The Washington Times

U.S. kicks off allied fighter jet training over Pacific

Fighter jets from the United States, Australia and Japan are currently flying over western Pacific skies, as military drills — called Cope North — aimed at bolstering an allied force kicked off Thursday.

“The training is not against a specific country, like China,” said Japan Air Self-Defense ForceLt. Gen. Masayuki Hironaka, in an Associated Press report. “However, I think [the fact] that our alliance with the U.S. and Australia is healthy is a strong message.”

Alliance sorties actually started over Guam earlier this week. But those were more focused on humanitarian missions. Thursday, the training shifted to war.

The Cope North training reflects the Obama administration’s shift in the Pacific toward an air-dominated — versus land-dominated — approach to defense, that acknowledges a growing Chinese military threat, the AP reported.

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

About the Author
Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus

      Independent voices from the TWT Communities

      World View

      Columns from Voices around the World talking about the events, people, politics and social issues that concern us wherever, and whoever, we are.