Royal Navy – A memo written by the First Sea Lord states that budget cuts are preventing the Royal Navy and Royal Marines from meeting their operational committments.

• BBC: Navy ‘unfit for duty’
  

• Daily Telegraph (registration required):Cuts ‘leave Navy unfit to fight’
• The Times (registration required): Ministers told of risks to Navy

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – The new Japanese government appears to be willing to allow its self defense forces to play a more active military role; Japan – who has the second largest navy in the Pacific – could be an important counterbalance to China.

• Los Angeles Times: Self-Defense Forces May Soon Look Like a Modern Military