US holding joint drills with Canada, Japan, South Korea, India

The United States has launched anti-submarine drills with Canada, India, Japan, and South Korea, according to the US Navy.

The drill, dubbed Sea Dragon 23, started on Wednesday and will culminate in more than 270 hours of in-flight training, the US 7th Fleet said in a news release.

Exercises range “from tracking simulated targets to the final problem of tracking a US Navy submarine,” it said.

With 50 to 70 ships and submarines, 150 aircraft, and more than 27,000 sailors and marines ready to deploy at any given time, the 7th Fleet “routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the 7th Fleet said.

That includes operating in the South China Sea, in a move that would likely draw an angry response from Beijing. The strategic waterway has long been a source of tensions between Beijing and Washington.

SS