F-35A Lightning II aircraft prior to a sortie during Exercise ‘Bushido Guardian 2025′ at Misawa Air Base in Japan. (LACW Paris Rigney/Commonwealth of Australia)
A trilateral air exercise in Japan involving Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation aircraft from three air forces has ended after helping to enhance strategic balance and interoperability, according to participants. The exercise comes amid growing air activity by Chinese fifth-generation aircraft in the region.
Exercise ‘Bushido Guardian 2025′ was conducted from 29 September to 10 October. During this period, Australian, Japanese, and US F-35A and other aircraft (including tankers) based at Japan’s Misawa Air Base were scheduled to operate together across 25 different missions, according to the US Air Force (USAF).
The exercise has “historically been a bilateral exercise” involving Japan and Australia in 2023, according to the USAF. In 2025, however, the USAF participated “for the first time, expanding it into a trilateral exercise”, the US Forces Japan (USFJ) added in a statement.
Large force employment
Officially, the exercise called for the participation of 38 aircraft, plus 300 personnel from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), 230 USAF personnel, and 160 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel, according to information published by the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the USAF.
The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said on 13 October that the exercise “centred on fifth-generation fighting” and aimed to deepen “interoperability between each of the participants”.
“In a region marked by rapid change and growing complexity, the ability for each nation’s fifth-generation air combat aviators to operate together – confidently, capably, and cohesively – is essential,” the DoD added.
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