More trilateral exercises, greater coordination and deeper military-industrial ties were only some of the takeaways from the latest gathering of the Japanese, Australian and U.S. defense chiefs, efforts that experts say aim to build up collective deterrence and a potential allied crisis response amid an increasingly fraught regional security situation.
One of the highlights of Sunday’s three-way meeting in the northern Australian city of Darwin was the announcement that the Ground Self‑Defense Force’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade will deploy to Australia regularly to join both local forces and a U.S. Marine Rotational Force for annual amphibious training drills, starting with next year’s Talisman Sabre exercise.
“This is going to build interoperability between our three countries (and) it is a very important statement to the region and to the world about the commitment that our three countries have to working with each other,” said Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles as he hosted his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Gen Nakatani.