US And Japan Self-Defence Forces Conclude Resilient Shield 2024 Exercise

A US and Japanese collaborative war-preparation alliance has been expanding on the ability to track as well as counter China’s ballistic, anti-ship missiles, and nuclear missiles with warship patrols equipped with advanced Ballistic Missile Defense (abbreviated BMD) tech. Per a US Navy essay, in a joint exercise named the Resilient Shield 2024, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces combined BMD tactics with the US Navy’s warships to refine its networking, targeting, fire control, and intercept tech.

Even though the exercise was conducted in a simulated computer-based zone, it was meant to assess Japanese-US threat detection, networking, and targeting synergies to expand a BMD envelope for both nations. With tech advances, computer-based simulations can replicate the performance parameters of weapons systems with actual simulated “live-fire” scenarios, advanced targeting, and data networking. Based on a US Navy essay, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces used BMD tactics with US Navy vessels in a cooperative exercise named Resilient Shield 2024 to improve targeting, networking, fire control, and intercept tech.

The exercise was designed to evaluate Japanese-US threat detection, targeting, and networking synergies, focusing on expanding a BMD envelope for both nations, even though it was conducted in a simulated computer-based setting. With the development of technology, computer-based simulations are becoming more and more able to replicate critical performance aspects of armed forces systems precisely, including data networking, intelligent targeting, and authentic “live-fire” simulations.

A US-Japanese BMD capability introduces tactical dynamics as it can hugely expand a missile-defence envelope throughout vulnerable parts of the Pacific theatre. The US Navy and Japan operate Aegis-warships, as Japan is an Aegis partner. This is critical as it means both countries’ warships will work with similar software, technological infrastructure, computing, and the ability to share target-track information.

The Aegis Combat System is an integrated suite of technologies engineered to use common computing standards, software, fire control, and susceptible radar detection to locate, track, and destroy incoming enemy ballistic missiles. The most recent upgrades to Aegis, such as Baseline 10 and software-driven “tech-insertions”, enable a single system to perform both Ballistic Missile Defenses as well as Air-and-Cruise-Missile defence, meaning that anti-ship-missiles, as well as ballistic missiles and even ICBMs, can be tracked and intercepted.

Therefore, the US and Japanese BMD vessels may be able to protect more expansive areas more quickly and precisely if they can scatter across broad swathes of the ocean while staying connected. In the case of threat data changes, at-sea BMD capabilities can not only be mobile but also move over long distances and into new places. Aegis Systems will comprise common parts, networking transport layer tech, and IP protocols, which enable target or radar return data to be shared between dispersed war vessels operating as “nodes” in a sophisticated and networked “shield” of defences.

In contrast to mobile launchers and the limited mobility of land-based missile defences like Patriot or THAAD, BMD-capable ships may manoeuvre over longer distances and operate closer to the Chinese shore. As a result, BMD weapons would be in a better position to intercept threats sooner in their post-launch trajectory.

US and Japan – SM-3 Block IIA

A further reason for the specific synergies between the US and Japan is that both nations have recently worked closely together on several advanced weapons research and development efforts, including the development of the latest SM-3 Block IIA, a ship-fired interceptor with a longer-range, greater accuracy, and the ability to track and destroy enemy missiles, including ICBMs, just outside the atmosphere of the earth.

The SM-3 Block IIA and other ship interceptors, like the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block II, have been developed over years of cooperation between the US Navy and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. This significantly improves the precision and range of BMD protective envelopes surrounding Taiwan, Japan, or regions of the South China Sea.

The capability to operate joint sea BMD could be highly critical in defending Taiwan, given that several strongly believe that the Chinese effort to annex the island may begin with a salvo of attacking ballistic missiles meant to overwhelm Taiwan-based defences and impair its forces. A massive salvo may be brutal to stop entirely. However, the forward-positioned Japanese and US BMD-capable vessels can blunt, slow down, or even stop China’s ballistic missiles that are headed toward Taiwan from the mainland via the Taiwan Strait.

Should Japan, the US, and its allies have any form of advanced surveillance, information, or understanding that the PRC is about to launch a sizeable ballistic missile attack, they may forward the position of BMD-capable vessels equipped with the Aegis Radar to destroy/knock out China’s missiles. This kind of networking and collaborative BMD is likely the primary focus of the Navy’s Resilient Shield as, true to the name; the exercise wants to strengthen the Japanese-US ability to shield Korea, South China Sea, Taiwan, and Japan from an unexpected/rapid PLA ballistic missile attack.

Slowing down China’s ballistic missile attacks can help save significant amounts of ground-based defence fortifications, aircraft, and troop locations from being destroyed in opening strikes. Multiple war games that explore a Chinese attempted take-over of Taiwan posit that significant numbers of US, Taiwanese, and allied aircraft may be destroyed as they are on the ground before taking off in a sudden ballistic missile threat. Such concerns underscore the crucial functions played by the US-Japanese allied BMD shield.

Reference: USNI

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