The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, left, amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, center, and carrier USS Ronald Reagan, right, lead Navy warships during Valiant Shield 2022 in the Philippine Sea on June 12, 2022. (Thaddeus Berry/Navy)
TOKYO — One of America’s largest warfighting exercises in the Pacific is getting bigger with the addition of Japanese forces.
Troops from both nations will participate in June in Valiant Shield, a biennial drill that for the first time will include training in Japan, a spokesman for the country’s Joint Staff said by phone Friday. Japanese government spokespeople are often required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
About 4,000 Japanese troops, eight vessels and 60 aircraft will join Valiant Shield from June 7 to 18, the Japanese spokesman said.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is preparing forces for Valiant Shield 2024, Lt. Cmdr. Marissa Huhmann, a Pacific Fleet spokeswoman, said by email Friday, without confirming the exercise details.
“The U.S. military frequently conducts joint and combined training to refine operational proficiency, improve contingency response abilities, and promote stability and security throughout the Indo-Pacific region,” she said. “Additional details about the exercise will be shared publicly at a later date.”
American forces involved in the 2022 iteration of Valiant Shield, off Guam, included 13,000 troops along with the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups, the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship, I and III Marine Expeditionary Force, the 36th Wing, 15 surface ships, more than 200 aircraft.
Next month’s drill will enhance the U.S.-Japan alliance’s deterrence and response capabilities, the Joint Staff said in a news release on its website Friday.
“Through participation in this exercise, the Self-Defense Forces will strengthen our readiness with allies and like-minded countries and contribute to the defense of Japan and the peace and stability of the region,” the news release stated.
The announcement came as of Chinese warships encircled Taiwan for an exercise Thursday and Friday. China’s Eastern Theater Command described the exercise as “a powerful punishment for the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces seeking ‘independence,’” according to a post on the Weibo social media site Thursday.
Valiant Shield will take place at U.S. facilities in Japan, including Misawa Air Base in the northeast, Yokota Air Base in Tokyo and Yokosuka Naval Base, southwest of the capital.
Japanese installations involved will include Hachinohe Air Base and Matsushima Air Base in the northeast and Iwo-to Air Base in the south, according to the spokesman.
Forces will train in the region surrounding Japan and between Japan and the Philippines, the airspace around the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau, and at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, the spokesman said.
The Chinese drills off Taiwan will add urgency to Valiant Shield, although it was scheduled long before the latest tensions, said Grant Newsham, a retired Marine colonel and senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.
“No need to imagine an imaginary enemy and an imaginary fight - as is sometimes the case with military exercises,” he said. “I suppose this is one more thing we can thank (Chinese President) Xi Jinping for. He’s certainly concentrated minds.”
