Courtesy of U.S. Air Force One of six Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15J fighters reaches its parking spot on the Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, flightline Tuesday following a flight to the 49th state from Japan for Cope Thunder. The June 5-20 exercise represents the first time the JASDF has deployed fighter aircraft to North American soil for an exercise.

Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter aircraft made a bit of history in Alaska on Tuesday.

Six of them landed on North American soil for the first time at Elmendorf Air Force Base, where they will take part in Cooperative Cope Thunder, a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored air combat training exercise set for June 5-20.

“The Japanese involvement is very significant ... of all the foreign participants, they bring the biggest contingent of people and different missions to this exercise,” Lt. Col. David Ennis, commander of Elemendorf’s Detachment 1, 353rd Combat Training Squadron, said in an Air Force news release.

JASDF’s contingent of 275 people joins more than 1,675 people who will participate at Elmendorf, and at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks in Alaska’s interior. Also taking part: Some 980 U.S. airmen and 695 service members from Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, India and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The Indian air force, a first-time participant in Cope Thunder, flew a Russian-built Ilyushin-76 cargo transport in for the exercise, said Master Sgt. Jon Scudder, an Elmendorf spokesman.

Lt. Col. Kazuhiko Murakami of JASDF’s Air Defense Command said in the release, “Cope Thunder will provide a very good training environment.” He noted that Japan’s relatively small size offers limited training areas, while Alaska’s 66,000 square miles of military airspace means that “here, we can conduct more actual training.”

The Japanese took three different aircraft with three distinct missions to Elmendorf. Command and control will be practiced with the E-767 aircraft, airlift with three C-130 cargo airlifters and defensive counter air maneuvers with six F-15Js. A Japanese short-range air defense ground unit also is being deployed to Eielson AFB.

Murakami said deploying the F-15Js, C-130s, E-767 and interacting with a U.S. Air Force tanker would be good training.

Ennis cited benefits of integrating the two air forces.

“All of these platforms will be working hand-in-hand with counterparts from the United States in both the blue [friendly] force and the red [opposition] force roles, so they will be affecting every piece of the exercise,” the lieutenant colonel said. “That is significant.”

Japan will participate with U.S. forces in defensive exercises but not in the “offensive counter air” missions other nations will practice during Cope Thunder, Ennis said.

Japan’s constitution bars its armed forces from all but defensive military actions. Japanese government leaders are examining that restriction in light of newly emerging security threats, particularly from North Korea. But critics are accusing the government of allowing new roles for that country’s military without determining whether they violate Japan’s war-renouncing Constitution.

Some of the goals Cope Thunder participants hope to achieve include sharpening air combat skills, exchanging air operations tactics and promoting closer relations among U.S. personnel and other participating countries.

Mock air battles are taped; during a daily debriefing, 353rd CTS technicians point out tactics the pilots performed well — and those that could get them killed in a real war scenario.

“We give the participants the opportunity to work together as if a coalition was set up to counter a common threat with a common military objective,” Ennis said. “Any experience gained before having to be tested with real bullets flying is beneficial to all participants.”

He added that experience honing skills with coalition partners in a training environment would be critical to a successful real-world operation, particularly experience with the logistics involved in deploying to and operating from a foreign base.

En route to Cope Thunder, Japanese F-15 pilots also had their third opportunity to practice in-flight aerial refueling from U.S. Air Force tanker aircraft.

Earlier this year, training began off Japan’s Pacific coast when F-15Js refueled from tankers flown by the 909th Aerial Refueling Squadron based at Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base.

Earlier this month, Japanese pilots again practiced aerial refueling over the Sea of Japan during Cope North exercises staged from Misawa Air Base in northern Honshu.

“Misawa’s 35th Fighter Wing is the lead wing for Cope Thunder,” said spokeswoman Capt. Miki Gilloon. “That means they are providing tactical level leadership and command and control during the exercise.”