US & Japan Conduct Sophisticated Communications and Anti-Submarine Exercises

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By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The US Navy’s Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group recently conducted sophisticated communications and anti-submarine training exercises with Japanese Maritime Defense Forces, demonstrating growing solidarity between the two allies and exploring improved interoperability in several key mission areas.

The exercises, which included US units from Commander, Destroyer Squadron 15 (DESRON) and Japan’s JS Teruzuki, sought to solidify the US-Japanese deterrence posture in the Pacific theater which of course pertains in large measure to efforts to contain Chinese provocations and aggression.

“JS Teruzuki and DESRON 15 conducted various training evolutions to include visit board search and seizure (VBSS), Expendable Mobile Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Target (EMATT), and electronic warfare exercises, which demonstrate the commitment of the U.S. and Japan to share information together at sea,” a Navy report on the exercises said.

The training also included the use of a US Navy Carrier Air Wing, a development of added significance in the Pacific given that Japan is now well underway with a large-scale $34 billion F-35 buy. This is extremely significant in a number of respects, because the move not only strengthens Japan’s ability to defend its airspace and conduct surveillance missions but also greatly improves US-Japanese networking potential. 

F-35s 

All F-35s are of course engineered with a common data link called Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) which seamlessly networks all F-35s to one another with a secure, high-speed network enabling fast transmission of time sensitive targeting data and mission-specific intelligence.