Japan and the United States began Keen Sword 27 on Oct. 19, an exercise involving about 45,000 Japanese personnel that lists civilian airports and ports among its planned locations.
Japan’s Joint Staff lists about 45,000 Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel, 6,100 vehicles, 40 vessels and 260 aircraft. U.S. Forces Japan puts the U.S. contingent at about 11,000 service members. The opening event took place on Ishigaki Island on Oct. 19.
The Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and France are also taking part, U.S. Forces Japan says. South Korea and the United Kingdom have observers, the command says.
Japan’s training plan covers air and missile defense, anti-ship operations and responses to cyberattacks. It also includes information warfare, space-domain awareness, logistics and protection of critical infrastructure. Planned locations include military facilities, civilian airports and ports, and waters and airspace around Japan.
Japan’s Joint Staff says the exercise is intended to assess how Japanese and U.S. forces respond together to contingencies and to improve operational capabilities. The wider exercise series dates to fiscal 1985 and generally alternates field training with command-post exercises; Keen Sword 27 is its 18th field-training iteration.
Japan’s Defense Ministry recorded about 33,000 Japanese personnel in Keen Sword 25, held in 2024, making the planned Japanese contingent for this exercise larger. An Oct. 20 commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) warned of a North Korean response to the U.S.-Japan and South Korea-U.S. exercises, as covered in an earlier EconoTimes report.
Keen Sword 27 is scheduled to conclude Oct. 29.
