A French Rafale fighter prepares for takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, July 5, 2023. (Hannah Strobel/U.S. Air Force)
TOKYO — The French air force trained alongside its American and Japanese counterparts across the Indo-Pacific recently even as the French president objected to NATO opening an office in Tokyo.
French President Emmanuel Macron has told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg he opposes such a plan, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported Sunday.
The plan was revealed in May amid concern about Chinese aggression toward Taiwan with one defense expert suggesting Yokota Air Base, the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo, as a likely site.
However, an unidentified official at France's presidential office told journalists Friday that articles of the NATO alliance specify its geographical scope, which is the North Atlantic, according to NHK.
Meanwhile, the French are training alongside U.S. and Japanese forces as part of Northern Edge, which began July 2 and wraps July 21, Air Force Lt. Col. Keegan Dale, commander of 13th Fighter Squadron, told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday. The squadron, from Misawa Air Base, Japan, was deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, south of Hiroshima, for the exercise.
France’s air force on Sunday tweeted photographs of Rafale fighters that landed for the first time in the Republic of Palau, in Micronesia, on Friday supported by a pair of A400M Atlas aircraft launched from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
Ten Rafales, four Atlas transports and five Phenix A330 multirole tankers are deployed to the Indo-Pacific over the summer, the French Embassy in Malaysia said in a press release last month.
F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 13th Fighter Squadron arrive at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, as part of the Northern Edge exercise, July 2, 2023. (Alexandria Byrd/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. airmen and maintainers brought about a dozen F-16C Fighting Falcons from Misawa to Iwakuni for Northern Edge, which is focused on command and control and agile combat employment, Dale said.
Agile combat employment is the ability to move aircraft rapidly to a network of smaller airfields to avoid being targeted by missiles in the event of war.
Pacific Air Forces declined, citing operational security, to provide the types or number of aircraft or personnel involved in Northern Edge.
“We can confirm that aircraft from the U.S. Joint Force, France and Japan are flying missions in support of [Northern Edge] with a focus on refining combined tactics, techniques, and procedures,” the command said in comments emailed Monday by Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Harris, a 366th Fighter Wing spokesman.
The U.S. is training out of Guam and Palau with France to enhance agility coordination and provide rapid assistance should a crisis occur in the region, according to Harris’ email.
“Northern Edge 23-2 is a first of its kind test of command and control capabilities throughout the Indo-Pacific region for a joint, multinational exercise,” he said. “This exercise includes a regional test of command and control capabilities throughout numerous locations across the Pacific, leveraging Airmen and Marines located at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.”
During the exercise, the 366th Air Expeditionary Wing will employ the 13th Fighter Squadron along with the 391st Fighter Squadron, flying F-15E Strike Eagles, Harris said.
Air forces will test their ability to command and control forces from multiple locations during the drills, he said.
“Training out of various locations simultaneously allows the joint force commander to move forces fluidly across the theater,” he said.
The exercise includes elements of Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the French Air and Space Force, Harris said.
