Australia, US, Japan formalize new trilateral air logistics agreement

Australia, the United States and Japan have formalized a new trilateral agreement, with the aim of strengthening air logistics cooperation across the three countries’ air forces. 

Senior logistics representatives from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the United States Air Force (USAF), and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF)  signed a Terms of Reference establishing the Trilateral Air Logistics Coordination Organization on July 7, 2026, at Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra.

The agreement sets up an ongoing framework for logistics coordination and cooperation between the three air forces, with the goal of building greater interoperability in terms of how they manage and sustain operations.

Building on shared platforms and approaches

The signing brought together RAAF Director General Airbase and Logistics Capability Air Commodore Natasia Pulford; US Air Force Director of Logistics Major General Elizabeth Arledge; and JASDF Director General of the Logistics Department, Air Staff Office, Major General Kunihiro Fujinaga.

According to Pulford, the new organization is intended to strengthen future capability, sustainment, resilience, and strategic interoperability among the three air forces. She pointed to the countries’ shared commitment to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific, along with their use of common platforms and similar logistics approaches, as reasons why the framework should help the three forces to work more closely together in supporting deterrence within the region.

Fujinaga described the signing as a positive step that will serve as a coordination mechanism, supporting broader defense cooperation between the three countries. He noted that the signing took place on Tanabata, Japan’s Star Festival, a day traditionally associated with writing wishes, saying he signed the agreement with the hope that logistics cooperation between Japan, the United States and Australia will continue to deepen.

Arledge said that the collaboration should help to support a free and open Indo-Pacific, while strengthening the industrial base behind it, pointing to the value of reciprocal training opportunities between the three air forces going forward.

Informing future trilateral exercises

The new agreement is expected to shape future training objectives for trilateral exercises, including Exercise Southern Cross, a newer exercise involving the RAAF, United States Pacific Air Forces, and JASDF. 

Southern Cross is set to become a biennial exercise hosted by the RAAF, building on trilateral development already underway through the Trilateral Information Sharing Agreement and the Trilateral Air Cooperation Memorandum of Intent, as signed in June 2024.

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