Overview
- After talks at Yokosuka, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius proposed a Reciprocal Access Agreement to ease deployments and cut red tape for German and Japanese forces.
- Such agreements streamline legal and administrative procedures for training and exercises; Japan already has similar deals with the United Kingdom and Australia.
- Pistorius is visiting Japan, Singapore and Australia with executives from Airbus, TKMS, MBDA, Quantum Systems, Diehl and Rohde & Schwarz to advance defense and industrial cooperation.
- Germany plans its largest regional air deployment for Pitch Black in July, sending nine Eurofighters plus refueling and transport aircraft, and expects about 100 troops for Japan’s Keen Sword in October.
- Berlin casts Europe and the Indo-Pacific as inseparably linked and currently has a P-8A Poseidon deployed to India as part of its 2026 regional engagement.