An artist's impression of the new military Maintenance Support Facility that the New Zealand government is developing at the Burnham Military Camp. (NZDF)

The New Zealand government has started development of a new facility to maintain and sustain military equipment. The proposed Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) is being constructed at the Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch on the South Island.

Marking the start of the MSF construction project, Defence Minister Andrew Little said, “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our defence force to better maintain and repair equipment.”

MP Materials is building a rare earths separation facility in Mountain Pass, California. (MP Materials)

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is pushing for increased domestic production of lithium and nickel, agreeing to funnel a total of USD110.6 million to support the reopening of US-based mining operations for the critical materials.

The USD90 million lithium production initiative is being spearheaded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Policy, and funding for the effort was pulled from the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, which was approved by the US Congress in 2022.

Growth in Taiwan's defence expenditure is forecast by JDB to slow down in the next few years. JDB figures include funding for veterans' affairs and other defence funds. (Janes Defence Budgets)

Taiwan's National Defense Report 2023 has highlighted how the country is trying to learn lessons from the Ukraine-Russia war in ramping up its own multidomain and asymmetric military capabilities in preparing for any conflict with China.