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The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) kicked off their first-ever joint aerial combat drill, dubbed Guardian North 16, on 23 October, according to the UK Ministry of Defense. It is the first time that the JASDF is conducting an exercise with a foreign power other than the United States.
The UK-Japan first-ever joint air combat drill involves four RAF Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and a number of Boeing F-15J all-weather air superiority fighters (built under license by Japanese defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) and Mitsubishi F-2s, a 4.5 generation multirole fighter jet based on Lockheed Martin’s F-16.