Military power of Latvia & Japan

Latvia is a country located in Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania, with an area of 64,589 km² (land boundries: 1,370 km and costline 498 km). The capital of Latvia is Riga. The number of inhabitants is 1,842,226.

Republic of Latvia joined NATO end European Union in 2004. The Latvian military has participated in NATO and EU missions abroad and regularly conducts training and exercises. Latvia hosts NATO partner forces. North Atlantic Alliance has provided air protection for Latvia since 2004 through its Baltics Air Policing mission. Latvia is a member of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, a pool of high-readiness military forces from 10 Baltic and Scandinavian countries. The Latvian military's inventory consists of a mix of European and US equipment

Japan is a country located in Eastern Asia with an area of 377,944 km² (land boundries: 0 km and costline 29,751 km). The capital of Japan is Tokyo. The number of inhabitants is 125,360,000.

The current Self Defense Force was founded in 1954. Japan has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the USA. Approximately 55,000 US troops and other military assets, including aircraft and naval ships, were stationed in Japan and had exclusive use of more than 80 bases and facilities. In exchange for their use, the US guarantees Japan’s security. The JSDF is equipped with a mix of imported and domestically-produced equipment. The majority of its weapons imports are from the US and some domestically-produced weapons are US-origin and manufactured under license.