The U.S.-Japan "Keen Sword 2027" multilateral exercise held its opening ceremony on Ishigaki Island in Japan, assembling about 58,000 officers and soldiers, and advanced anti-ship and air defense systems will be deployed.
A major general of Japan's Self-Defense Forces thanked his staff in a Voice of America video, saying that he had been listening to Voice of America to learn English since junior high school and had benefited from it for decades.
In March 2025, the United States launched the first phase of upgrading the U.S. Forces Japan headquarters into a Joint Force Command, and Japan established a Joint Operations Command during the same period. The two sides said that a joint presence in the southwestern region is a priority and that the ability to access key terrain in the First Island Chain must be expanded.