The Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) on June 8 conducted one of Japan’s largest live-fire training exercises in Shizuoka Prefecture, which was also livestreamed.
Around 2,000 people participated in the annual Fuji Firepower Exercise held within the GSDF’s Higashi-Fuji Maneuver Area near Mount Fuji. The scenario involved intercepting enemies invading island areas, with China’s maritime expansion in mind.
The Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, specializing in remote island defense, practiced maneuvers such as the deployment of V-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing transport aircraft.
The exercises are held annually to educate people about the realities of firepower combat. The GSDF said that this year it aimed for a program that was more impactful, with a sense of speed. The event was streamed online for the first time in two years.
Around 76.6 metric tons of ammunition was used in the exercises — exceeding the amount used last year, and valued at some 870 million yen (approx. $6 million). Artillery, including about 50 tanks and armored vehicles and some 60 cannons, repeatedly fired toward the foot of Mount Fuji. Some components of long-range missiles under development, which aim to strike enemy missile-firing locations in emergency situations, were also revealed for the first time. The apparent aim is to domestically and internationally publicize Japan’s enhanced ability to hit enemy bases in such situations.
The once-popular public viewing of the exercise has been canceled since fiscal 2023, but amid difficulties in hiring defense force members, the GSDF is increasing the number of invitations for people such as defense force applicants and their guardians to see the exercise each year.
(Japanese original by Yoshitake Matsuura, Tokyo City News Department)
