Ships and aircraft from the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group 5 and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) conducted integrated operations that concluded Saturday, according to the Navy.

The Reagan Carrier Strike Group operated in international waters with JMSDF’s Hyuga-class helicopter destroyer JS Ise to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance and improve regional security, according to the Navy’s release.

Watch standers of each ship quizzed each other on tactical and technical literature, and also performed an anti-submarine warfare exercise involving simulated contact – as well as cross-deck operations.

“Operating at sea with our allies in the JMSDF ensures we can face a range of maritime challenges together, now and in the future,” said Rear Adm. Will Pennington, commander, Task Force 70, Carrier Strike Group 5, in the release. “These operations have engaged our whole strike group and given our respective teams renewed confidence to meet our missions across the region.”

CSG 5 is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of the Indo-Pacific, having left Japan for the current deployment in mid-May.

Carrier Strike Group 5 consists of aircraft from the embarked Carrier Air Wing 5, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh, the Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler USNS Pecos and the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Charles Drew.