A Sword in a Bouquet of Chrysanthemums

Anton Zhitkov (Антон Житков)

Japan also seeks to upgrade its maritime defenses - the Japanese Defense Ministry recently began a project to upgrade its Type 12 anti-ship missiles, which increased their range to a thousand kilometres and would be completed by 2026, and Japan plans to have hypersonic missiles by 2030.

Electronic warfare is a separate military spending item for the Land of the Rising Sun. According to Yahoo News Japan, the leadership of the Self-Defense Forces decided as early as 2021 to seriously expand the army's capabilities in this area. Last year's military budget envisioned the creation of a new EW station at the Asaka base near Tokyo, where it is planned to house about 80 personnel. In the same year, an EW station was also commissioned at another military base in Kumamoto Prefecture. Interestingly, the Asaka base normally houses the high command of all Japanese ground forces.

Japan's ground forces are also an object of intense scrutiny by its neighbours in the region. The Self-Defense Forces' ground forces now have the most extensive fleet of military equipment in more than impressive numbers: more than a thousand tanks, including Japan's "next-generation tank" called the Type-10, seven hundred BMPs and APCs of all kinds, hundreds of MLRSs and SAMs, and much, much more.

Such a ground force would of course need well-developed aviation to protect it, and the Japanese military has it. The Air Self-Defense Force has 12 squadrons of modern aircraft: as of 2020, Japan, for example, had 308 fighter jets. The main interceptor aircraft of the Japanese Air Force at the moment is the F-15J and its two-seat version, the F-15DJ, which is primarily used for pilot training today, but is easily defeated in combat situations. The F-4, F-15 and F-2 fighter-bomber, developed jointly by the Japanese giant Mitsubishi and the Americans at Lockheed Martin, are also in service. The US Boeing E-767 and E-2 Hawkeye are taking over the airborne radar function. The Air Force is also upgrading its aviation: 42 F-35 Lightning II fifth generation fighter-bombers have been ordered and are awaiting delivery.

Thus, the words "Self-Defense Forces" conceal a well-equipped, large and mobile force grouping capable of responding adequately to any situation in the region. Japan regularly conducts exercises of all possible types: in 2021 the Self-Defense Forces conducted large-scale exercises on the island of Hokkaido, this year the previously mentioned Malabar exercises were held and more recently there has been a training exercise to repel a hypothetical Chinese attack on the Senkaku Islands.

The rising sun is also involved in exporting its military products. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga signed an agreement with Vietnam in 2020 to supply defensive weapons. However, this may not be enough - the Japanese government, according to Kyodo, is considering legalising the process of exporting lethal weapons as well. The justifications for arms exports include "enhancing another country's deterrence capacity, which would contribute to Japan's security," and "helping countries that have been subjected to external aggression.

Recently, Japanese politicians have been making more and more pithy statements. For example, the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Tokyo has a claim on the southern Kurils, which Japan calls the "northern territories. And the government is already scheduled to review its national security strategy later this year.

Japan, though a US protectorate, aspires to a far more important and independent role in the Asian region, and the surest way to make its intentions known is to develop a truly powerful military. And with each passing year, that goal seems to be getting closer.

(Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)

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Source: Readovka + Readovka Explains. IMG: Rare Galley. AWIP: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/aL98