The United States and Japan have begun Keen Sword 27, the largest joint exercise the two allies have staged, with drills running from October 19 to 29 focused on defending Japan's southwestern islands, U.S. Forces Japan and Japan's Joint Staff said.

Source: Associated Press via AntiWar.com

US Forces Japan said the exercise brings together about 45,000 Japanese troops and 11,000 U.S. troops, alongside forces from Australia and Canada and first-time participants France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines, with South Korea and the United Kingdom as observers. Japanese announcements listed some 57,000 personnel in total when U.S. numbers are counted at about 12,000, along with 6,100 vehicles, 40 vessels and 260 aircraft, according to the Japan Joint Staff announcement reported on September 29.

Source: Japan Joint Staff via Silent Dossier

New missiles on the island closest to Taiwan

For the first time, U.S. Marines have deployed the NMESIS anti-ship missile system and the MADIS air-defence system to Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island, just 110 kilometres (68 miles) east of Taiwan. NMESIS mounts Naval Strike Missiles with a range of more than 185 kilometres on an unmanned vehicle. A U.S. HIMARS rocket system has also been deployed to nearby Ishigaki island, where the exercise's opening ceremony was held.

Japan, meanwhile, is exercising its new Type 25 surface-to-ship missile outside its home base for the first time, the Associated Press reported. The Type 25, developed from the Type 12, is reported to reach about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) — far enough to cover much of the East China Sea from Kyushu. Japanese reporting said crews will rehearse locating and targeting enemy warships, and the Japan Joint Staff has confirmed no Type 25 missile will be live-fired during the exercise.

57,000troops in Keen Sword 27 (Japanese + U.S. reporting)
110 kmfrom Yonaguni island to Taiwan
1,000 kmreported range of Japan's new Type 25 missile
Oct 19–29exercise dates

Opening the drills at Camp Ishigaki, the commander of Japan's Joint Operations Command said, according to the Joint Staff: “We do not want crisis, confrontation, or a unilateral change to the status quo by force.” Taiwan's Defence Minister Wellington Koo praised the inclusion of a Taiwan-related contingency scenario in the drills, saying peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait had become a strong consensus in the international community, Taipei Times reporting said.

Source: Taipei Times via Europe Says

China watches, and warns

The exercise follows the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sailing past Okinawa with two Type 055 destroyers days before the drills began. Taiwanese media reported that China also held simultaneous live-fire drills and released rare footage of DF-26 missiles on night alert — claims Awaaz Punjab presents as Taiwanese media reports, not independently verified. Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told China's Global Times earlier this month that deploying the new U.S. missile system to Yonaguni increases the risk of miscalculation between the U.S. and China.

What is solid

  • Keen Sword 27 runs October 19–29 and is the allies' largest joint exercise yet, per U.S. Forces Japan and Japan's Joint Staff.
  • U.S. NMESIS and MADIS systems are on Yonaguni, about 110 km from Taiwan, for the first time.
  • Japan's Type 25 missile is being exercised outside its home base for the first time; no live firing is planned.

What is only claimed

  • Taiwanese media reports of simultaneous Chinese live-fire drills and DF-26 night-alert footage have not been independently verified.
  • Total troop figures differ by source: U.S. Forces Japan said 11,000 U.S. troops; Japanese reporting puts the U.S. figure near 12,000.