| Submit your comments on this article | |||
| China-Japan-Koreas | |||
| Japanese navy in fleet review | |||
| 2006-10-29 | |||
| The Maritime Self Defense Force, Japan's navy, held its annual fleet review on Sunday, with destroyers lining the seas and missiles roaring through the air in a major display of this country's military power. More than 8,100 troops and 48 ships -- including Aegis-equipped destroyers and state-of-the-art submarines -- took part in the review, which was held in waters just south of Tokyo. "Our country's Self-Defense Forces are being called upon to play a more crucial and varied role," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an address to the sailors aboard the Kurama, a destroyer that served as flagship during the maneuvers.
Abe singled out North Korea as a major threat to Japan, saying its recent ballistic missile test launches and its claim to have exploded a nuclear device on Oct. 9 are "grave and unforgivable." Though planned well before North Korea's nuclear test, Sunday's review put the Japanese navy's best ships on display, from vessels rigged with the advanced Aegis radar system to new, conventionally powered submarines and high-speed hovercraft capable of quickly putting heavy vehicles or hundreds of troops ashore in difficult-to-reach locations. "I believe this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our readiness," Abe, who assumed office last month, said in his address.
While limited by the post-World War II Constitution to a strictly defensive role, Japan's military is one of the largest and best equipped in the world. Largely in response to the North Korean threat, and concerns over the growth of China's military, it is getting stronger. Last week, lawmakers began discussing a plan to boost the Defense Agency to a full-fledged ministry, giving it greater clout in budget and policy negotiations. The transformation is expected to come over the New Year's holidays, though it still requires a final vote in the Diet.
Soon after Pyongyang's nuclear test, Japanese warships were dispatched to the Sea of Japan to monitor activity on the Korean Peninsula. Japan also currently has warships in the Indian Ocean providing logistical support for coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Diet last week approved an extension of that mission for one more year. (AP) | |||
| Posted by:lotp |
| #6 Then all they need to do is convert their |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-10-29 22:28 |
| #5 Sadly, a much more impressive display than the Canadian Navy's tuna trawler (HMCS Vichy), fire boat (HMCS Hoser), garbage scow (HMCS Moose Bin) and hospital ships (the brand new HMCS Bacon Boy and the venerable HMCS Deserter). |
| Posted by: Admiral Newfie MacTavern 2006-10-29 22:20 |
| #4 Kimmie boy, let this be remembered as your greatest accomplishment. The resurgence of the Japanese fighting forces. |
| Posted by: SpecOp35 2006-10-29 21:12 |
| #3 What will really make a difference is the two X-band radar sites the Japanese are planning : those would cover the entire southern asian zone, as targeting radars for the US land-based interceptors, as well as the SM3s, Patriots, and plane-based lasers. Plus, a few more Aegis pasdestroyers will let the Japanese Fleet put a full-scale interceptor arc around North Korea, just outside the international limit. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-10-29 18:37 |
| #2 missilethreat.com has a nice summation on Japanese-American SM-3 development and deployment: Japanes Ballistic Missile Defense Excerpt: The U.S. and Japan recently test-launched a SM-3 equipped with an experimental “clamshell” nosecone, designed by Japan to more quickly release the interceptor’s kill vehicle. In the standard configuration for previous tests, the SM-3 missile must maneuver to eject the barrel-shaped kill vehicle, a process known as “pitch and ditch.” The newer nosecone eliminates the need for such maneuvers, which in turn means the kinetic kill vehicle can collide with and destroy its target more quickly.(7) |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-10-29 18:34 |
| #1 Japan bought SM3's for its aegis this summer, hopefully enough. |
| Posted by: pihkalbadger 2006-10-29 18:16 |