Japan to reform ground forces
Japan’s Defence White Paper published yesterday has outlined some wide ranging changes to the Japan Self-Defence Force.
Although the main focus is on securing the air-sea environment there are also reforms to the Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) that will allow the organisation to improve its ability to rapidly respond to security crises.
Japan’s National Defense Programe Guidelines (NGDP) published in December 2013 highlighted an ‘increasingly severe’ security situation and desire to improve its joint operations.
Following these principles, the GSDF’s Central Readiness Force is being replaced by three rapid deployment divisions and four rapid deployment brigades. The single armoured division
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