US, Japan Strengthen Security & Defense Ties

U.S. and Japanese diplomatic and military leaders agreed to revise the 1997 Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation, increase security and defense collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, and advance the realignment of American troops in Japan.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met with their counterparts, Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, in a series of meetings yesterday that culminated in a “two-plus-two” engagement.

  Hagel said that all four discussed, “Our goal … [of] a more balanced and effective alliance, where our two militaries are full partners working side-by-side with each other, and with other regional partners, to enhance peace and security.”

The gathering was highlighted by intense interest in Japan as the nation’s government is reportedly considering expanding the role of its self-defense forces.

Hagel said  that after 16 years, revising the defense guidelines makes sense. The close alliance between the two countries, rising security threats in the region and the increasingly global nature of those threats, he said, all urge a reexamination of the agreement governing each nation’s roles and responsibilities in defense and contingency operations.

Other key agreements the four ministers announced include:

• A second Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance system, or AN-TPY-2, will be placed at the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force base at Kyogamisaki, where it will augment one previously set up in Shariki on the northern part of Honshu Island.
• The new radar will “close the gaps,” a U.S. official said, and will increase protection for the United States while defending Japan against possible North Korean missile strikes. The “Tippy-Two,” as it’s commonly known, is an X-band, high-resolution, phased-array radar designed specifically for ballistic missile defense. It searches for and tracks inbound threats, and can be integrated with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system and ground-based interceptors.
•  Increase bilateral cooperation in the region on space and cyberspace; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; planning, use of facilities, extended deterrence, information security, training and exercises.
• Reinforce trilateral and multilateral cooperation “that preserves and promotes a peaceful, prosperous and secure Asia-Pacific region.” The statement adds, “Our mutual cooperation is to expand over time, and we are committed to working in partnership with other like-minded countries to build sustainable patterns of cooperation.”
•  Implement agreements on realignment of U.S. forces in Japan “as soon as possible while ensuring operational capability, including training capability, throughout the process.”

The realignment plan will relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, now in the center of Okinawa’s Ginowan City, to a more remote area of the island. It also moves a Marine Corps squadron of KC-130 Hercules aircraft from Futenma to MCAS Iwakuni, transfers elements of the Navy’s Carrier Air Wing 5 from Atsugi Air Facility to Iwakuni, and shifts thousands of Marines from Okinawa to Guam in the first half of the 2020s.

•  Deploy more advanced U.S. capabilities to Japan such as the U.S. Marines’ MV-22 Osprey aircraft, two squadrons of which are here and will be training with Japanese self-defense forces. Other equipment headed to Japan in the coming years includes Navy P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, in what will be its first deployment outside the United States; rotational deployment of Global Hawk unmanned aircraft; and, in another first deployment outside the United States in 2017, the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing joint strike fighter variant for the Marine Corps.

[mappress]
Press release, October 4, 2013; Image: US DoD