Japan, the US and Australia are boosting their security cooperation!

Friday, January 20, 2012 

Japan, U.S., Australia To Hold 1st Joint Aviation Training In Guam 

TOKYO (Kyodo)--Japan's Air Self-Defense Force said Friday it will conduct joint training with the U.S. and Australian air forces for the first time in February in Guam, in a move believed to be aimed at keeping in check the rise of the Chinese military in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The drill, which will take place over the U.S. Andersen Air Force Base on Guam between Feb. 11 and 24, will involve 330 ASDF members, eight of its F-2 fighters, six F-15 fighters and three E-2C airborne early warning aircraft, according to the ASDF. 

ASDF Chief of Staff Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki said at a press conference it is important for Japan to ''strengthen its partnership with Australia, in view of the situation in the Pacific.'' 

The training exercise, which will cover aerial combat and defense, and electronic warfare, will also be held at a bombing range near the Andersen base, the ASDF said. 

Japan's National Defense Program Guidelines, last updated in late 2010, state Tokyo intends to strengthen its defense cooperation not only with its key ally, the United States, but also with South Korea and Australia. 

In July last year, the ASDF conducted a joint drill with the Australian air force for the first time.

Members of the Australian Army will also take part as observers in a Japan-U.S. joint command post exercise scheduled to begin later this month at a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force garrison in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, and other places, according to the GSDF. 

ASIA PACIFIC Date Posted: 20-Jan-2012 Jane's Defence Weekly USMC to start training in Darwin in 2012 Sam LaGrone Jane's Naval Reporter Washington, DC Additional reporting by James Hardy Asia-Pacific Editor London The US Marine Corps (USMC) will begin amphibious training in northern Australia this year, the head of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command (MCCDC) confirmed on 18 January. Speaking at a briefing in Arlington, Virginia, MCCDC commander Lieutenant General Richard Mills said small unit training of about 250 marines would start at Robertson Barracks near Darwin. "The Australians have indicated a desire to get into the amphibious business and they want to train with us," Gen Mills said. "In the next 12 months we'll start to see some exercises taking place out there." US President Barack Obama announced plans in November 2011 to train about 2,500 marines at Darwin in conjunction with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Australian Army. "Initially you're going to see 250 and you're going to see company level operations. That will develop into a longer-range programme that will develop into larger forces," Gen Mills said. The USMC is still debating how to move and equip its personnel to operate at Robertson Barracks. Gen Mills said the marines will either establish a package of materiel and equipment at the training site or be allowed to travel with their own gear. The USMC has had trouble finding large-scale amphibious training sites in the Western Pacific; Darwin's proximity to the South China Sea has raised suspicions in China that it is part of a strategy to place US forces in a strategically sensitive region. This perception has been reinforced by the new US defence strategy released in early January 2012 that emphasises American engagement in the Western Pacific. Meanwhile, Gen Mills noted that the massive USMC relocation from Okinawa, Japan, to the US territory of Guam has been delayed due to a series of disagreements with the Japanese government over force realignment in Okinawa. That disagreement centres on the future of the Marine Air Station Futenma, which under a 2006 agreement is to be replaced by a newly built offshore facility in the north of main Okinawa Island. Although Tokyo supports the plan, it is opposed by the Okinawa prefectural government and the vast majority of Okinawa residents. COMMENT While Gen Mills' confirmation could incur a response from China, the decision to press on with the planned training in Australia should not escalate tensions between Washington and Beijing. Professor Steve Tsang, Director of the China Policy Institute at Nottingham University in the UK, believes the USMC training deployment shows US intent but in reality it is deploying quite a limited capability compared to the alternatives. It also does not compare in size to US naval and air forces forward-deployed in Japan and South Korea. "A marine base is as unprovocative as you can be," Tsang told Jane's in December 2011. "Why a marine base? Why is it not a major naval and aviation facility, which would be far more useful than a marine base for the Americans? "My reading is that it is more a matter of demonstrating to SE Asia and Australasia that its commitment remains but it is trying not to be provocative to China," he added. Copyright © IHS Global Limited, 2012