time, deployed a Navy clearance diving team to a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) exercise. The team exercised with FPDA partners at Tioman Island, Malaysia, where they cleared Juara Bay of mines laid by a fictitious enemy. Exercise Bersama Lima, an annual FPDA exercise, took place from October 1 to ...

November 13, 2024

Japanese ordnance disposal experts plan to defuse two suspected World War II-era bombs found last month on Miyakojima, a popular tourist spot 170 miles southwest of Okinawa. Soldiers with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit expect to defuse the 551-pound bombs on Nov. 29, a spokesman for the Miyakojima city Disaster Prevention ...

November 12, 2024

A suspected explosion involving improvised fireworks left three individuals injured, including two minors, in Rosario Village, Barangay Lagao, General Santos City, on Monday afternoon. The incident occurred at approximately 5:20 PM along Molave Street when the improvised fireworks were reportedly mishandled or improperly constructed. Authorities say the explosion caused varying degrees of injury to the victims, ...

October 28, 2024

The Philippine Army (PA) strongly condemned the New People’s Army (NPA) after it allegedly attacked soldiers who were conducting relief work for victims of Severe Tropical Storm in Pio, Duran, Albay on Sunday, Oct. 27. A report reaching Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City revealed that elements of the 49th Infantry Battalion encountered around 10 armed men while ...

October 28, 2024

U.S. Marines with 9th Engineer Support Battalion (ESB), 3rd Marine Logistics Group (MLG), and U.S. Sailors with Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit One (EODMU-1), EOD Group One (EODGRU-1), prepare a combat rubber raiding craft during joint and bilateral littoral explosive ordnance neutralization and EOD Level 1 exploitation training as part of exercise Keen Sword ...

October 28, 2024

A new round of New Zealand Defence Force recruits are learning to deactivate lethal explosives to prepare for work in war zones around the world – and bases and camps closer to home. The explosive ordnance disposal trade is a small speciality in our military, where recruits learn to locate, identify, destroy, or deactivate ammunition and ...

October 25, 2024

Over the 20 years of the Vietnam War and the subsequent conflict, approximately 2.75 million tons of bombs were dropped on Cambodia, and an estimated 4 to 6 million landmines were buried. Following the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) was established by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) to ...

October 22, 2024

A long-buried World War Two bomb exploded in early October at Japan’s Miyazaki Airport. Nearly 80 years after the war ended, bombs that didn’t detonate still turn up nationwide. Two more were found this month near Miyako Airport in Okinawa Prefecture. Another bomb was discovered at a construction site in central Nagoya. At the airport in Miyazaki ...

October 19, 2024

Philippine National Police and coast guardsmen walk through a cloud of chlorobenzylidene malononitrile, or CS gas, during chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense training with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit as part of exercise KAMANDAG 8 at Marine Base Gregorio Lim, Ternate, Philippines, Oct. 19, 2024. KAMANDAG is an annual Philippine Marine Corps and U.S. Marine ...

October 17, 2024

Two unexploded bombs believed to have been dropped during World War II were found in a vegetable field next to Miyako Airport in Okinawa this month, sources said Thursday. According to the Okinawa Prefectural Government and the city of Miyakojima, which hosts the airport, a company tasked with searching for dud shells discovered one of the ...

October 15, 2024

Three people have been rushed to hospital following a chemical explosion near the University of Sydney’s Sports and Aquatic Centre, FRNSW has confirmed. It’s understood a staff member was carrying a bucket of acid down Darlington Lane, Darlington, at the university campus, when a chemical reaction occurred just before 10am. The staff member was reportedly using an ...

October 9, 2024

Explosive ordnance technicians on Guam recently removed and detonated a U.S. bomb base fuse and two unexploded shells apparently left over from World War II. The unexploded ordnance was discovered around 1 p.m. Oct. 2 in the South Finegayan section of Andersen Air Force Base, on the southwest side of the Army’s Task Force Talon area, ...