Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces join ‘Salaknib” drills in April
The Japanese ground forces will bring some artillery pieces and a company-sized mechanized unit for the three-week drills, joining 5,000 US and Filipino soldiers in one of the largest field training.
The Philippine Army and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force officials meet during a bilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster response drills held in Japan last October 17-20, 2022.
Manila — Nearly 85 years ago, Japanese soldiers descended on the Philippines in large numbers, and after six months, they had occupied the country and held it for three years.
In April this year, some 300 members of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF) would return to the country, not part of an invasion force, but to train and exercise in an annual bilateral army-to-army drill, “Salaknib” with the United States.
Lieutenant General Antonio Nafarrete, the commanding general of the Philippine Army, told journalists that Japan will take part, for the first time, in a trilateral exercise with the United States and the Philippines in a real-time war scenario, testing the interoperability and operational readiness of the three ground forces.
“They will join, for the first time, in an Army-to-Army exercise, as allies, not adversaries,” Nafarrete said.
Nafarrete said the drills will be held at the sprawling jungle base of the 7th Infantry Division in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
The Japanese ground forces will bring some artillery pieces and a company-sized mechanized unit for the three-week drills, joining 5,000 US and Filipino soldiers in one of the largest field training exercises in the country.
There’s a possibility that the Japanese ground forces will continue participating in the much larger joint and combined “Balikatan” exercises in May.
Nafarrete also said the Japanese troops will take part in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercises and subject-matter expert exchanges, among others.
Last year, the Japanese sent only an observer team in the “Salaknib” drills between the Philippines and the US, which has several Army-to-Army drills around the region under its Pacific Pathways program.
Nafarrete said Japan’s participation in this year’s edition of “Salaknib” drills came after both the Philippine and Japanese legislatures ratified the July 2024 Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), a Status of Forces arrangement similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States.
Japan is also negotiating a military logistics deal, called the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), allowing Japanese troops to procure food, fuel, water, and other equipment while on training in the Philippines.
The Philippines is also among the largest recipients of Japan’s Official Security Assistance, transferring surveillance planes, coastal radars, helicopter spare parts, and airframes.
It was also set to transfer three to six second-hand destroyer escorts to the Philippine Navy to boost its maritime domain awareness capability.