Resolute Dragon 2023 roars across Japan

FORUM Staff
Persistent displays of force around Taiwan and Japan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) enhanced the urgency of Resolute Dragon, an annual training exercise conducted by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and United States Marine Corps.
Featuring 7,300 troops, the Japan-based exercise’s field training portion from October 14-31 was more than twice the size of its previous iteration. Resolute Dragon 2023 improved the joint force’s command and control, precision fires, and multidomain maneuver capabilities. Participants honed island defense tactics and medical evacuations on Kyushu Island and in Okinawa prefecture.
The PLA has stepped up air and sea maneuvers around Taiwan since August 2022 when a United States congressional delegation visited the self-governed island. The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, although it never has been, and threatens to annex it by force. Japanese and U.S. forces have responded with preparations and exercises to strengthen their defensive capabilities — in this instance, on Japan’s Taiwan-facing islands in the East China Sea.
Resolute Dragon’s field training followed a command post exercise in July and Orient Shield 2023, an exercise staged by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) and U.S. Army in northern Japan in September. Tokyo called for enhanced joint military exercises with the U.S. as part of national security documents released in December 2022.
Four thousand troops from Japan’s Western Army participated in Resolute Dragon, which focused on the nation’s southern islands, the Stars and Stripes newspaper reported. III Marine Expeditionary Force contributed most of the 3,300 U.S. troops, along with U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy personnel.

The exercises featured small mobile contingents that can slip within range of enemy missiles to seize islands and control surrounding seas, a U.S. Marine Corps spokesman said. Simulated combat against warships and aircraft also was part of the joint training, The Yomiuri newspaper reported.
New drills included live-fire rocket launches by JGSDF troops and U.S. Marines, airfield damage repair, and rapid infiltration into the Yausubetsu Maneuver Area in Hokkaido by U.S. Marines. Exercises focused on best practices and bilateral response to threats and involved 19 installations and facilities from Hokkaido in northern Japan to Yonaguni, an island 70 miles east of Taiwan.
“Now that the security circumstances surrounding Japan are the toughest ever, we stand on the front lines and make ourselves ready to deal with the situation,” Lt. Gen. Toshikazu Yamane, commanding general of the Western Army, said at the opening ceremony.
The field training exercise enabled participants “to transfer knowledge between our forces, share ideas and innovation, and strengthen the bond we have as those entrusted to the defense of our respective nations and to our partners,” III Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman 1st Lt. Alejandro Arteaga said. “We will build greater camaraderie, confidence, interoperability, and trust between our forces and our nations.”