US Navy and Marine Corps units will team with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces on amphibious missions off the coast of Guam for the first time since the joint Keen Sword exercise began in the 1980s.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Navy and Marine Corps units will team with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces on amphibious missions off the coast of Guam for the first time since the joint Keen Sword exercise began in the 1980s, the Navy announced in a press release.
“By improving our bilateral amphibious capability we increase interoperability and readiness as part of our deep and long-standing military cooperation in support of the US-Japan defense alliance,” the commander of the Navy’s Amphibious Force 7th Fleet, Rear Adm. Marc Dalton, said in Tuesday's release.
During the drill, surface ships will conduct live-fire exercises and other maritime missions to simulate efforts to protect the amphibious task force and provide support fire to ground forces ashore, according to the release.
This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.