The 11-day drills are aimed at boosting the defense of Japan’s southwestern island territories and will involve more than 37,000 Japanese personnel and 10,000 US forces, along with an aircraft carrier.
Operation Keen Sword was originally planned to incorporate a mission to simulate the retaking of an island. Although neither the US nor Japan specified if the mission was aimed at the disputed archipelago “it was widely perceived they had in mind the Senkaku Islands,” said Japanese newspaper Kyodo.