Japan Press Weekly

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2011 November 9 - 15 [SDF]

Days of Japan-US joint military drills reach a record high in FY2010

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. Forces together conducted military exercises, including multinational joint drills, 53 times in FY 2010, the largest ever number in terms of days (759 days with exercises overlapping each other).

By comparison, 587 days in 51 such exercises was the total in FY 2009.

The Ministry of Defense released these figures in response to Japanese Communist Party’s right-to-know request.

In particular, the Maritime SDF drastically increased days of its participation by 183 days from a year earlier in association with a rise in Japan-U.S. joint drills taking place in the U.S. territories and a rise in USF-led multinational joint drills.

The Air SDF also boosted the number of days in bilateral exercises held in Guam. The exercise “Cope North Guam 2010” conducted between January and March 2011 lasted 48 days, up 12 days from the previous year.

Japan, the U.S., and Australia intensified their trilateral military exercises at the same time Japan’s SDF activated its participation in multinational joint exercises in Southeast Asia.

The Maritime SDF, the U.S. Navy, and Royal Australia Air Force jointly carried out a drill off Okinawa in June 2010 in which the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington took part along with 20 other warships and many aircraft. It was the largest trilateral exercise ever conducted.

The Japan-U.S. Joint Committee in January 2011 agreed to carry out joint exercises not only in Japan but also in territories under U.S. control such as Guam. The expenditure necessary to relocate exercises to distant locales from Japan will be imposed on Japan, unlike other U.S. allies.

Japan’s Defense Minister Ichikawa Yasuo on October 25 met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and confirmed the intent to expand bilateral drills in Guam in order “to maintain a strong forward-deployed presence in the Pacific region.” There is a possibility that Guam will be used as a joint Japan-U.S. military base.

Given that the U.S. administration now faces strong pressure from Congress to drastically reduce military spending, Japan will be forced to bear the cost as a U.S. ally in addition to commit to a further beefing up of Japan’s military capabilities.