Large-scale air force exercises were conducted on the land of the Rising Sun in a broad collaboration between the US Air Force and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. This exercise was part of the wider Airborne 22, which takes place every year. With the US Air Force helping the Japanese Armed Forces improve and test their ability to conduct large-scale air incursions anywhere.
This year’s exercise was assisted by the US 374th Airborne Division, which provided 11 C-130Js of the 36th Squadron at Yokota Base and two more from their base in Dyess, Texas. They dropped 500 Japanese paratroopers from the 1st Airborne Brigade, as well as 100 pallets of combined force exercises into the Fuji drop zone.
