TOKYO: The French Air and Space Force’s Rafale main fighter jets will fly to Japan for the first time later this month and conduct joint training with Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighters, the ASDF said Tuesday.

This will be the first joint training by Japanese and French fighter jets. The two countries aim to demonstrate their cooperation, apparently bearing in mind China, which is increasingly assertive.

From France, four aircraft, including two Rafales and a military transport airplane, and some 120 personnel will take part in the joint training, to be conducted July 26-29 at the ASDF’s Nyutabaru base in Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, and in the airspace in the Kanto eastern Japan region.

From the ASDF, three F-15 and two F-2 fighters, and other aircraft will participate in the formation flight and navigation training.

Gen. Stephane Mille, chief of staff of the French Air and Space Force, will also visit Japan and hold a joint press conference with ASDF Chief of Staff Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura.

The planned joint training is for “showing France’s involvement in areas surrounding Japan and is significant for realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told a press conference Tuesday.

In May, France dispatched a navy frigate to Japan.

JIJI Press