Overview

• The strike group, centered on HMS Prince of Wales, docked at Yokosuka’s US Navy and JMSDF facilities on August 12 as part of its Indo-Pacific deployment.
• Japan’s Ministry of Defense extended ‘weapons protection’ to British vessels, marking the first application for UK forces under its post-2016 security law.
• This port call caps a western Pacific exercise from August 4–12 where 14 ships from six nations practiced anti-submarine and other tactical operations.
• UK F-35B fighter jets executed their inaugural take-off and landing on the JMSDF’s helicopter carrier Kaga during the drills, underlining growing interoperability.
• Japan is refitting its carriers Kaga and Izumo for short-takeoff/vertical-landing jets and has begun stationing F-35Bs at Nyutabaru, targeting eight aircraft by FY2025 and about 40 in the longer term.