Asia-Pacific
Keen Sword 27 opens on Ishigaki with 45,000 Japanese and 11,000 U.S. personnel and seven partner nations
The biennial Japan-US exercise began on 19 October and runs to 29 October, with forces from seven other countries and observers from South Korea and the UK, according to a U.S. Forces Japan release.
Exercise Keen Sword 27 opened on 19 October with a ceremony on Ishigaki Island, in south-western Japan, according to a release from United States Forces Japan published through DVIDS. The release says about 45,000 Japan Self-Defense Force personnel and 11,000 U.S. service members are taking part, together with forces from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines. South Korea and the United Kingdom are sending observers. The exercise runs from 19 to 29 October.
The release describes Keen Sword 27 as the 18th iteration of a routine, biennial field training exercise. Training activities listed include air and missile defence, facility protection and repair, logistics and resupply, casualty evacuation and maritime operations. The stated aim is to improve interoperability, information sharing and defensive coordination across several domains under realistic conditions.
Vice Adm. Tawara Tateki of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, who commands the Joint Operations Command of the Japan Self-Defense Force, opened the event. “Today, it is a great privilege and significance to commence Keen Sword 27 in Ishigaki, Japan’s western-most point,” he said. He called it “an exercise dedicated to preserving peace and stability” and described the participants as “like-minded partners”.
The keynote speaker was U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. George Rowell, deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Command, as the release styles his post. “Deterrence in the 21st Century is not built on words or declarations, it is built through demonstrated competence, cohesion and warfighting readiness,” he said, adding: “Keep drilling, keep learning and remain ready, together.”
What came before
The start follows weeks of build-up. Geopolitiki previewed the exercise when the plans for the south-western islands were announced: Keen Sword 27: Japan and the US to drill defence of the south-western islands, with 45,000 Japanese troops and missiles on Yonaguni and Ishigaki. It also reported on a U.S. carrier group arriving in Japan ahead of the drills: USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group arrives in Yokosuka ahead of exercise Keen Sword.
The troop numbers and the list of participants are those given by the U.S. military release; the Japanese side had not published its own figures at the time of writing. The release is available on DVIDS.