According to a report by the Japanese news agency, Japan and Germany signed the "Agreement on Mutual Supply of Materials and Services" between the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the German Army on the 29th, also known as ACSA, in which the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the German Army share food, fuel and ammunition. In September last year, Japan announced the official launch of negotiations between Japan and Germany on ACSA. Germany is the seventh country to conclude an ACSA with Japan, following the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, and India.
Japan's military strategy is developing toward an "outward-looking" type.
The analysis points out that recently, Japan has made frequent moves in the field of defense diplomacy, reaching a strategic cooperation agreement with the United States, joining the Western security and defense mechanism, adjusting its strategy of using troops overseas, and seeking to lift the ban on the "peace constitution" with equipment exports as a breakthrough point.
At the end of 2023, under the impetus of the United States, relations between Japan and South Korea will warm. Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. and South Korean air forces conducted joint air exercises against the backdrop of a hypothetical crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Subsequently, the United States, Japan, and the ROK held a joint naval anti-missile military exercise and activated a "real-time missile warning information sharing mechanism." This is the first time since World War II that the Japanese armed forces have organized a live military drill against the backdrop of military aid to the ROK.
Data map of the heads of state of the United States, Japan and South Korea.
According to Japanese media reports, in 2024, Japan will send F-35A and F-15 fighter jets to Australia for rotation deployment, and gradually realize the normalization of the presence of troops at multiple airports on the east and west coasts of Australia. According to the analysis, once the plan is implemented, Japan will implement normal overseas deployment in the name of training and extend its military tentacles to the South Pacific. In the past year or so alone, Germany, France, Italy, and other major European powers have sent fighter planes to Japan to conduct joint exercises.
Japan wants to expand its cooperation with NATO and step up its military cooperation with the West.
In 2023, Japan has repeatedly stated in public that it hopes to expand cooperation channels with NATO. Foreign media said that Japan's move is to provide a policy guarantee for its substantial deepening of defense relations with Western countries and to step up military cooperation with Western countries.
The analysis points out that the signing of the "Agreement on Mutual Supply of Materials and Services" between Japan and Germany is a step in the expansion of the so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy" and the transformation of Asia into NATO, which will lay hidden dangers for regional security and stability.