Iron Fist 2020 Exercise - Extremely Important to US-Japan as China’s Navy Expands

Iron Fist 2020 Exercise - Extremely Important to US-Japan as China’s Navy Expands

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Sailors and Marines kicked off an annual bilateral Iron Fist exercise with Japanese soldiers on Friday that’s designed to help Japan’s fledgling amphibious force become ready to operate.

Tokyo has been moving at a rapid clip in the two years since it stood up its Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, with training exercises held ashore and on ships with Marine Corps units in California and in Japan. The ARDB and its two regiments of “sea soldiers” were established with the mission to quickly deploy to defend Japan’s far-flung islands and respond to other threats like natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

This year’s exercise follows the trend of putting greater focus on the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s ability to plan and conduct combined amphibious operations including island-defense capabilities. The goal of the aggressive training schedule is “for us to become a world-renowned amphibious operation unit,” Col. Koji Hirata, the JGSDF’s deputy commander, said during the opening ceremony.

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