Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan put on a joint show of force with the United States on Thursday with the paratroopers of Japan’s First Elite Airborne Brigade dropping from helicopters and C-130 planes at a training camp in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo.

On the ground, fighters practiced shooting and combat exercises, while attack helicopters from the Tachikawa airbase flew over the exercise field with soldiers ready to leap out of the helicopter doors.

Detonations from mortars rang out as vehicles carrying medium-range missiles took up positions before destroying their targets.

At the end of the exercise, a band played Japanese and American military tunes in front of the Japanese and American military command as the troops were reviewed.

Japan’s First Elite Airborne Brigade was enlisted during the Iraq War in 2006 as part of the Joint Engagement Efforts but not participating in the fighting as stipulated in Japan’s constitution, which renounces war.

The missions of the parachute brigade is to respond effectively to national crises such as earthquakes, floods, health crises or the invasion of territory by an enemy.