Japan participates in multinational exercise Valiant Shield near Guam for the first time

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan – The USS Ronald Reagan took center stage among eight warships in the Philippine Sea as the U.S. military began Valiant Shield, nearly two weeks of exercises including Japan for the first time.

The biennial exercise, which is in its 10th edition since 2006, began Friday and will end June 18. It brings together all six arms of the U.S. military for exercises on or near Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau.

The Japan Air and Maritime Self-Defense Forces are participating for the first time and are expected to mobilize about 4,000 troops, eight ships and 60 planes, a Japanese government spokesperson told Stars and Stripes in May. Some Japanese government spokespeople are only required to speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

Training includes maritime interdiction, anti-aircraft operations, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and command and control, according to Navy Lt. Cmdr. Haider Mullick, one of the directors of the exercise.

Many U.S., allied and partner ships and aircraft are involved in this year's Valiant Shield, Mullick said by email Friday without going into detail. Instead, he directed Stars and Stripes to images and press releases on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website.

The Ronald Reagan, which departed from Yokosuka Naval Base May 16 for the final time before being relieved by the USS George Washington, led a flotilla in the Philippine Sea on Friday that included the command ship USS Blue Ridge , the guided-missile cruiser USS. Robert Smalls and the guided-missile destroyers USS Higgins and USS Rafael Peralta.

They were joined by the Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Izumo, the guided-missile destroyer JS Haguro and the attack submarine JS Taigei, according to a Sunday press release from Ronald Reagan posted on DVIDS.

US F-18 Super Hornet, F-22 Raptor and F-16 Falcon fighter jets, B-1 Lancer heavy bombers, RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and KC-46 Pegasus tanker flew over the ships of war with Mitsubishi F -2 fighters and F-15 Eagles of the Air Self-Defense Force.

In the South China Sea on Friday, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt conducted its own training alongside the French frigate FS Bretagne, the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal, the amphibious landing ship USS Harpers Ferry and guided-missile destroyers USS Russell, USS Daniel Inouye. and USS Halsey, according to an article published Sunday by Theodore Roosevelt on DVIDS.

Valiant Shield aims to develop “concrete skills in sustaining joint forces by detecting, locating, tracking and engaging units at sea, in the air, in space, on land and in cyberspace in response to a range of mission areas”. Mullick said.

This year's exercise comes less than a month after China completed its own smaller-scale exercise around Taiwan: Joint Sword 2024A. Beijing launched the exercise in retaliation for “Taiwan independence separatist forces seeking independence,” according to a statement from China's Eastern Theater Command.

Joint Sword began on May 23, three days after Taiwan inaugurated President Lai Ching-Te. In his inauguration speech, Lai called on China to “face the reality of [Taiwan’s] existence, respect the choices of the people of Taiwan.

China views Taiwan, a functioning democracy, as a breakaway province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

The last Valiant Shield exercise, in 2022, brought together a similar set of participants, including more than 200 aircraft and approximately 13,000 personnel. This culminated in the live-fire destruction of a decommissioned frigate, the USS Vandergrift.

At the end of fiscal 2022, a group of seven Russian ships including frigates and destroyers were spotted 112 miles off the coast of Japan. Four Chinese ships were also spotted in the waters around Japan a week earlier.