Japan-U.S. Joint Exercise: Drills Should Be Clear Demonstration of Deterrence

Editorial

14:30 JST, September 21, 2025

China has acquired military capabilities that threaten peace across the entire Asia-Pacific region. This sense of crisis likely led to the implementation of the largest-ever Japan-U.S. joint exercise.

It is vital to conduct practical exercises repeatedly and enhance joint response capabilities.

Resolute Dragon, the joint exercise between the U.S. Marine Corps and the Ground Self-Defense Force, is being held in eight prefectures from Hokkaido to Okinawa from Sept. 11 to Sept. 25. About 19,000 personnel from both nations are reportedly participating.

Primarily focused on training to recapture remote islands, the exercise was first held in 2021.

In Hokkaido, the focus of this year’s drill is primarily on anti-ship training. In Okinawa Prefecture, both Japan and the United States are using Osprey transport aircraft to move the GSDF’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, tasked with island defense, and U.S. Marine Corps personnel.

The U.S. military has also temporarily installed a launch system for Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have a range of 1,600 kilometers, at Iwakuni Air Station. This marks the first time the launch system has been deployed at a U.S. military base in Japan.

The missiles will reportedly not be fired during the exercise, but their presence likely makes a statement of deterrence.

China’s military spending has increased by about 30 times over the past 30 years. The Chinese Navy now possesses a larger fleet than the U.S. Navy and holds an advantage in the number of medium-range missiles.

Partly to complement U.S. capabilities, Japan must urgently deploy missiles capable of being launched from outside enemy range and enhance its counterattack capabilities.

The U.S. military has actively conducted drills with the SDF in recent years. The number of major Japan-U.S. joint exercises rose from 34 in fiscal 2019 to 51 in fiscal 2024.

The aim is to deter China and other countries. At the same time, Japan’s establishment of security-related legislation in 2015, centered on the limited exercise of the right to collective self-defense, has likely made coordination with the SDF easier.

In the latest exercise, the SDF is reportedly escorting U.S. vessels and other equipment based on the security-related legislation.

Opposition parties were critical during deliberations on the related legislation, arguing it would “drag Japan into U.S. wars.”

However, the reality is that North Korea is continuing its nuclear and missile development, while China is intensifying its military coercion around Japan. This argument by the opposition was clearly just empty rhetoric.

Meanwhile, some issues remain in Japan-U.S. defense cooperation. In March, the Defense Ministry established the Joint Operations Command to centrally command the three branches of the SDF — ground, maritime and air. The U.S. side plans to grant certain command authority to U.S. forces in Japan, but this has not yet been realized.

Japan and the United States should align command and control functions to facilitate smooth communication and enhance responsiveness.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 21, 2025)