Japan-US joint surface-to-ship battle training in Kumamoto today

The Ground Self-Defense Force will carry out a battle training attacking a ship from the ground for the first time in Japan at the Oyanohara Exercise Area in Kumamoto Prefecture on the 17th. It was designed with China in mind to strengthen its advance into the ocean. Last year, the first joint anti-ship training was conducted in the United States, but it seems that the aim is to strengthen the restraint by implementing it in Japan, closer to China.

The planned surface-to-ship missile training is part of the "Orient Shield 19", an operational training for the Self-Defense Forces and the US Army conducted in various parts of the country. On the US side, an army unit handling missiles aiming at ships from the land will participate, and the high-mobility rocket gun "Himars" (HIMARS) will be deployed for the first time in joint training in Japan. On the Japanese side, a state-of-the-art "Type 12 surface-to-ship missile" (SSM) unit will participate. It is said that these units will jointly conduct training aimed at ships from land.

In the mind of the training is the presence of China that strengthens the marine advance. In the Nansei Islands area, Chinese ships have become normal between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island in recent years, and since December 2016, the fleet of the aircraft carrier Liaoning has passed three times. Last year, a submarine of a nuclear submarine was confirmed. In the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands, where China claims its own rights, public ships have repeatedly invaded the Japanese territorial waters.

Under these circumstances, GSDF has learned this lesson ...