To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
The Japanese and U.S. governments are deepening efforts to beef up their capability to jointly deal with contingencies, with China’s military ambitions in mind.
In the latest joint exercise by the two countries, dubbed “Noble Fusion,” the Maritime Self-Defense Force ship Kongo, an Aegis-equipped destroyer, sailed together with the USS Abraham Lincoln, a U.S. aircraft carrier, and the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship, to conduct vigilance and surveillance activities.
MSDF Chief of Staff Hiroshi Yamamura said at a press conference on Tuesday, “It was an exercise that will help enhance the capabilities of Japan and the United States to jointly deter and deal with contingencies.”
The Ground Self-Defense Force also took part in the exercise, with personnel of its Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade — which is tasked with protecting remote islands — aboard a helicopter landing on the deck of the USS America, an amphibious assault ship of the U.S. Navy, confirming ways to deal with contingencies.
The Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade was established in 2018, modeled after the U.S. Marine Corps, and a new unit will be deployed at GSDF Camp Takematsu in Omura, Nagasaki Prefecture, in fiscal 2023.
China is intensifying its pressure in areas near Japan lately, such as by deploying an aircraft carrier in waters near Okinawa Prefecture. The Japanese government intends to revise the national security strategy — the basic guidelines for the country’s security policy — at the end of this year, reinforcing the Japan-U.S. alliance.
