Russia Protests Joint Training as Spain’s Aerospace Force Joins Self-Defense Forces with Germany and France

On July 19, 2012, fighter jets and other aircraft from two countries, the German Air Force and the Spanish Aerospace Forces, flew to the Chitose Air Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Also on the same day, fighter jets and other aircraft of the French Aerospace Forces flew to the Air Self-Defense Force’s Hyakuri Air Base in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The purpose of the three countries’ visit to Japan was part of “Pacific Skies 24,” a joint exercise with the visiting countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and before their visit to Japan, they conducted joint training with the US Air Force in Alaska.

The Air Self-Defense Force has been conducting joint exercises with Germany since 2010 and with France since 2011, but this is the first time that the Spanish Aerospace Forces has participated in the exercise.

Prior to the training, transport planes and other aircraft of the German Air Force and Spanish Aerospace Forces flew to Chitose Air Base one after another from the 18th. The fighter planes of Germany, France, and the West are called “Eurofighters,” which are not so familiar in Japan.

The Eurofighter was jointly developed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The development concept began in the late 1970s, but after twists and turns, including the withdrawal of France from the project and the fall of the Berlin Wall, a test flight of a prototype was conducted in 1994, and the introduction and mass production of this European original aircraft began in 2003. Unlike the fighter planes of Japan and the U.S., it has an unusual shape with a canard (front wing) on the nose.

A total of 15 aircraft were confirmed to have flown in on the 18th and 19th: eight Eurofighters, one A400M transport, one C-130 transport, one A321 transport, and four A330MRTTs, which are aerial refueling aircraft jointly operated by NATO; four Eurofighters and two A400M transports for the Spanish military; and six Eurofighters and two A400M transports for Germany. The Spanish military flew four Eurofighters and two A400M transport planes, for a total of 21 aircraft from Germany and the West to Chitose Air Base.

With such a large concentration of foreign aircraft, the Chitose Air Base looked like a NATO military base.

At the welcoming ceremony held on the 19th, Assistant Admiral Nobutaka Tanaka, Commander of the 2nd Air Wing of the JASDF, said, “I believe that the joint training is meaningful from the perspective of maintaining and strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The exchange at the unit level, including the improvement of tactical theory, the promotion of mutual understanding, and the deepening of defense cooperation, will serve as a foundation for strengthening cooperation in the future”, he commented.

Air Force Colonel Ralf Perzike, Deputy Defense Attaché to the German Ambassador to Japan, commented, “The recently signed Japan-Germany Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which came into effect in January 2012, enables the SDF and the Bundeswehr to smoothly and quickly provide supplies and future joint training, such as refueling and equipment repair, to the SDF and the Bundeswehr. The ACSA has recently come into effect, enabling the SDF and the Bundeswehr to smoothly and quickly provide goods and conduct future joint training exercises, including refueling and equipment repairs. The Bundeswehr has benefited logistically from this exercise. We would like to further deepen and develop the training that has been carried out every year in stages,” he said .

Ambassador Fidel Sendagorta Gomez del Campillo, Spain’s ambassador to Japan, said, “This is the first time that Spanish fighter jets have flown to Japan for joint training. This is the first time that Spanish fighter jets have flown to Japan for joint training exercises. As part of the defense cooperation between our two countries, the peace between the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans is inseparable, and the fact that they crossed both oceans for this exercise is based on the principles of defense cooperation.

On the other hand, Russia and North Korea expressed their displeasure with the exercise.

The Russian Foreign Ministry sent a letter of protest to the Japanese Embassy in Russia, commenting that “the decision of the Japanese government to conduct military exercises jointly with NATO on the coast of the Russian Far East is unacceptable.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency published a lengthy commentary on the protest, stating, “For Prime Minister Kishida, who has no credentials whatsoever, not only to attend the NATO summit, but now to conduct joint drills with NATO members in Japan in July and August is nothing short of military aggression, and the Asia-Pacific region is not the stage for NATO’s crusading expeditions. The Asia-Pacific region is not the stage for NATO’s crusade expedition,” he said. China has made no specific comment.

The SDF is now approaching a turning point in its history, as training with the militaries of other countries is becoming more and more popular.