Japan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

On 3rd March MH-53E retirement celebration event was held at Iwakuni Air Base

Since the first machine was deployed , eleven aircraft were deployed, and MH-53E was active in the front line as a minesweeping and transport machine.

In the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake we transported approximately 16 tons of living goods from Iwakuni-Omura Station to the Kansai area.

Also, when President Bush came to Japan, it was also used as a guest ship between Iwo Jima and Chichijima. And, in the Great East Japan Earthquake we carried about 116.8 tons of living goods to the affected areas in the Tohoku region.

All of the aircrafts were removed as of March 3 today, to Iwakuni Air Base

Last two remaining active MH-53E helicopters

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Japan denies reports it test-fired XASM-3 missile
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Japan has denied reports speculating that it had test-fired a new supersonic air-launched anti-ship missile last week, although a test-firing is still on the cards for later this year.
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FORBIN said:

First no Russian the specialist from long time with big ! or not Chinese supersonic AShM

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Janiz said:

The ex JMSDF Shirane is sheduled to be the target ship for the XASM test. Shirane was decomissioned in the spring last year and moored in Maizuru Naval Base. Later she was towed to the shipyard on Innoshima Island for the works to transform her into the target ship. At the start of this month she was towed and moored near Etajima (in the proximity of Kure Naval Base) and I think that she will soon arrive in her final destination somewhere deep in the Pacific Ocean. Here's a recent picture of her as target ship.

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Construction of a submarine (1 submarine: ¥72.8 billion) Build a submarine of a new class (3,000 tons) with higher detecting and other capabilities in order to conduct intelligence-gathering and surveillance activities in an effective manner in the seas surrounding Japan by increasing the number of submarines from 16 to 22

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Japan plans to dispatch its largest warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea beginning in May, three sources said, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since World War Two.

China claims almost all the disputed waters and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the West, with the United States holding regular air and naval patrols to ensure freedom of navigation.

The Izumo helicopter carrier, commissioned only two years ago, will make stops in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka before joining the Malabar joint naval exercise with Indian and U.S. naval vessels in the Indian Ocean in July.

It will return to Japan in August, the sources said.

"The aim is to test the capability of the Izumo by sending it out on an extended mission," said one of the sources who have knowledge of the plan. "It will train with the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea," he added, asking not to be identified because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

A spokesman for Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force declined to comment.


Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the sea which has rich fishing grounds, oil and gas deposits and through which around $5 trillion of global sea-borne trade passes each year.

Japan does not have any claim to the waters, but has a separate maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea.

Japan wants to invite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has pushed ties with China in recent months as he has criticized the old alliance with the United States, to visit the Izumo when it visits Subic Bay, about 100 km (62 miles) west of Manila, another of the sources said.

Asked during a news conference about his view on the warship visit, Duterte said, without elaborating, "I have invited all of them."

He added: "It is international passage, the South China Sea is not our territory, but it is part of our entitlement."

On whether he would visit the warship at Subic Bay, Duterte said: "If I have time."

Japan's flag-flying operation comes as the United States under President Donald Trump appears to be taking a tougher line with China. Washington has criticized China's construction of man-made islands and a build-up of military facilities that it worries could be used to restrict free movement.

Beijing in January said it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over the disputed islands after the White House vowed to defend "international territories".

The 249 meter-long (816.93 ft) Izumo is as large as Japan's World War Two-era carriers and can operate up to nine helicopters. It resembles the amphibious assault carriers used by U.S. Marines, but lacks their well deck for launching landing craft and other vessels.

Japan in recent years, particularly under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has been stretching the limits of its post-war, pacifist constitution. It has designated the Izumo as a destroyer because the constitution forbids the acquisition of offensive weapons. The vessel, nonetheless, allows Japan to project military power well beyond its territory.

Based in Yokosuka, near to Tokyo, which is also home to the U.S. Seventh Fleet's carrier, the Ronald Reagan, the Izumo's primary mission is anti-submarine warfare.

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FORBIN said:

Navy news on wiki as each year changes in march :

Last SSK Harushio class

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retired was based to Kure
For very soon the 8th Soryu join the fleet

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for Kure, 6th based there, 2 to Yokosuka the next 2 for this port.

2017 last year where a SSK is retired up to 2023 in more they have only 20 years ! the SSK fleet going from 18, 19 with the new Soryu to 24 for 2022 ! in fact each year up to 2022 a new in addition.

Other change the Kurama/2nd Shirane retired soon.
And for end of month Kaga/Izumo Class commiss. homeported to Kure do a swapp hull with Ise/Hyuga which replace Kurama to Sasebo.

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FORBIN said:

SSK new Class named 3000 tons SSK 1st for 2022

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recent udpate
surfaced displt 3000 tons, Soryu do 2900 tons, Oyashio 2750 tons

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Jeff Head said:

I am very impressed by the Soryu subs.

I am waiting to see how the newer update class (the last four vessels they build) are going to work out with the Li-Ion batteries.

If it works like they hope, it will be a heck of an addition,. Very quiet...and AIP is already very quiet.

Those soryu, diplacing over 4,000 tons submerged, are large AIP diesel-electrics.

I still wish Australia had picked them.

But the JMSDF will end up with 13 or 14 of them it seems at this point (I belive 13 is the number, (8116 through 8128), and that's just fine.

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