the Philippines

High Cost of Taiwan Invasion Will Dissuade China, Pentagon Official Says

Taiwanese Marines on Jan. 11, 2023. Taiwan Ministry of National Defense Photo

China will not attempt to invade Taiwan before the end of the decade because it understands the high cost, the senior Pentagon official in charge of Indo-Pacific security said Thursday.

“Deterrence is real; deterrence is strong” today and tomorrow, said Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary for the Indo-Pacific. The United States can likely deter Beijing from attacking the self-governing island 100 miles off the Chinese...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/02/high-cost-of-taiwan-invasion-will-dissuade-china-pentagon-official-says

Former 7th Fleet Logistics Chief Sentenced to 30-Months in ‘Fat Leonard’ Bribery Case 

Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse in San Diego, Calif.

Six years after pleading guilty and admitting he took “lavish” bribes from a foreign defense contractor, a retired Navy captain was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in federal prison, U.S. prosecutors in San Diego, Calif., announced this week.

Capt. Jesus Vasquez Cantu, 64, is the latest former U.S. 7th Fleet official to be sentenced for conspiracy to commit bribery as part of the long-running corruption and bribery investigation...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/25/former-7th-fleet-logistics-chief-sentenced-to-30-months-in-fat-leonard-bribery-case

Australia’s First Nuclear Submarine Could Be a Reality in 30 Years, Former PACOM Commander Testifies

Able Seaman Combat Systems Operator Benjamin Stewart participates in an Anti-Submarine Warfare exercise with a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine during Exercise ARC21 in 2021. Royal Australian Navy Photo

Developing a nuclear-powered submarine with Australia could happen in 30 years if the United States commits to a tight timetable, retired Adm. Harry Harris told lawmakers Tuesday.

Harris, a former commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, called Australia the United States’ key ally...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/07/australias-first-nuclear-submarine-could-be-a-reality-in-30-years-former-pacom-commander-testifies

Former Navy Captain Sentenced to 30-Months Following Guilty Plea in ‘Fat Leonard’ Case

Then Cmdr. David Haas. US Navy Photo

A former U.S. 7th Fleet operations officer was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in federal prison – two years after pleading guilty – for taking bribes in exchange for steering lucrative contracts to a foreign defense contractor.

Retired Navy Capt. David W. Haas, 54, of Kailua, Hawaii, originally faced a longer prison time if convicted of eight counts in an August 2018 federal indictment into the wide corruption and bribery scandal surrounding Leonard Glenn...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/03/former-navy-captain-sentenced-to-30-months-in-fat-leonard-following-guilty-plea

INTERPOL: Fat Leonard Arrested in Venezuela Trying to Flee to Russia

Interpol Venezuela Image

After two weeks on the run, authorities in Venezuela arrested former defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis as he attempted to board a plane to Russia, officials said late Wednesday.

Francis was detained by Venezuelan authorities at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetía on Tuesday morning, Interpol Venezuela Director General Carlos Garate Rondon said in a post on Instagram.

Francis “had entered the country from Mexico with a stopover in Cuba to...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/22/interpol-fat-leonard-arrested-in-venezuela-trying-to-flee-to-russia

New Details Revealed in ‘Fat Leonard’ Escape, Detention as Manhunt Continues

U.S. Marshals wanted poster for Leonard Francis

An international manhunt continued Tuesday for Leonard Glenn Francis, a former defense contractor and convicted mastermind of a multimillion-dollar U.S. Navy corruption case who fled custody from home detention Sunday morning, just weeks before he was to be sentenced to federal prison.

Francis, a Malaysian national and the former president of Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia, was convicted in 2015 after taking a plea deal in exchange for...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/06/new-details-revealed-in-fat-leonard-escape-detention-as-manhunt-continues

U.S. Carrier Fighters Overfly Yellow Sea in Response to North Korean Missile Launch

An F-35C Lightning II, assigned to the ‘Black Knights’ of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on March 15, 2022. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy conducted an air demonstration with carrier aircraft on Tuesday in the Yellow Sea following the recent launches of North Korea intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to U.S. 7th Fleet.

The demonstration was carried out in international airspace by...

https://news.usni.org/2022/03/15/u-s-carrier-fighters-overfly-yellow-sea-in-response-to-north-korean-missile-launch

Former Navy Captain Pleads Guilty to Bribery in ‘Fat Leonard’ Investigation

Capt. Donald Gayle Hornbeck

A former U.S. 7th Fleet operations officer pleaded guilty to bribery, admitting in a federal court Wednesday that he took nearly $68,000 in gifts that included extravagant meals, prostitutes and luxury hotel stays from defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia, U.S. prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Former Capt. Donald Gayle Hornbeck handed over sensitive, classified ship-movement information and helped Leonard Glenn Francis recruit and manage a network of naval...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/03/former-navy-captain-pleads-guilty-to-bribery-in-fat-leonard-investigation

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