Overview

• The 2015 security legislation that conditionally permits limited collective self-defense reaches its 10-year milestone on September 19.
• Operational integration with the United States has deepened, with the Self-Defense Forces conducting routine weapons-protection missions totaling 140 instances through fiscal 2024.
• The scope of those missions has widened beyond the United States to include Australia since 2021 and, for the first time in August 2025, a United Kingdom carrier strike group centered on HMS Prince of Wales.
• The government moved in 2022 to acquire a counterattack capability intended to strike missile bases for self-defense, describing it as part of strengthened deterrence.
• Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says the alliance is stronger and more capable, while opposition leader Tomoko Tamura condemns the law and warns of greater risk of entanglement in overseas conflicts.