US wants to deploy missile-armed Marines along Japan’s Okinawa islands -Yomiuri

TOKYO – The US wants to disperse US Marine items all through Japan’s Okinawa islands by 2026, arming them with missiles and lighter gear to deter China’s navy, and can discuss the plan with Tokyo in Washington, DC, the Yomiuri newspaper mentioned.

The US has already advised Japan concerning the reorganization, which it’s going to announce after a two-plus-two assembly in Washington on Wednesday between Japan’s ministers of protection and overseas affairs and their US counterparts, the paper reported.

Officers at Japan’s protection ministry had been unavailable for remark. A overseas ministry official declined to remark concerning the report, however mentioned Japan and the US “will discuss matters regarding issues on the US Forces Japan, including the realignment of the US Forces Japan”.

The creation of the brand new items, known as Marine Littoral Regiments, is a part of a serious reorganization of the US Marine Corps outlined by its commandant, Common David Berger, in 2020 in his Drive Design 2030 paper.

On the time Berger advised Reuters he wished these items to work intently with Japan’s Self Protection Forces to forestall easy accessibility to the Pacific for China’s navy.

As a part of that plan, the Marines are reducing plane numbers, and dumping most of their cannon artillery and heavy armor in favor of smaller “dispersed” forces outfitted with missiles and drones that may function in contested areas.

Japan hosts 18,000 US Marines, the largest focus outside america. Most of them are in bases on the primary Okinawan island, which is a part of a sequence that stretches along the sting of the East China Sea to inside about 100 km (62 miles) of Taiwan.

That giant US navy presence has fueled native resentment, with Okinawa‘s authorities asking different components of Japan host among the pressure. Though reorganization might not improve the variety of Marines in Okinawa, dispersing them might imply a broader presence along the island chain. – Reuters

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