Asia’s ‘NATO’? Why Japan Is Flying Jet Fighters to India for the First Time

CSP Senior Fellow Grant Newsham joined a Taiwan Talks panel to discuss multinational exercises including Orient Shield by US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.

“In Exercise Veer Guardian, Japanese F-2 fighter jets are deploying to India for the first time as part of four overlapping multinational exercises including Orient Shield by US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific. Tokyo will also be training with Australia, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand in a series of increasingly complex drills designed to strengthen interoperability and regional deterrence. With an increasing number of these layered mini-alliances forming and rehearsing, is this a deliberate strategy by the US and Japan to create a new allied model of defense? Meanwhile, China has denounced Japan’s expanding military role as “militarization,” even as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducts its own overseas exercises with Singapore, Egypt and others. Can countries such as Singapore successfully hedge between Washington and Beijing — and how do these military drills fit into that strategy? In this episode, we examine the growing network of Indo-Pacific military exercises, Japan’s defensive strategy and how other countries in the region are navigating the US-China rivalry.”

Watch the panel below: