Lt. j.g. Dom Restivo, right, and Ensign Ethan Margot stand watch aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn during an exercise with the Australian and Japanese navies in the South China Sea, Feb. 7, 2024. (Justin Stack/U.S. Navy)
A flotilla of U.S., Australian and Japanese warships recently trained together for two days in the South China Sea, an operation that coincided with several large-scale exercises underway in the region.
The guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn and littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords joined the Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami and the Australian frigate HMAS Warramunga for drills Wednesday and Thursday, U.S. 7th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Kristina Wiedemann said by email Friday.
The short exercise allowed the ships to operate together “over a sustained period of time across a large area to sustain and improve” their ability to work together, according to Wiedemann who did not identify where in the South China Sea the drills took place.
“These operations tested our ships’ ability to communicate, maneuver and organize as a seamlessly integrated trilateral force,” she said.
The guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn sails with the Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami and Australian frigate HMAS Warramunga in the South China Sea, Feb. 7, 2024 (Justin Stack/U.S. Navy)
The South China Sea is the stage for sometimes aggressive moves by Beijing to assert its claim of maritime sovereignty there against other claimants, including the Philippines, another U.S. ally, and Vietnam.
The U.S. Navy also trained with an ally, the Philippine navy, in the South China Sea in early January, two months after they resumed mutual patrols there in November, Bloomberg News reported Jan. 3. Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels squared off in 2023 over access to Scarborough Shoal, a low-tide feature occupied by a Philippine garrison.
The most recent maneuvers took place with two larger exercises underway in the region.
In Japan and Hawaii, the command post exercise Keen Edge brought together U.S., Japanese and Australian military forces for crisis and contingency computer simulation training. The weeklong exercise concluded Thursday.
On Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, 2,000 miles east of the South China Sea, the three-week Cope North runs until Feb. 23. The exercise in aerial warfare includes U.S., Australian and Japanese forces, along with those from Canada, France and South Korea.
The two-day maneuvers in the South China Sea last week were not part of the other exercises, according to Wiedemann.
“Every day, U.S. Navy forces operate with allies and partners, defending the rules-based international order and ensuring the Indo-Pacific remains free and open for all,” she said.
