Amid rising tensions in the region, the 11-day exercise on Tokunoshima Island, dubbed 05JX, aims to demonstrate the readiness of land, sea and air forces to protect Japan's territory and infrastructure, including nuclear power plants.
Japanese military conducts exercises. Photo: Reuters
“The goal of the 05JX exercise is to demonstrate that if an emergency situation arises due to an attack, we can respond in a unified manner,” said General Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff.
The Japanese navy used Ground Self-Defense Force amphibious assault vehicles, launched from two Maritime Self-Defense Force landing ships anchored offshore. Other troops landed on rubber boats, with heavy equipment flown ashore by military seaplanes.
Unlike many beaches along Japan's southwestern island chain stretching toward Taiwan, Tokunoshima's beaches have no coral reefs, making military operations more difficult.
The scale and pace of military exercises in Japan are likely to increase in the coming years, including with US forces, after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in December announced the country’s biggest military buildup since World War II, pledging to double defence spending in the coming years.
Trung Kien (according to Reuters)
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