Japan, Us To Stage Joint Drills For Remote Island Defense
Japan and the United States plan to stage drills in November to simulate remote island defense in which joint logistics bases will be set up for the first time.
Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu said on Friday the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the US military will hold the drills from November 10 to 19 in southern Japan. This will be 16th active Japan-US exercise to date.
The drills will involve 36,000 personnel, 30 vessels and 370 aircraft. The aim is to simulate a response to ballistic missile attacks and defense of Japan's remote islands.
Joint logistics facilities to stock fuel and equipment will be set up at US Marine Corps Camp Kinser in Okinawa Prefecture and on Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture.
On Tokunoshima Island, the Defense Ministry says Japanese and US Osprey aircraft will conduct their first joint training in the Nansei Islands. The tilt-rotor planes will transport units to the island.
Part of the drills will include British and Australian naval vessels, and NATO officers will take part as observers -- both for the first time.
The Defense Ministry says the exercise is not designed against any particular country.
It says the drills will demonstrate a strong resolve of not tolerating any unilateral attempt to change the status of quo by force, and is aimed at contributing to Japan's defense as well as regional peace and security.