Japan, Singapore to be France’s Bastille Day honourees
Japan and Singapore will be guests of honour at 2018 Bastille Day parade in Paris, France announced on 28 June, a year after US President Trump enjoyed a front seat at the military display.
Each year the French president invites a country to join in the huge parade down the famous Champs Elysees on 14 July, the country’s national holiday.
Two months after he became president in 2017, Emmanuel Macron hosted Trump at the celebration, which featured Republican Guards on horseback and jets roaring overhead.
In 2018 Macron has invited Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, the French military said, underscoring his attempt to bolster defence ties with partners in the Asia-Pacific region.
Singapore is one of the French Air Force’s main allies in southeast Asia.
The tiny city state has sent scores of fighter pilots for training in France over the past 20 years.
The parade will also celebrate 160 years of diplomatic ties between France and Japan.
The two countries have been invited to send troops to march alongside more than 4,000 members of the French armed forces, police and gendarmerie.
More from Defence Notes
-
![US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule]()
US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule
The US government plans to accelerate production even further after achieving key B61-13 milestones months ahead of schedule, as the programme advances amid growing US-China strategic competition.
-
![Canada’s C$2 billion ACSV deal reinforces new defence industrial strategy as allies align]()
Canada’s C$2 billion ACSV deal reinforces new defence industrial strategy as allies align
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada is the country’s first strategic partner under the Defence Industrial Strategy’s Strategic Partnership Framework, an effort to provide companies with confidence to invest and boost the defence labour force.
-
![New UK armed forces minister frames High North defence as vital to “homeland security”]()
New UK armed forces minister frames High North defence as vital to “homeland security”
The UK’s Minister for the Armed Forces Louise Sandher-Jones made her first appearance in the role before the House of Commons Defence Committee this week to highlight efforts to improve capability in the High North.
-
![Canada seeks to strengthen industrial ties with the US on classified programmes]()
Canada seeks to strengthen industrial ties with the US on classified programmes
Ottawa explores expanding defence-industrial cooperation with Washington into sensitive programmes, an approach that could reshape NORAD modernisation, strengthen North American supply chains and create new opportunities for defence contractors.
