Last week, personnel from the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force joined Japanese and American military personnel to take part in an exercise with Misawa Air Base in Japan as its home base. The aim of the exercise, in which F-35 fighter aircraft are well represented, is to promote interoperability between the three nations.
The Netherlands has deployed 5 F-35s and an A330 tanker aircraft to take part in the exercise, while Japan contributed a number of F-35s and the United States both F-35s and F-16s. The exercise will end on 3 April.
Defence concludes investigation into 2016 air strike in Mosul
The Ministry of Defence recently concluded an investigation into the Dutch air strike on a building in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2016. The air strike was part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the international military operation against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It is likely that seven civilians lost their lives in the air strike. The investigation found that no blame can be apportioned to Dutch Defence personnel involved in the air strike with regard to its consequences. Netherlands Minister of Defence Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius informed the House of Representatives accordingly last week.
Dutch marines join complex exercise in North Carolina
Over the past two weeks, Dutch marines participated in Exercise Caribbean Urban Warrior, a 14-day exercise that focused on urban and amphibious operations. The exercise also included training sessions with drones. The 180 Dutch marines were mainly from the Dutch marine units stationed on Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten.