The Quad’s First Field Training Exercise: A Step Toward Operational Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region

The Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)- an informal strategic grouping of Australia, Japan, India and the United States, has taken a step towards operational cooperation with the successful conduct of its first Field Training Exercise (FTX) under the Indo-Pacific Logistics Network (IPLN). This exercise was conducted on the sidelines of Operation Christmas Drop at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, United States, from 8-12 December 2025. This step reflects the Quad’s growing emphasis on translating strategic coordination into practical, on-ground capabilities for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) in the Indo-Pacific.

Images from the First Field Training Exercise as part of IPLN (Source: MOFA, Japan.)

It was at the Quad Leaders’ Summit in September 2024 that the pilot project of IPLN was announced. It is a cooperation initiative aimed at supporting quick and effective civilian response to natural disasters in the Indo-Pacific region by leveraging collective logistic strength and transportation cooperation between the Quad nations.

Images from the First Field Training Exercise as part of IPLN (Source: MOFA, Japan.)

Operationalising the Indo-Pacific Logistics Network (IPLN) through the first FTX:

·       A Japanese Air Self-Defense Force C-130H transport aircraft was boarded by the personnel from the Quad partners

·       Identification of coordinated responses to natural disasters with the primary goal of concretizing cooperation.

·       Issuance of a joint statement after the FTX

·       A part of efforts to promote effective and practical cooperation toward realizing the vision of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific."

This initiative, taken together with the IPLN Tabletop exercise (TTX) conducted from 28 April to 2 May 2025 at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, reflects the broader commitment of the Quad in terms of addressing shared regional challenges and taking proactive efforts to ensure a stable and safe Indo-Pacific. This TTX simulated the activation, coordination and decision-making processes of the IPLN during a regional crisis scenario.

The​‍​‌‍​‍‌ strategic value of the Indo-Pacific region (Geographically stretching from the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of North America) is evident in the fact that it has several maritime chokepoints, critical sea lines of communication (SLOCs), and high-volume trade flows connecting East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. Any disruption in these routes, whether caused by natural disasters, maritime insecurity, or climate-induced events, will hurt the economy and the well-being of the people in the region, which constitutes a huge share of the world’s population as well as global GDP. These inherent vulnerabilities make it necessary to have quick information-sharing, logistics coordination, and disaster-response capabilities. In such a situation, the Quad and similar functional arrangements are platforms for coordinated responses that safeguard economic continuity while, at the same time, deal with several human security challenges in the region.

Map of the Indo-Pacific Region and Critical Maritime Chokepoints

Linking IPMDA with the Quad’s Expanding Operational Role

The Quad’s Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) complements these recent operational initiatives, such as the Indo-Pacific Logistics Network (IPLN) by strengthening the information and coordination layer of regional security cooperation. While IPLN focuses on logistics interoperability and rapid civilian disaster response, IPMDA enhances the situational awareness necessary to enable such responses in contested and disaster-prone maritime spaces.

IPMDA, announced at the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo, leverages advanced technologies- particularly commercial satellite radio frequency data- to provide near real-time maritime domain awareness to partners across Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific. This capability supports early detection of maritime risks, including illegal fishing, climate-induced disruptions, and humanitarian emergencies, thereby reducing response time during times of crisis.

When viewed alongside the IPLN Field Training Exercise conducted in April and December 2025 in Guam and the earlier IPLN Tabletop Exercise in Honolulu, IPMDA illustrates the Quad’s layered approach to Indo-Pacific stability. IPMDA effectively supplies the intelligence and monitoring backbone, while IPLN operationalises that information through coordinated logistics, transport assets and disaster-response mechanisms. Taken together, these initiatives signal a shift from declaratory commitments to practical, technology-enabled cooperation, reinforcing the Quad’s vision of a stable, resilient and Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

Strategic Implications

Rather​‍​‌‍​‍‌ than a formal alliance or a military group, the Quad’s evolution can be seen as a functional security architecture that is centered around logistics, information-sharing and disaster response. With this approach, Quad takes on various non-traditional security issues like climate-induced disasters, humanitarian crises and maritime governance gaps, while being geopolitically acceptable to a wide range of Indo-Pacific partners.

Keeping humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), logistics interoperability, and maritime transparency as priority areas, the Quad is simplifying regional cooperation. These activities are in line with the Quad’s normative pledge to inclusiveness, capacity-building, and respect for sovereignty, thus setting it apart from alliance-centric security models. More importantly, the combination of IPMDA’s surveillance and monitoring capabilities with IPLN’s operational logistics signifies a multi-layered approach to regional stability, where information superiority directly complements the effectiveness of the response.

In this way, the model indirectly strengthens deterrence- through resilience rather than coercion- by enhancing the partners’ ability to handle crises without escalation. It also counters the narrative that the Quad is a militarized or exclusively China-focused bloc. Rather, the Quad presents itself as a facilitator of regional public goods, practically cooperating for a rules-based and resilient Indo-Pacific order, instead of alignments that are only declaratory in nature.

Conclusion

The​‍​‌‍​‍‌ shift in the Quad's operational initiatives, especially the IPLN and IPMDA, is in line with a broader institutional endorsement of the Quad as a key player in the security architecture of the Indo-Pacific. A recent U.S. legislative move of signing into law an annual defence policy bill (The National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026) that supports deeper engagement with India through the Quad, including cooperation on maritime security, humanitarian assistance as well as to counter China’s aggressiveness, is a strong signal that the shift from ad hoc coordination to sustained functional collaboration is well on its way.

Within this framework, activities like the IPLN Field Training Exercise and IPMDA are better seen not as isolated confidence-building measures, but as actual instruments that correspond to the strategic priorities emergent among the Quad partners. By making interoperability of logistics, shared maritime awareness, and coordinated disaster response part of the enhanced cooperation, the Quad is promoting a security paradigm that favors resilience as well as stability, and not escalation.

About the Author

Kaveri Jain is a doctoral researcher in International Relations at the Amity Institute of International Studies, Amity University, Noida. Her work focuses on India-Japan relations during the Shinzo Abe era. She has presented at academic conferences, published in peer-reviewed platforms and written on various aspects of India-Japan ties, including foreign policy, technology cooperation, cultural exchange, diaspora diplomacy and engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.