Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade participated with Japanese air defenders in the live-fire event marking the conclusion of Exercise Shining Star 26, according to Fort Bliss.
By Levi Gwaltney for Las Cruces Digest
Source: U.S. Army Fort Bliss (via Facebook)
U.S. Army photos by David Poe, Fort Bliss Garrison Public Affairs
U.S. Army soldiers and members of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force recently fired Patriot air-defense missiles during a joint training exercise on the New Mexico portion of the Fort Bliss Training Complex.
Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade participated with Japanese air defenders in the live-fire event marking the conclusion of Exercise Shining Star 26, according to Fort Bliss.
The exercise continues a long history of Japanese air-defense forces traveling to southern New Mexico for missile training.
Shining Star is a recurring U.S.-Japan air-defense exercise built around Patriot surface-to-air missile live fires. The Army has described the training as an opportunity for American and Japanese air defenders to practice their tactics and communication procedures together while improving the ability of the two forces to operate alongside one another.
Previous Shining Star exercises have included simultaneous Patriot engagements by American and Japanese units.
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Southern New Mexico provides something particularly important for that training: room to fire.
The exercise is also the latest in a series of recent Japanese defense and aerospace activities in southern New Mexico.
McGregor Range, part of the sprawling Fort Bliss Training Complex north and east of El Paso, is located in Otero County, New Mexico. Army planning documents describe McGregor as the portion of the complex used for live firing of high-to-medium-altitude air-defense missiles and as a major range supporting air-defense weapons systems.
The Fort Bliss Training Complex also extends into Doña Ana County through the Doña Ana Range-North Training Areas.
Japanese forces have been traveling to the New Mexico ranges for live-fire air-defense training for decades. In 2012, the Army reported that Japanese forces had been conducting missile live-fire training at McGregor Range for 48 years because range restrictions prevented comparable missile training in Japan.
That relationship has continued. In 2024, the Army marked the 60th anniversary of Japanese live-fire training on the Fort Bliss ranges in New Mexico.
The latest Shining Star firing placed soldiers from Fort Bliss’ 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery alongside Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel for the Patriot exercise.
Fort Bliss said additional video from the launch pads is expected to be released.
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