The Three Amigos of WESTPAC

this is how we win, or preferably, deter war

It has taken a while, mostly because of the memories of their grandfathers, but after years of hard work by people you may never hear of, one of the most powerful, important, and natural alliances in the Pacific is growing closer together—that of Japan, Australia, and the U.S.

Senior U.S., Australian and Japanese flag officers agreed today to further enhance logistics interoperability among their maritime forces. Their intent is to enable deeper maritime cooperation among the three nations, building upon their enduring commitment to stability and security in the Indo-Pacific.

Official seal of the Department of the Navy. Note: 18 United States Code, Part 1, Chapter 47, Section 1017, prohibits the use of this Department of the Navy seal by anyone other than bona fide commands and activities of the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense where appropriate. Secretary of the Navy Instruction 5030.4A of 17 March 1986 restricts the use of this Department of the Navy seal to official use only and to the exclusive use of the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense.

Vice Adm. Jeff Jablon (Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Installations and Logistics, OPNAV N4), Rear Adm. Naoya Hoshi (Director General of Logistics Department, Maritime Staff Office, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF)), and Commodore Catherine Rhodes (Director General Logistics, Royal Australian Navy (RAN)) took part in the signing ceremony aboard USS America (LHA-6) during a port visit in Brisbane.

This is a solid starting point for what I hope is a closer integration of training and planning between the three friends. Japan and Australia may not have a mutual defense treaty, yet, they do have the Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement, and they both have a mutual defense treaty with the U.S., making us the tie together.

Logistics—the most challenging and critical foundation of any war in the Pacific, lays a strong foundation for cooperation in further warfare areas.

“Sustainment in depth is a primary objective,” said Vice Adm. Jablon. “We have robust logistics partnerships with Japan and Australia to ensure we can provide the right material and services at the right place, at the right time to mutually support our maritime forces, from day-to-day training during peacetime through contingencies. This arrangement strengthens those commitments and allows us to more easily share information, technologies and processes for greater logistics resiliency.”

Reloading missile systems and flexible refueling are among the areas of cooperation outlined in the agreement.

This is all just plain good stuff.

“Japan is excited about the chance to collaborate more closely with our U.S. and Australian partners,” said Rear Adm. Hoshi. “This new arrangement will allow us to broaden the scope and increase the efficiency of our interactions.”

Beyond information and technology sharing through these types of agreements, incorporating logistics activities into training in a realistic manner remains a focus area for U.S. naval forces. Examples include offloading missiles from dry cargo/ammunition ships, rearming cruisers and destroyers, refueling at sea, ship and aircraft repair, airfield damage repair, salvage operations, and medical evacuations.

The signing took place just prior to the official kickoff of exercise Talisman-Sabre 2025, during which Australia, Japan, and other partners will participate in many of these activities as feasible.

“During Talisman-Sabre and beyond, we have clear opportunities to work trilaterally with our U.S. and Japanese partners on logistics initiatives,” said Commodore Rhodes. “These efforts facilitate our speed of response for the full range of naval actions in the Indo-Pacific, from routine sustainment through crisis.”

Whatever needs to be done to expand such trilateral gatherings should be given the highest priority.

The press release is good, but the WSJ has a nice companion piece on the topic.

In the rugged hills outside this coastal city, Japanese and Australian artillery crews fired in tandem on a distant target. They were assisted by U.S. Marines, who were embedded with the Australian gun teams.

The live-fire drill was the culmination of Southern Jackaroo, an expanding annual exercise in the Australian bush in which the three nations’ forces practice working together as allies.

Although top officers didn’t call out any foe by name, troops taking part said it was clear that they were training to fight China.

…

Australia and Japan, both of which have security pacts with the U.S., have emerged as essential U.S. partners in the Pacific. If a war were to erupt, Washington would want Tokyo to sign off on the U.S. using its Japanese bases to confront China and for Australia to send aircraft, ships and troops to Japan to help the fight, some defense analysts say.

“If there’s any argument to be made for a collective approach to deterrence in the region, it’s these three countries,” said Jeffrey Hornung, the Japan lead at Rand, a think tank.

This is a good time to remember that in spite of all our challenges and missteps, we have a comparative advantage against the People’s Republic of China (PRC), if we properly tend to it and maintain stewardship of the better parts of our inheritance. Japan, Australia, and the U.S. have friends and allies—the PRC has proxies, clients, and subjects.

In their 2025 Defense of Japan White Paper, the Japanese Ministry of Defense put it well,

The international community is now facing its greatest trial since the end of World War II. The existing order of world peace is being seriously challenged, and Japan finds itself in the most severe and complex security environment of the post-war era.

It’s good to have friends at such times.

These three democratic nations’ strategic interests in the Pacific align so closely that friction on key issues is rare. All gain by peace and stability, none desire conflict, all face a growing autocratic power that has eyes on either their submission or compliant indifference. Smaller powers look to all three for support as they too try to avoid the demands of the covetous power that is the People’s Republic of China.