Super Typhoon Champi Disrupts U.S.-Japan Keen Sword Drills: Portions Scaled Back or Canceled as Winds Reach 178 mph
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Super Typhoon Champi, described as the strongest storm on the planet so far this year, is forcing U.S. and Japanese military commanders to scale back or cancel portions of Keen Sword, a major joint exercise under way across Japan, Stars and Stripes reported on Oct. 21. Exercise commanders are adjusting activities daily as they monitor the typhoon's path, Keen Sword spokesman Maj. Ephesian Poinsette said by email. "Safety remains our absolute priority," he wrote.
At noon on Oct. 21, the typhoon was about 600 miles southeast of Kadena Air Base, moving west-northwest with maximum sustained winds of about 178 mph and gusts reaching 218 mph, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). CNN reported that Champi had become the strongest storm to form this year, at Category 5-equivalent strength.
Keen Sword began on Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 29, involving about 56,000 U.S. and Japanese personnel along with forces from seven partner nations. Planned activities include operations involving the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and Marine Corps air-defense and antiship missile systems, and some training areas lie in the storm's projected path.
Champi previously passed close to Guam, where GSM earlier reported a World Central Kitchen disaster response to the typhoon. On Oct. 20, as the storm neared peak intensity, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration assessed a 62 percent probability of storm-force winds for Keelung and Yilan, which GSM also reported. (GSM, based on Stars and Stripes reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 超强台风 Champi 接近巅峰强度时的卫星云图（10月20日），风眼清晰可见，左下为菲律宾、左上为琉球群岛。日本气象厅 Himawari-9 卫星影像，CC BY 4.0，经维基共享资源。Satellite image of Super Typhoon Champi near peak intensity on Oct. 20, 2026, its eye clearly visible, with the Philippines at lower left and the Ryukyu Islands at upper left. JMA Himawari-9, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
