Photo/Illutration The U.S. Marine Corps deploys the NMESIS anti-ship missile system, right, and the MADIS air defense system on Sept. 17 on Ishigakijima island in Okinawa Prefecture for the Resolute Dragon 2025 joint exercises. (Kazuyuki Ito)

Japan and the United States have begun one of their largest-ever joint military exercises this month in a clear show of force amid rising tensions with China over Taiwan.

The drills, named Resolute Dragon 2025, run from Sept. 11 to 25 and involve 19,000 personnel across eight prefectures in Japan.

The exercises focus on defending remote islands. They include Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Marine Corps.

The U.S. has deployed its latest missile systems for the maneuver. The Typhon midrange missile system was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture—its first deployment on Japanese soil.

The anti-ship missile NMESIS (Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System) and the MADIS (Marine Air Defense Integrated System) were also deployed on Ishigakijima island in Okinawa Prefecture.

“These combined exercises should clearly signal to any potential adversary that any aggression will be met with a swift and decisive response,” said Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, the U.S. Marine Corps' top commander in Okinawa, during a news conference on Sept. 17.

The deployment of advanced missile systems highlights Washington’s increasingly forward military posture.

These weapons are expected to integrate with Japan’s upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles, which have an extended range of around 1,000 kilometers.

Experts say the United States is steadily moving its military assets closer to Taiwan.

According to Shigeo Kikuchi from Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies, U.S. forces are moving westward, citing deployments to Ishigakijima island in 2023 and to Yonagunijima island in 2024.

This strategy aligns with the alliance’s “first island chain” approach, where Marines act as forward observers and deterrents against China along the arc stretching from Japan through the Philippines.

The Typhon system was also deployed during U.S.-Philippines drills last year and remains stationed in northern Luzon.

Japan, too, is stepping up its military bearing.

In August, the GSDF completed the relocation of its Osprey aircraft to Saga, and state-of-the-art F-35B fighter jets were deployed to Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki Prefecture.

New ammunition depots are being established across the country, including in Hokkaido, Kyoto Prefecture and Kagoshima Prefecture.

Deployment is also beginning for the upgraded Type 12 and other long-range missiles, both on land and aboard vessels.

(This article was compiled from reports by Yoshihiro Makino, Kazuyuki Ito, Daisuke Yajima and Junya Sakamoto.)

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