The Ground Self-Defense Force began three days of live-fire drills near Mount Fuji Thursday, an annual exercise that comes as regional tensions have flared
The Ground Self-Defense Force began three days of live-fire drills near Mount Fuji Thursday, an annual exercise that comes as regional tensions have flared following a war of words between the United States and North Korea.
Around 2,400 soldiers, as well as tanks, field guns and helicopters were deployed at training grounds in the foothills of the iconic mountain, about 80 kilometers west of Tokyo.
Airborne troops parachuted from planes, anti-aircraft cannon were fired and F-2 fighter jets whizzed overhead in a display of force by one of the world’s best-equipped militaries.
The drills are meant to prepare the Self-Defence Forces to repel an attack on its remote islands.
But North Korea’s recent threat to fire missiles at the U. S. Pacific territory of Guam and territorial disputes with China and Russia are also concerning Tokyo.
