Japan and the US hold live-fire drills

The exercise site was set up to look like a remote island to simulate the defense of one of Japan's outlying islands. Japanese and American forces fired live anti-tank missiles and other munitions at a simulated enemy landing force.

According to data from the Western Command of the Japan Army and other sources, about 3,000 GSDF soldiers and 1,100 US Marines were scheduled to participate in the Hijudai exercise. However, the actual number has not been confirmed.

This is part of the GSDF-US Marine Corps “Resolute Dragon” 2023 exercise, which will be held mainly in the Kyushu region and Okinawa Prefecture of Japan from October 14 to 31. This is also the first time that this largest bilateral exercise in Japan has been held in the Kyushu region and the southwestern Nansei Islands. The previous two exercises were held mainly in Hokkaido and the northeastern Tohoku region. In addition to the Hijudai Training Area, the Jumonjibaru Test Site, also in Oita Prefecture, was used as a training venue.

The field training portion of Resolute Dragon 2023 took place in Japan with 7,300 troops participating from October 14 to 31. This is more than double the number of troops participating in the previous exercise. Resolute Dragon 2023 helps improve the joint forces' command and control, precision firepower, and multi-domain mobility. Participants practiced island defense tactics and medical evacuation on Kyushu and in Okinawa.