By Alimat Aliyeva

The Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces will conduct separate exercises with the Air Forces of France, Germany and Spain in the summer, Azernews reports.

According to him, the air forces of three European countries will visit Japan in July. "This demonstrates the readiness and capabilities of these states to be present in the Asian-Pacific region," Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying.

Since the beginning of the year, the Japanese Navy and Air Force have conducted bilateral exercises with ships and aircraft from 14 countries in the waters and airspace adjacent to the country. We are mainly talking about NATO members and other US military allies. The number of such trainings was almost 30 times more than in the same period last year.

The exercises of the Japanese Armed Forces with NATO countries have been intensified since about 2021. They are connected, among other things, with the noticeable expansion of Tokyo's contacts with the North Atlantic Alliance.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida intends to attend the NATO summit in Washington in July. In previous years, he attended such meetings in Madrid and Vilnius.