Japan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

inside Jul 31, 2018
Japan launches first Improved Atago-class destroyer
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"A spokesperson at the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Tokyo told Jane’s that even though the ship is also capable of deploying Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) air-defence missiles, it is still unclear whether they will be included in the ship’s equipment."

while now noticed Defense Ministry to equip Aegis ship with SM-6 missile interceptor system
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The Defense Ministry plans to equip the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s new Aegis-equipped destroyer Maya with the Standard Missile-6, or SM-6, anti-air missile system to shoot down cruise missiles, according to informed sources.

The ministry included ¥13.2 billion in its fiscal 2019 budget request to acquire the SM-6 interceptors.

The Maya, which has state-of-the-art ballistic missile defense capability, is slated to be commissioned in 2020.

The ministry is promoting an Integrated Air and Missile Defense initiative that will intercept missiles through the integrated use of Aegis vessels, early-warning aircraft, radars and other equipment, mainly in view of the threats posed by cruise missiles owned by China and under development by North Korea. The SM-6 system will be part of the IAMD initiative.

In the budget request, the ministry called for ¥11.1 billion to acquire the SM-6 interceptor missiles and ¥2.1 billion for a launch test.

The Maya plans to carry out an interception test in the United States as early as 2022, the sources said. An SM-6 system will also be installed on another Maya-type ship under construction.

The Maya will also be mounted with a ballistic missile defense system being jointly developed by Japan and the United States.

Furthermore, it will be equipped with the U.S.-developed Cooperative Engagement Capability system, which enables the sharing of information on enemy missile locations among multiple Aegis ships and early-warning aircraft. The CEC system will be used for missile interceptions by the SM-6.

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet has deployed a CEC-capable Aegis ship that can launch SM-6 interceptors, at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture. The launch of the Maya is expected to facilitate information-sharing with U.S. warships and the integrated operability of the SDF and U.S. forces.

The Aegis-based SM-6 system is believed to be used for protecting the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense facilities that may be set up in Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures from cruise missile attacks.

China possesses air-to-surface cruise missiles with a range of 1,500 km that can be armed with nuclear warheads. Last year, a bomber capable of carrying such a missile was spotted flying in airspace between Okinawa Prefecture’s main island and Miyakojima island in southwest Japan toward an area off the Kii Peninsula in central Japan, and passing through the Tsushima Strait off the coast of western Japan.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
By the time the Franken Raptor enters Japanese IOC, the US will be well on its way with PCA and NGAD.

Naw, I don't really don't think so, in fact the upgrade Raptor is making noise, as the right airplane for the times, so the Japanese and US birds may well enter gestation together, I'm thinking we could find plenty of subcontractors willing to step up to build this airplane! We do need to hold the US House and Senate to have a prayer of "righting this ship"

There are no aerodynamic upgrades that will currently surpass the present F-22 airframe with a few tweaks,,,, to say there is??? well that's just talk, Ret General David Deptula believes the upgrade Raptor is the smart move, and he has a very experienced cadre of fighter pilots behind this thinking!

General Deptula is a very accomplished fighter pilot, and was the Pacific Forces F-15 display pilot, he's the real deal, and the architect of our current Air to Air Strategies!
 
Saturday at 8:08 AM
here's
What's in Japan's Record 2018 Defense Budget Request?
August 28, 2017
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(88.1e9*0.009006)/6 would mean about $132m per an F-35
related is
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Japan is in the middle of taking a hard look at its role providing security for the region, while it races to meet fresh threats from China and North Korea.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense wants to increase its defense budget for the seventh year in a row, hitting a record $48 billion for the fiscal year starting April 1. If approvded, it could mean big new contracts for American defense firms.

The budget is part of an emerging strategy that places a priority on missile defense, cyber, and space, while facing down Chinese military advances and the undiluted threat from North Korea. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has long advocated a more muscular defense posture for Japan, and is pushing for a constitutional change that would overturn decades of pacifism having been enshrined in the document. His ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to begin drafting language this fall that would for the first time since the Second World War formally recognize the country’s Self-Defense Forces, setting the stage for a major debate in Japan over how the country views itself, the region, and its role in the world.

The biggest item in the budget covers ballistic missile defense, with a request for $2 billion for two ground-based Aegis Ashore radar missile tracking stations built by Lockheed Martin. The Japanese navy already operates the ship-borne version of the system, and Romania and Poland are the only other countries to have built the ground-based system.

According to current plans, the Aegis Ashore units won’t be operational until 2025. When active, they will be able to link up with the ship-based systems to provide a deeper defense against North Korean missiles.

Overall, the government is looking to
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on missile defense systems, part of the $6.2 billion Tokyo is planning to spend on U.S. systems under the Foreign Military Sales program.

Other highlights include $480 million to modernize F-15 fighters to allow them to carry cruise missiles and increase their electronic warfare prowess, $820 million for six F-35s fighters and $830 million for various space and cyber defense programs.

Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force also wants funding to build two new destroyers and a submarine.

The strategic rationale for all of this new spending was
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published earlier this week, which reported that “in the area surrounding Japan, there is a concentration of nations with large-scale military capabilities, and a regional cooperation framework on security has not yet to be fully institutionalized, leading to the existence of uncertainty and unclarity, including the persistence of territorial disputes and unification issues.”

An opinion piece in the state-run China Daily
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, accusing Japan of militarizing diplomatic spats in the region, and being little more than a pawn for Washington.

“Despite its tentative steps toward an independent foreign policy, [Japan] is still reluctant to emerge from under the protective arm of the United States,” the article said. “As the Shinzo Abe administration knows, it is the provocative moves by the Donald Trump administration that have been setting the region on edge.”
source is BreakingDefense
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now noticed
Large fleet of Russian naval vessels spotted in Soya Strait
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A powerful armada of 28 Russian naval ships was sighted sailing from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Sea of Japan, passing through the Soya Strait in the waters off Hokkaido, the Defense Ministry reported Sept. 3.

The ministry said the number of Russian naval vessels sailing through the strait is a record high since the Cold War. The ships did not engage in any "dangerous activities" and did not enter Japanese territorial waters.

The Soya Strait, also known as the La Perouse Strait, divides the Russian island of Sakhalin and Japan's northernmost Hokkaido.

Between around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 and around 4 p.m. on Sept. 2, Maritime Self-Defense Force ships and a patrol aircraft confirmed the flotilla's movement in waters about 210 kilometers northeast of Cape Soya, Japan’s northernmost point in Wakkanai, Hokkaido.

On Aug. 28, the Russian defense ministry announced that 40 of its naval vessels and other ships had been in operation in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk based on its exercise schedule.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera has expressed concerns about such Russian movements, including the military buildup on four islands off eastern Hokkaido, which are at the heart of a long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia.
 
Jun 7, 2018
noticed
Japan orders third E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
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now
Northrop Grumman secures $164M contract for Hawkeye aircraft for Japan
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The contract for the last of four Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft
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has been awarded, as the country announces plans to reorganize its airborne early warning aircraft command.

According to a Sept. 5 contract award announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense, Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $164 million firm-fixed-price modification to an existing contract for a new-build E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft . This follows similar contract awards in November 2015, July 2016 and June 2018, and brings the total procurement cost for Japan for the four E-2Ds to $633 million, not inclusive of engineering and other related costs.

The first Japanese E-2D is currently undergoing flight tests, having made its first flight from Northrop Grumman’s Aircraft Integration Center of Excellence in St. Augustine, Florida, in October 2017, with delivery expected in late 2019.

The E-2D is the latest variant of the E-2 Hawkeye carrierborne, airborne early warning aircraft, which is already being operated by the U.S. Navy. It features a new Lockheed Martin AN/APY-9 ultrahigh-frequency-band radar, which is able to detect and track cruise missiles and low-observable aircraft.

However, the Japanese aircraft are not fitted with the Cooperative Engagement Capability, or CEC, like U.S. Navy E-2Ds. CEC is a sensor network with integrated fire control capability that combines data from multiple battle-force air-search sensors on CEC-equipped units into a single, real-time, composite track picture.

Japanese media has also previously reported that the Defense Ministry is looking to equip its E-2Ds and Aegis-equipped destroyers with CEC, allowing the former to guide missiles fired by the latter.

Japan is also renaming the command organization in charge of its airborne early warning aircraft. In its latest budget request released in late August, the Ministry of Defense announced that its Airborne Early Warning Group will be renamed as the Airborne Early Warning Wing to reflect its expanded fleet of such aircraft.

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force currently operates 13 older E-2C Hawkeyes and four E-767 aircraft in the role at its bases in Misawa and Hamamatsu, respectively. A small detachment of E-2Cs also operate out of Naha on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

The U.S. State Department had approved Japan’s request to acquire four E-2Ds under the Foreign Military Sales program in June 2015, with the announcement by the Defense Security and Cooperation Agency at the time listing an estimated cost of $1.7 billion including associated equipment, parts and logistical support.
 

Janiz

Senior Member
At approximately 10:37pm HST on September 11, 2018 a simple separating, ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. JS ATAGO crew members detected and tracked the target. The Aegis Weapon System then developed a fire control solution and a Standard Missile -3 Block IB Threat Upgrade (SM-3 Blk IB TU) missile was launched. The SM-3 successfully intercepted the target above the Pacific Ocean.

More or less from
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Congratulations!

sBpxHVe.jpg
 

SamuraiBlue

Captain
As Chinese influence grows, Japanese warship visits Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Japan’s largest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, sailed into Sri Lanka’s Colombo harbor this weekend, marking Tokyo’s highest profile salvo in a diplomatic battle with China for influence along the region’s vital commercial sea lanes.

Japan has long provided low-interest loans and aid to Sri Lanka, helping it transform Colombo into a major trans-shipment port tapping the artery of global trade just south of the island that links Europe and the Middle East with Asia.

Beijing has, however, emerged as a powerful rival across South Asia and beyond as it implements its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

Both China and Japan are also flexing their military muscles further from home. China’s navy is increasingly venturing beyond the Western Pacific and into the Indian Ocean as it targets a world-class blue water fleet by 2050, while Japan’s military diplomacy is flourishing under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“Japan’s government is promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific and this deployment in the Asia Pacific is a component of that strategy,” Rear Admiral Tatsuya Fukuda, the commander of the Kaga and its destroyer escort, said in his cabin as the carrier steamed for Colombo through the Indian Ocean.

“Maritime security and stability is of critical importance” to an island nation like Japan, he added........
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SamuraiBlue

Captain
Japan, Britain hold joint military exercise in central Japan
KOFU, YAMANASHI PREF. – Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force on Tuesday showed to the media its first joint military exercise with the British Army in central Japan following an agreement by the two countries last year to strengthen bilateral security ties.

The drill began at a GSDF training school in Shizuoka Prefecture on Sunday. The troops were scheduled to hold more exercises through Oct. 12 at training areas in neighboring Yamanashi Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in the Tohoku region.



The British Army’s Lt. Gen. Patrick Sanders said the exercise symbolizes the deepening relations between Britain and Japan, and the British force hopes to remain committed to such drills in the future.

During Tuesday’s exercise, the two forces practiced how they might survey the locations of a potential enemy using the GSDF’s CH-47 transport helicopter. Under a scenario where they would move closer to the front line, some 20 members boarded the chopper......
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I'll put it here, it's related to
Australian Military News, Reports, Data, etc. Tuesday at 8:23 PM
Dec 12, 2017
while now
Naval Group: Talks with Australia still underway for sub buy
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France and Australia must resolve major differences over the Aussie' new submarine program before a new Australian government is elected next year, and the most obvious alternative is Japan.
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In 2016, the Australian government announced that it would build a new submarine with the French. The new submarine would replace the aging six Collins Class submarines with 12 longer range, and “regionally superior submarines,’ to use the language of the Australian government.

This
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but be built in Australia using innovative production technologies and a 21st century Australian workforce. Australian and French engineers would work closely together and the new submarine would be operational within the next decade.

The problem is that France and Australia can’t agree on how to do this. In part, this is a question of trust and confidence; neither the French nor the Australians have put together defense projects on this scale of co-develop together.

Recent reports have highlighted that the agreement is providing difficult to finalize. Since the Australia-French Shortfin Barracuda sub project began in the design stage, a new government has been elected in France, with a new Defense Minister and new officials within the French procurement agency, the DGA. The core agreement with Australia remained in limbo within which the core issues of intellectual property rights and other key issues involving the build of the new submarine remained unresolved.

For Australia, the key issue revolves around the build and the Intellectual Property (IP) involved, as well as the country’s ability to continuously build and support the new class of submarines. They are looking at a co-development project of fundamentally new types of submarines with their France, through which there would be two-way technology transfer and a long-term commitment to working through the evolution of submarine technology in a very dynamic threat environment.

In addition to a new government coming to power in Paris, Australia will soon have a new government. Parliamentary elections have to be held no later than next Spring. The current Defense Minister, Christopher Pyne, has been involved with the project from the outset. He’s from South Australia, where the submarine will be built; as the former defense industrial minister, he would clearly like to see an agreement in place prior to a change of government. But the political consensus on the program is crumbling, according to
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.

“Four South Australian crossbench senators have attacked the plan to build 12 submarines using French company Naval Group, arguing tens of billions could be saved and technical risks reduced if a different international firm was used,” the ABC reported two days ago.

What happens next if the French deal is abandoned? Are their alternatives to the French solution?

From well placed sources, it seems clear the French believe that Australia has no options other than France, and all that France has to do is wait out the process and the current or next Australian government will come around to the inevitable, namely, a submarine negotiated on more classic technology transfer lines, while the Aussies are seeking a wide-ranging co-development process of a next generation submarine.

Australia is looking for a build and support approach which provides a sovereign submarine capability but with a very close-knit operational capability with the U.S. and Japanese navies. This makes sense of course because the nature of the Chinese challenge is central to the Australia-Japanese-US ASW triangle in the Pacific.

The clearest option for Australia should the French option fail, something which the Australian government clearly is not eager to see, would be to work with Japan and build up their American options as well.

The Japanese industry has come a long way since its failure to prevail in the earlier competition. They have learned they need to commit completely to co-development and a new build in Australia as well.

With the growing focus of Japan on extended perimeter defense and the need to rebuild their defense industrial capability, Australia would be the perfect partner. Both seek ways to have enhanced sovereignty while still working closely with the United States. Both wish to have hedging options given the political dynamics in the United States. And both seek to expand their defense industrial capabilities. Both technological aspirations and the political timing of Australia’s growing ties with the U.S. are converging into opportunity for a bold new industrial thrust in Australia.

The Japanese option provides flexibility as well. The Australians are modernizing the Collins class and have worked out an effective sustainment approach to buy them time. A new build submarine, larger and very upgradeable, could be built in Australia with Japan agreeing to buy some of the new build submarines from Australia. This is something which the Japanese themselves need when they come to replace their current class of submarines, one designed to optimize the defense of the islands of Japan, not to reach out into the expanded defense perimeter of Japan.

If they work together on submarines, the Japanese and Australians might also expand that and work on other defense projects. In this context, Japan’s industrial prowess remains constrained on the military side for the simple but avoidable fact that the island nation possesses little space to develop and test new systems. Australia’s vast interior offers significant test capabilities in Australia.

The Australian submarine will have an American combat system, installed by Lockheed Martin.

If the French government wants to stay in the game, it would be wise for Paris to take a hard look at the changing dynamics in the Pacific and the emerging ambitions of Australia to be a major player militarily and industrially.

The Abe government in Japan is currently rethinking not only its security partnership with the US, but also its underlying industrial support capabilities, which could be applied more effectively in joint projects with Australia and the US. Japanese economic relations with Australia, long based on trade and direct investment, are in a new stage where co-development of new military hardware and software would serve the interests of both nations. That partnership would put Australia on the forefront of the global industrial development map, rather simply fork-lifting weapons built elsewhere into Australia.
 
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