Fighter jets from the Air Self-Defense Force linked up with aircraft from the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group for joint drills Friday in waters east of Okinawa as the U.S. vessel steamed toward the Sea of Japan amid soaring tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The exercise had earlier been scheduled for Wednesday, but bad weather forced its cancelation.
Two ASDF F-15s based in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, and two U.S. Navy F/A-18 aircraft dispatched with the Vinson took part in the drill, the ASDF said in a statement. Two Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers, the Samidare and the Ashigara, as well as the Vinson and several other U.S. Navy ships were also participating in the drill.