NAHA, Japan - Japan's top Ground Self-Defense Force commander in the southwest said Tuesday expanding V-22 Osprey transport aircraft training will strengthen the emergency response on remote islands, as the GSDF and U.S. Marines wrapped up their annual Resolute Dragon exercise amid rising tensions in East Asia.
"Steady, routine training with the Osprey will lead to a force capable of responding reliably to disasters on remote islands," Lt. Gen. Seiji Toriumi, commander of the GSDF's Western Army, told a joint news conference at Camp Hansen on Okinawa after the 11-day exercise concluded.
Toriumi also said the increasingly severe regional security environment makes it "critically important" to strengthen deterrence through the Japan-U.S. alliance.
The exercise marked several firsts for the GSDF's tilt-rotor V-22 fleet amid lingering safety concerns. The aircraft, which can take off and land like a helicopter and cruise like a fixed-wing plane, has been involved in a series of accidents in Japan and overseas.
Three Ospreys, based at Camp Saga in southwestern Japan, landed at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on June 22, the first time the aircraft have used a U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture. One Osprey was later deployed to Miyako Island, also a first.
About 9,600 Japanese and U.S. troops took part in drills across Okinawa and the Kyushu region, simulating the defense of Japan's remote southwestern islands.
"Our alliance is not aimed at any one nation. Rather, it's designed to deter any threat or potential aggressor that seeks to threaten the region," Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, commanding general of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, said at the news conference.
"The modernization of our forces and the complexity of exercises like Resolute Dragon demonstrate our credible integrated deterrent," Turner said. "We are ready to respond to any crisis or contingency with unmatched speed."
At the closing ceremony, the Marine Corps displayed the latest Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, an anti-ship missile launcher, and the Marine Air Defense Integrated System, a short-range air defense system.
The U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa announced on June 22 that the systems had officially been fielded.
Japan has stepped up deployment and joint training in the region as China expands military activity in the East China Sea and around Taiwan.
Beijing regularly sends ships and aircraft near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China also claims, while North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
