U.S. and French troops begin joint military drills with SDF in Japan

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Ground Self-Defense Force personnel conduct an amphibious drill with the U.S. Marines in February 2020 in Okinawa Prefecture. Japan, France and the United States began a large-scale joint military drill in Nagasaki Prefecture on Tuesday. | KYODO

Large-scale ground military exercises involving troops of the Self-Defense Forces, the United States and France began in southwestern Japan on Tuesday to increase cooperation in the face of China’s growing assertiveness.

“ARC21” will be held through next Monday as Tokyo seeks to deepen defense cooperation beyond its U.S. ally to “like-minded countries,” Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said ahead of the drills.




France “is the only European country with a permanent military presence in the Indo-Pacific region,” Kishi told a news conference in Tokyo. “It is also a like-minded country that shares with Japan the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The move comes as Tokyo and Washington work to boost their alliance over regional issues including the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by Beijing, in the East China Sea amid an escalation in China’s maritime assertiveness in the East and South China seas.

France has strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, where it has territories including the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean and French Polynesia in the South Pacific.

The forces of the three countries will engage in urban warfare drills followed by amphibious operation exercises, according to the Ground Self-Defense Force.

Until Thursday, the troops will be stationed at GSDF Camp Ainoura in Nagasaki Prefecture, where they will work together to plan the operations.

Japan ground troops begin joint military drill with U.S. and France

The forces of the three countries will engage in urban warfare drills followed by amphibious operation exercises in southwestern Japan.

www.japantimes.co.jp