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.
