Japan, US Conduct Groundbreaking Missile Defense Testbed
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Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) specialists from Japan and U.S. military units successfully conducted the first ever Japan – U.S. Testbed (JUST) from U.S. Forces Japan and 5th Air Force spaces at Yokota Air Base, 4-7 November 2025.
Over 50 participants representing 14 Japan and U.S. entities collaborated to execute one day of testbed preparation on warfighter console familiarization followed by 3 days of intense simulated missile defense engagements.
The JUST incorporated members from Commander U.S. Seventh Fleet, 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 5th Air Force A3, U.S. Forces Japan J3, 94th Army Air Missile Defense Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command J36, Marine Corps Forces Pacific, Pacific IAMD Center (PIC), Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Japan-Joint Operations Center, Japan Air Defense Command, Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force mutually working together to ensure JUST accomplishment.
The groundbreaking JUST event was planned, organized and facilitated by the PIC and supported by the MDA, delivering the bilateral team of warfighters unprecedented challenges in countering advanced missile threats in a simulation environment.
Affirmed by INDOPACOM and Japan military leaders U.S. Navy Admiral John Aquilino and JASDF General Takayoshi Yamazaki at the Senior Leader Seminar (SLS) in 2022: “Bilateral missile defense operations of Japan and the United States is vital to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. The parties remain committed to enhancing mission effectiveness of bilateral missile defense operations.”
Following the guidance from the 2022 SLS, the idea of the JUST germinated, with the JUST concept designed to provide scalable capability and formal, structured processes to refine IAMD interoperability between Japan and the U.S. In September 2025, Japan and INDOPACOM leadership reiterated the importance of improving mutual defense when INDOPACOM Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo and Chief of Japan’s Joint Staff General Hiroaki Uchikura met at the SLS in Tokyo, vowing enhancement of IAMD plans with implementation of the JUST.
Leveraging technical and tactical concepts established in testbeds in Europe and Israel, the JUST affords an ongoing means for Japan and US warfighters to develop, refine and validate bilateral Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) and Pre-Planned Responses to defend Japan and U.S. forces from regional adversaries.
JUST is a capability and an event. As a capability, JUST offers a simulated, scalable environment to provide military planners the means to develop defense designs and assess them in a variety of adversary missile attacks. As an event, the JUST focuses on executing bilateral procedures in a high repetition setting, conducting re-runs as necessary to attain the highest level of coordinated defense.
Results of JUST ’25 will address TTP discrepancies identified in the 3 progressive simulation vignettes: Day One of JUST execution commenced with moderate missile attacks on remote sovereign territory, which progressed into heavier assaults throughout other regions on Day 2, culminating in overwhelming raids on major infrastructure on Day 3.
Future JUST development envisions enhancement of current TTPs, optimizing interceptor usage by deconflicting engagements between Japan and US defensive systems. Flexibility of the MDA-SIM simulation tool allows for close examination and testing of future Japan and US IAMD capabilities, enabling planners to test modifications of current doctrine and establishing baseline processes prior to actual weapons employment. MDA-SIM also supports bilateral creation of innovative measures to deter future, advanced adversary capabilities that can be tested in JUST events.
JUST participants overwhelmingly agreed that the pioneering JUST ’25 was a valuable addition to the INDOPACOM IAMD portfolio with unlimited potential to bridge existing IAMD exercises, experiments and tabletops into mutually beneficial building blocks to bilateral integration and interoperability. This initial test bed provided a controlled, realistic environment to develop, test, integrate and evaluate complex systems safely, and cost-effectively, through effective simulation tools.
Date Taken:
11.07.2025
Date Posted:
12.18.2025 19:13
Story ID:
553469
Location:
YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, JP
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