Ever since the end of World War Two, the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands between Japan and the Soviet Union has prevented a formal peace treaty from ever being signed. Relations between the two countries are at an all time low. The situation is not helped when the Soviets increase their Naval presence in the Kuril Islands, to which Japan responds with an increased military budget, allowing advanced USAF F-16s to be deployed to Japan as well a declaration from the Japanese Prime Minister stating his will to turn Japan into an invincible aircraft carrier. The Russian response is immediate – such a feat does not exist. But when the US and Japanese exercise FleetEx '85 begins in the Sea of Japan and gets as close as 500 nautical miles from Vladivostok, the Soviet fleet is put on high alert. The exercise ends at the close of the year, but the Kremlin is convinced this exercise was the precursor for an imminent strike. The decision is made to launch an offensive aimed at invading Japan and capturing its US Military bases, using paratroopers and a mechanized assault from the Kuril Islands.