On 7 March, Filipino marines raided an Abu Sayyaf (ASG) hide out on Laminusa Island in the Sulu province.  Seven militants were killed, including two women, and one marine was wounded.  Intelligence gathered from captured members and U.S. military surveillance has made it possible for the Philippine military to launch a series of successful offensives against ASG in recent months.

On 2 March, the ROK's defense ministry announced that two Air Force F-5 fighter jets crashed into Mount Hwangbyeong near the city of Guangneung, about 237 kilometers east of Seoul.  The jets were participating in a training mission. The government launched a rescue mission and found plane debris and the remains of three pilots.  This is the seventh F-5 crash since 2000.

The ROK’s first Aegis destroyer, Sejong the Great, will undergo a comprehensive evaluation of its fighting capabilities in June a Navy source said on Monday.  Sejong the Great will conduct tests during the multinational Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercise near Hawaii.  Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy experts will act as observers and evaluate the weapons systems during the exercise.  The trial includes evaluating the destroyer’s anti-aircraft capabilities, which include Standard Missile-2 (SM-2), Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM), and Goalkeeper close-in weapons systems (CIWS). 



On 28 February, the ROK’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) announced that it has started technology evaluations on an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).  Research being done will focus on ground link control systems and stealth capabilities and a blueprint of the aircraft will be drawn in the 2011-2012 period according to an ADD source.  The UCAV’s will be remote controlled and will carry precision bombs and missiles that can strike key military targets.  The ADD source added that if the government builds a fleet of UCAVs, it may be deployed along the military demarcation line that separates the two Koreas.

The head of the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has made a rare public appearance in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Sheikh Nasrallah attended a dinner with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both Syria and Iran provide the group with financial and military support. The meeting came a week after the US signalled an attempt to improve ties with Syria, sending a senior official to Damascus for talks and nominating a new ambassador after the withdrawal of his predecessor five years ago.