In late November of 2017, “a US Navy plane crashed into the ocean southeast of Okinawa..marking at least the sixth apparent accident involving a Navy asset in East Asian waters [that] year.” (CNN) This came after a Navy and Civilian panel recommended “sweeping changes” in a comprehensive review of the Japan-based US 7th Fleet, which patrol East Asian waters.
The US Navy found, after deadly collisions damaged two of its warships just months apart in 2017, “both of these accidents were preventable” or, in one word: “avoidable”. (NPR)
In late 2017, a Russian rocket “violently dismantled 19 satellites,” (Register) although the Russian media blamed “human error”. (Moscow Times)
In early 2018 the State of Hawaii “mistakenly” released an Emergency Alert:
Emergency officials later announced that “the message had been sent in error.” (Guardian)
Whatever is truly going on, hacking–or electronic espionage–will play an even greater role in the tactical moves of world powers, and China and Russia already have significant advantages.