By Xu Yongzhi
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) recently conducted its "largest live-fire training exercise," the Fuji Firepower Exercise, at the East Fuji Training Area in Shizuoka Prefecture. The offensive weapons displayed and the operational scenarios practiced during the exercise have been widely viewed as a landmark development indicating the accelerated transformation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) toward acquiring attack capabilities.
The JSDF claimed that the Fuji Firepower Exercise focuses on "defense of remote islands." Since 2010, many of Japan's military exercises have repeatedly used "defense of remote islands" as an excuse to disguise their offensive nature. The latest exercise once again features trench warfare drills. However, two notable changes warrant close attention. First, Japan publicly displayed the Type 25 hyper velocity gliding projectile for the first time. According to the Japanese media, the missile's warhead can glide at supersonic speeds like a glider, making it harder to intercept than previous missiles, with a range of several hundred kilometers. Second, the exercise placed particular emphasis on offensive and defensive operations involving unmanned systems. During the exercise, JGSDF personnel used light arms fire-control systems to shoot down drones, employed drones for intelligence reconnaissance, and showcased equipment under development, including unmanned ground vehicles and robot dogs.
The so-called "defense of remote islands" is nothing more than a smokescreen. According to The Asahi Shimbun, the JSDF has long been deeply involved in US military drills based on the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concept. The core of this concept is to conduct distributed operations along the first island chain against a major adversary, including offensive actions such as anti-ship strikes and attacks against ground targets. In recent years, whether in joint exercises or independent drills, the JSDF has repeatedly practiced related scenarios, namely first seizing islands, then launching attacks with anti-ship missiles, rocket artillery, and other weapons. Given that Japan has already deployed offensive weapons with ranges exceeding 1,000 kilometers, the true purpose of such exercises is by no means the claimed "defense of its territory," but rather preparation for conducting long-range strikes while avoiding counterattacks.
The latest exercise of the JGSDF, through the display of offensive weapons and the drills in counter-unmanned operations and trench warfare tactics, sent three dangerous signals to the outside world. First, Japan's offensive weapons have already acquired initial combat capabilities. Second, Japan is attempting to seize the high ground of the new military revolution characterized by intelligent and unmanned systems. Third, Japan is accelerating military buildup based on high-intensity combat.
These signals closely align with the key points of a recent draft proposal adopted by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party on revising the three national security documents, including the National Security Strategy (NSS). The draft proposal openly urged the government to continue building large-scale offensive capabilities (namely the so-called "standoff defense capability"), make unmanned systems and artificial intelligence the top priorities of military development, and explicitly build sustained warfighting capabilities calculated in terms of years.
Using "defense of remote islands" as a pretext to conduct "intervention exercises" reflects Japan's deceptive cognitive warfare tactics in recent years. Japan is mobilizing across military, political, social, and public opinion spheres in an attempt to once again become a country capable of achieving strategic objectives through the use of force. In the face of Japan's dangerous expansion of military capabilities, the international community should remain highly vigilant, take effective measures to resolutely curb Japan's adventurism in pursuing neo-militarism, and jointly safeguard the postwar international order as well as regional peace and stability.
(The author is from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.）