Japan stands up amphibious rapid deployment brigade, electronic warfare unit for defense of southwest islands

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force last week formally activated the 3rd Regiment of its Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, a key element of Japan’s plan to defend its southwest region and the outlying islands there. Last month Japan also stood up a JGSDF electronic warfare unit on Yonaguni Island and a surface-to surface-missile unit on Okinawa – the first time this type of unit has deployed on Okinawa.

The regiment was activated at Camp Takematsu, Nagasaki, on the main island of Kyushu. Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, who presented the regimental flag to its commanding officer, Col. Takada, attended the ceremony. In a press conference, Kihara said defending Japan’s various remote islands is crucial to the country’s existence, given the large number of islands.

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The ARDB’s completion shows the priority the JGSDF is placing on warfighting capability, retired U.S. Marine Col. Grant Newsham, a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, told USNI News.

“The ARDB’s location down in Kyushu at the northern end of the Nansei Shoto is where Japan faces its greatest threat – from the PRC – and the ARBD is intended and configured to operate in a maritime environment which is where the fight will happen,” said Newsham, who was previously the Marine Corps’ first liaison officer to the JGSDF and was involved with establishing the ARDB.

The ARDB is also where the Japan Self-Defense Force as a whole and the JGSDF are enhancing the capability to conduct combined/joint operations with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force. These operations have been a shortcoming in Japan’s military for many years, according to Newsham, who added that the ARDB operates easily enough with U.S. forces and other major partners.

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