Security cooperation steps up with Japanese F-35 access to Australia

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"... The two countries have been working up to this level of cooperation for more than a decade. In 2007 they signed the Japan-Australia Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation. Since 2014 they have strengthened their relationship under the Special Strategic Partnership, under which they work together on economic and security affairs and on regional peace and stability. Then in 2022 the Japan-Australia Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation was updated to enhance their security connection.

Also in 2022, the two countries signed the Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which aimed at facilitating visits by the forces of each of them to the other. The F-35 deployment to RAAF Tindal was the first application of that agreement. The aircraft, from Misawa Air Base’s 301st Squadron, flew 6400km to Tindal via the US Air Force’s Andersen base on Guam. JASDF tankers repeatedly refueled them in flight. ...
Japan-Australia security cooperation has progressed to the stage of quasi-alliance. For Japan’s forces, formerly accustomed to cooperating little with any country except the US, the relationship with Australia is opening new opportunities."

Security cooperation steps up with Japanese F-35 access to Australia | The Strategist