JMSDF, US amphibious ships team up for drill off Australia

US Navy’s Japan-based amphibious ships met up with their Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) counterparts for training off Australia.

US Navy transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD 20) and amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) trained with Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer JS Ise (DDH 182) and JMSDF Ōsumi-class amphibious transport dock ship JS Kunisaki (LST 4003) in the Coral Sea on August 1.

Both Japan and the United States recently completed their participation in Talisman Sabre 2019, a bilateral, biennial exercise off the coast of Northern Australia.

The Wasp ARG and embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) team is a flexible, self-sustained crisis response force, capable of conducting operations from combat missions, to humanitarian aid and disaster relief. They are the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region.