Japan’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade will train in Northern Australia and the Indo-Pacific with the Australian Defense Force and Marine Rotational Force-Darwin next year, officials said on Sunday. The defense chiefs of Australia, Japan and the U.S,. made the announcement during the 14th Trilateral Defense Ministers’ Meeting (TDMM) held in Darwin, Australia. Meanwhile, aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) is expected to arrive in Yokosuka soon, as its’ embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 is beginning to return to its home base of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni after several months of training in the U.S.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles stated that there would be regular deployments of the Japanese ARDB to Australia to better operate with Australian ADF and the U.S. Marine force in Darwin.
“It is a very important statement to the region and to the world about the commitment that our three countries have in working with each other,” Marles said.
In September, during the Australia-Japan 2+2 meeting, Maltese said Australia and Japan were exploring ways for the ARDB to participate in the annual U.S. MRF-D rotations. A joint statement on the trilateral meeting said that the defense chiefs welcomed Japan’s increased participation with the Australia-United States forces in Australia and the Indo-Pacific region in 2025. Japanese forces will join exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 and Exercise Southern Jackaroo.
Japan’s ARDB has already participated in the biennial U.S.-Australia joint exercise Talisman Sabre, which includes multinational participation, making their debut in the exercise in 2019. The Talisman Sabre 2025 drill will be carried out from mid-July of that year according the Australia Defense Department’s page on the exercise.
No details have been released as to the numbers of ARDB personnel that will conduct the deployment and whether deployments would consist of the ARDB arriving for a short period for a particular activity or for an extended period to carry out additional drills. The 13th MRF-D rotation carried out this year spanned six months and involved 2500 personnel according to an Australian Defense Department release which also stated that the next MRF-D rotation will begin early next year.
Japan’s ARDB activated its third regiment by the end of March this year, with the unit reaching its full authorized strength. The ARDB consists of three regiments, a brigade headquarters, support battalions and companies for a total of around 3,300 personnel.
U.S Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, marking his last official visit to the Indo-Pacific as Defense Secretary, said during the joint press conference the 2025 iteration of Talisman Sabre will include an air and missile defense live fire event. The U.S. defense secretary also said that a number of bilateral exercises between the U.S and Japan are now being elevated to a trilateral level to include Australian participation. Those drills include Yama Sakura and Orient Shield. Australia will also participate in the multilateral Keen Edge and Keen Sword exercises.
“I’m really proud of the things that this administration has accomplished over the last four years, in terms of what we’ve done in this region to strengthen alliances and to work with countries that share the vision of a free and open Indo Pacific,”, said Austin during the press conference.
The joint statement said that the three countries committed to trilateral policy coordination and to consult each other on regional security issues and contingencies and established the “Trilateral Defense Consultations” to support alignment of policy and operational objectives of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Australian Defense Force and the United States forces from peacetime to contingency.
The three countries also commit to enhancing Australia-Japan-India-United States maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific. During exercise Kakadu held in Australia in September, Australia, India, Japan and the United States held a maritime patrol aircraft collaboration activity on the sidelines of the drill.
Meanwhile, aircraft carrier George Washington has wrapped up its patrol prior to assuming its station as Forward Deployed Naval Force–Japan (FDNF-J) aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan with the embarked CVW-5 departing the carrier starting on Sunday according to a release on the same day.
CVW 5 departed Japan in May aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and returned aboard George Washington. The two carriers conducted a hull swap of personnel and equipment in San Diego to transfer forward-deployed duties in July, during which time the air wing conducted fully integrated training at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada, according to the release.
“Carrier Air Wing 5 represents the Navy’s determined investments in Naval Aviation through cutting-edge technology and our most advanced training with years of unmatched experience flying in this consequential theater,” said Rear Adm. Greg Newkirk, commander of Task Force 70 and the George Washington Carrier Strike Group (CSG), in the release, “Our forward-deployed forces in Japan are among our most capable in the world and represent a tangible sign of America’s commitment to Japan and the region.”
The George Washington CSG took part in the second iteration of U.S. – Japan – South Korea trilateral multi-domain exercise Freedom Edge that was held from Wednesday to Friday in the East China Sea waters south of Korea’s Jeju Island. Along with the carrier, destroyers USS Higgins (DDG-76), USS McCampbell (DDG-85) and USS Dewey (DDG-105) formed the CSG.
