The nation's Defense Ministry held an inaugural ceremony for a new Self-Defense Forces unit focused on maritime transportation at the Maritime SDF's Kure base in Hiroshima Prefecture, on Sunday.
The Maritime Transport Group was launched on March 24 as a unit jointly run by the Ground, Maritime and Air Self Defense Forces under the direct oversight of the defense minister.
The launch of the new unit is designed to strengthen Japan's ability to rapidly deploy troops to remote islands in the country's southwest amid growing threats from China.
The operation of SDF vessels is primarily the duty of the MSDF, but the Maritime Transport Group also includes GSDF personnel.
The new group has about 100 personnel, including about 50 for the 3,500-ton Yoko landing support vessel, which is scheduled to go into service in May, and some 40 for the 2,400-ton Nihonbare landing craft, which has already been deployed.
"The formation of a new unit in which the GSDF and MSDF work together to carry out maritime transportation is a historically extremely important step," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said at the ceremony. "It is a symbol of integrated operation in a new era."
The ministry plans to expand the number of transport ships at the Maritime Transport Group to 10 by March 2028, to include two LSVs, four LCUs and four maneuver support vessels. It will also be based at the MSDF's Hanshin base in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture.
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