The United States, Japan and Australia have signed their first trilateral logistics arrangement, aiming to tighten coordination on sustainment, missile reloading and at-sea refueling as they prepare for large-scale drills in Australia. The agreement was signed aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America during a port visit to Brisbane.
Vice Adm. Jeff Jablon, the U.S. Navy’s deputy chief of naval operations for installations and logistics (OPNAV N4), Rear Adm. Naoya Hoshi, director general of the Logistics Department at Japan’s Maritime Staff Office, and Commodore Catherine Rhodes, director general logistics for the Royal Australian Navy, took part in the ceremony. While the three navies have long collaborated bilaterally under an established strategic dialogue, this is the first logistics pact set among all three under that framework.
“Sustainment in depth is a primary objective,” said Vice Adm. Jablon. “We have robust logistics partnerships with Japan and Australia to ensure we can provide the right material and services at the right place, at the right time to mutually support our maritime forces, from day-to-day training during peacetime through contingencies. This arrangement strengthens those commitments and allows us to more easily share information, technologies and processes for greater logistics resiliency.”
The pact outlines cooperation on reloading missile systems and flexible refueling at sea. The U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy have supported each other’s missile reloading since 2019 in the Indo-Pacific. To speed rearming at sea, Naval Sea Systems Command is developing prototype systems compatible with U.S. and partner MK 41 launchers to transfer missile canisters between ships in higher sea states; the Navy demonstrated the capability in 2024 and plans further demonstrations in 2025 and 2026.
Refueling remains a core element of the arrangement. U.S., Australian and Japanese oilers already refuel partner vessels during combined exercises and other operations. To extend time on station, the Military Sealift Command has, since 2011, outfitted leased commercial tankers with consolidated tanking (CONSOL) connections that can refuel a military oiler at sea—allowing the oiler to keep supporting frontline units rather than return to port. Since 2022, MSC has increased CONSOL operations and training with Australia, Japan and other partners, and the U.S. Navy is examining how partner-nation tankers could add CONSOL capability.
“Japan is excited about the chance to collaborate more closely with our U.S. and Australian partners,” said Rear Adm. Hoshi. “This new arrangement will allow us to broaden the scope and increase the efficiency of our interactions.”
The navies also plan to deepen realism in training by incorporating logistics activities such as offloading missiles from dry cargo/ammunition ships, rearming cruisers and destroyers, refueling at sea, ship and aircraft repair, airfield damage repair, salvage operations and medical evacuations.
The signing came just before the start of exercise Talisman-Sabre 2025, where Australia, Japan and other partners are slated to practice many of those activities.
“During Talisman-Sabre and beyond, we have clear opportunities to work trilaterally with our U.S. and Japanese partners on logistics initiatives,” said Commodore Rhodes. “These efforts facilitate our speed of response for the full range of naval actions in the Indo-Pacific, from routine sustainment through crisis.”
