Taiwan's parliament has passed an extra spending bill of $8.6bn, in the latest bid to boost defence capabilities against growing military threats from China. Lawmakers on Tuesday agreed unanimously to pass the special budget, which comes on top of a record annual defence budget of about $17bn set for 2022. The additional resources are aimed at acquiring precision missiles and mass-manufacture high-efficiency naval ships "in the shortest period of time" to boost the island's sea and air capabilities, the government said. The budget includes a coastal anti-ship missiles system, a locally developed Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords) cruise missile as well as an attack drone system and installation of combat systems on coastguard ships. Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of an invasion by authoritarian China, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

One of the Air Force's oldest planes became the first military aircraft to fly with artificial intelligence as its copilot on Dec. 15. A U-2 from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., flew with an AI algorithm that controlled the Dragon Lady's sensors and tactical navigation during a local training sortie. The algorithm, developed by Air Combat Command's U-2 Federal Laboratory and named ARTUµ in a reference to the droid that serves as a copilot in the Star Wars film franchise, took over tasks normally handled by the pilot, in turn letting the flier focus on the flying. "ARTUµ's groundbreaking flight culminates our three-year journey to becoming a digital force," said Will Roper, the Air Force's assistant secretary of acquisition, in a release. Failing to realize AI's full potential will mean ceding decision advantage to our adversaries." The laboratory used more than a half-million simulated training missions to build the algorithm, which took over sensors after takeoff. The training scenario focused on a simulated missile strike, with ARTUµ finding enemy missile launchers and the pilot looking for adversary aircraft--both using the U-2's radar, according to the release. "We know that in order to fight and win in a future conflict with a peer adversary, we must have a decisive digital advantage," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr said in the release. "AI will play a critical role in achieving that edge, so I'm incredibly proud of what the team accomplished.

Footage of Canadian soldiers sporting Kurdish flags on their uniforms in Iraq has raised questions about Canada's military training mission in the war-torn country. Canadian military personnel are training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Footage shot by Canadian news channel CTV in Iraq showed Canadian troops wearing the red, green and white flag of Kurdistan, with a yellow sun at its centre, on one sleeve of their uniforms in late April. A spokesperson for the Department of National Defence told Al Jazeera the Kurdish flag is being used to ensure troop safety. "Our members are wearing the flag of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to enhance cohesion with partner forces and to ensure easy visual identification, which contributes to force protection," Daniel Lebouthillier said in an email.