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U.S. and Japanese forces deliver air superiority to exercise Keen Sword

  • Published
  • By Capt. AnnMarie Annicelli
  • 5th Air Force Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  

U.S. and Japan Self-Defense Force service members across air, land and sea concluded one of the largest and most complex bilateral field training exercises, operating more than 200 bilateral and joint aircraft, which flew over 1,100 missions and integrated with more than 25 naval ships, Nov. 8, 2018.

*Increasing Interoperability*

The Keen Sword exercise scenario required U.S. and Japanese air forces to transport and deploy ground teams and cargo to bare bases, rapidly shift operations from one base to another and seamlessly integrate with maritime forces to overwhelm and defeat an aggressive, multi-pronged threat.

With such a complex scenario and countless moving pieces, the questions lingers: how can two sovereign nations cohesively track thousands of missions launched from more than 10 bases across Japan?

While this seems a daunting task, U.S. and Japanese Airmen rose to the challenge and tracked the status of aircraft, munitions, parts, and airfields to support and maintain integrated air, land, and sea operations while rapidly analyzing and disseminating vital information to the 57,000 Keen Sword participants.

“For the first time, 5th Air Force and Japan’s Air Defense Command centrally coordinated and planned live-fly operations as a bilateral team, effectively executing parallel air tasking orders and tracking and disseminating the status and movement of our forces,” explained Brig. Gen Todd A. Dozier, 5th Air Force vice commander and Pacific Air Forces Joint Air Component Coordination Element director. “From the air operations coordination center, our forces coordinated with the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN76), U.S. and Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) squadrons, 613th Air Operations Center (AOC) as well as air and tactical controllers to effectively produce overwhelming air superiority in a challenging scenario.”

*Strengthening Alliances*

As part of the U.S. Air Force’s goal to improve integration with a vital ally, Keen Sword provided an ideal platform to further deepen the understanding of how each air force conducts air operations planning and execution, and dynamic targeting.

“During Keen Sword, U.S. and Japanese air forces engaged and successfully neutralized simulated dynamic targets on an extremely short timeline,” said Maj. Brandon Murphy, 5th Air Force current and future operations chief and air operations coordination center lead. “Moving forward, 5th Air Force and the Koku Jieitai will continue to leverage lessons learned and hone the principals of dynamic targeting. The tactics, techniques and procedures developed in this and future exercises will ensure both air forces can effectively coordinate and deconflict air operations to outpace any threat, or rapidly respond to a disaster in the region.”

The U.S.-Japan Alliance has been the cornerstone of regional peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region for nearly 60 years, and events like Keen Sword are essential to creating a common understanding of how to effectively execute air operations and enhance interoperability while bolstering each force’s readiness, and if called upon, provide the defense of Japan against potential regional threats.

Keen Sword, the field training exercise dating to 1986, is held biennially, alternating yearly with Keen Edge, the command post exercise.