Over the past two months, the U.S. Marine Corps have been shuttling equipment to and from Kubura Port on Yonaguni Island, one of Japan’s farthest outlying islands just 70 miles from Taiwan. The back-and-forth shipments of medical supplies and disaster response equipment comes at an increasing pace as the Corps aims to make Yonaguni Island a focal point in its First Island Chain strategy.
Barge shipments to Yonaguni Island this year began as an initial operational capability proof-of-concept for the 12th Littoral Logistics Battalion which deployed field training equipment to the island in support of missions tied to Resolute Dragon 2025. According to III MEF officials, the initial exercises included combat casualty evacuation and first aid, which were key elements of Resolute Dragon in Japan’s southwest islands.
The Resolute Dragon 2025 deployment included shipping containers, refrigeration equipment, and water. The supplies were offloaded to the island and shipped to the Japan Self Defense Force’s Camp Yonaguni located on the island. Over the course of two days, the Corps offloaded eighteen 20-foot ISO containers, two water SIXCONs, and a 40-foot refrigeration containers between September 15-16. The offloaded containers returned to Naha Military Port by September 19.
A trial deployment using the Marine Corp’s Autonomous Low Profile Vessel (ALPV) was planned at Kubura Port in Yonaguni during Resolute Dragon 2025, but was cancelled due to changes in planning. Naval News covered the ALPV’s alternate mission set last month during Resolute Dragon 2025.
A second ferry mission, two months after Resolute Dragon, wrapped up on November 18 according to U.S. Marine Corps planning documents. A contracted barge ferried “humanitarian assistance and disaster response” (HA/DR) equipment destined for Camp Yonaguni. U.S. officials frequently emphasize HA/DR as the primary reason for prepositioning equipment and supplies—especially in places like the Philippines.
CBS News was first to report that a Chinese drone flew near Yonaguni island last Saturday which prompted a response from Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15Js. The drone flight aligns with U.S. Marine Corps planning documents that list offload and transportation dates on Yonaguni Island.
The U.S. Marine Corps also released information this week detailing an aviation forward refueling point that was established on Yonaguni Island during the bilateral exercise Joint Exercise 07 with the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. The exercise was held late last month.
The Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) was stood up by units attached to the 1st Marine Air Wing and marked the first time such an aviation hub was set up on the island, according to U.S. Marine Corps officials.
“No U.S. Marine CH-53E has ever before landed that far southwest in Japan, nor has a FARP ever been established there. This evolution not only validated that MAG-36’s organic heavy-lift assault support helicopters, in support of its adjacent units and our JGDSF partners, can generate tempo anywhere the commander should choose, but also served as a huge leap forward in our relations between the U.S. Marines and the JGSDF.”
Maj. Patrick X. Kelly, Executive Officer, HMH-462
The FARP was ferried by air to Yonaguni Island from Okinawa, using Marine Corps KC-130Js as aerial refuelers en-route. Once established, the FARP was used to refuel CH-53E Super Stallions. In operational use, Yonaguni Island operating with a forward refueling point could be used as a ferry route for equipment and troops being sent into Taiwan to defend the island from an invasion. It could also be used as a divert airfield for F-35Bs.
The island’s location and infrastructure is a critical part of its importance given positioning near Taiwan with pre-existing ports and runways. Chinese media have previously cited U.S. Marine Corps and JSDF expansions of ports and runways to accommodate F-35B short-takeoff fighters that could scramble from a number of different Japanese islands–the most important being Yonaguni.
A sustained Marine Corps presence on Yonaguni could deny the PLA Navy access to the greater Pacific Ocean with area denial weapons fired from M142 HIMARS launchers and NMESIS unmanned anti-ship batteries, while also operating as a logistics hub ferrying equipment or supplies into Taiwan. Its close proximity to Taiwan also offers significant benefits that make PLA planning much more difficult in the broader scope of U.S. planning that aims to increase the number of aimpoints for China’s long-range missile systems.
