Japan, US and Australia join forces for first information warfare event

“The Royal Australian Navy has hosted the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and US Navy for the first iteration of the Cyberspace Defence exercise, Exercise Blue Spectrum,” according to the Department of Defence.

“This is the first trilateral information warfare event to occur since the signing of the memorandum of JMSDF-US Pacific Fleet-Royal Australian Navy IW Cooperation.”

The Trilateral Maritime Information Warfare Working Group Guidance Memorandum was signed between the JMSDF, RAN, and US Pacific Fleet in April this year.

The memorandum is intended to deepen cooperation of all partners on non-kinetic information operations related to intelligence, communications, meteorology/oceanography, electromagnetic, cyber and space domains, in addition to kinetic operations of the three fleets.

“This is a perfect opportunity to put into practice the tight cooperation our leadership codified in writing just a few weeks earlier,” said US Navy Captain Errol Laumann, Information Warfare Commander for CSG 5, about the signing earlier this year.

“Our work together during this deployment proves we can quickly and tangibly implement this deeper information warfare coordination, expanding the scope and clarity of our shared battlespace awareness.

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“As we continue to improve our IW interoperability, we ensure our navies can react seamlessly as a unified force to any emergency or crisis.”

The US Navy’s Information Warfare Community includes personnel specialising in intelligence, cryptology, cyber warfare, information technology and meteorology and oceanography.

It’s mission is to defeat any adversary by using assured command and control, battlespace awareness, and integrated fires to achieve freedom of manoeuvre across all warfighting domains.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.