Their constitution says “Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” and goes on to say that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained” (or at least, that’s what Wikipedia says).
Since WWII, they’ve formed a “self-defense” force, and it has grown in capabilities over the years. One of the latest innovations of the JMSDF are “helicopter destroyers”. They commissioned the Hyūga in 2009, the Ise in 2011, and the larger Izumo in 2015 and (her sister ship) the Kaga earlier this year. They’ve also purchased 42 F-35As and will be doing final assembly work in-country for most of them. Now they’re considering purchasing a handful of F-35Bs, whose main advantage over the A model is their ability to launch from (and land on) smaller flat-top ships like the helicopter destroyers mentioned above.
The thought of Japanese aircraft carriers again plying the oceans is upsetting to some people, particularly the Chinese. I’m generally of the opinion that whatever discomfits China is a good thing, and I’m in favor of increased military spending by our allies, particularly when it involves buying equipment from American companies, but what sayeth the Dope? Is there a cause for concern here that I’m not seeing or undervaluing?
I don’t know what the hell China thought was going to happen when it began building its own aircraft carrier fleet, along with building islands and putting military bases on top of them, but I don’t think this should have come as much of a surprise to them.
BTW, the Japanese Ministry of Defense site says:
That’s going to be an interesting hurtle to clear, given the F-35’s primary role as an attack / “strike” fighter.
Sure, and same goes for South Korea and Japan. Now China wants to warn Japan to “act prudently”, but they were more than happy to ignore all the ‘act prudently’ requests when they were busy building up Fiery Cross Reef.
Yeah, those Olympic bids better be up to snuff or else!
Sorry for the unexplained acronym. IOC stands for “Initial Operational Capacity.” It basically means: this weapon system is ready to be used in combat.
While there aren’t any legal issues that I know of with South Korea having aircraft carriers, I’m not sure why they would want them. If South Korea gets into a war, it’s going to be with North Korea. Nobody else has the motive or means to attack South Korea. And they’ve already got airfields perfectly placed to strike North Korea if need be. Yeah, yeah, everyone wants new toys, but everyone also has a limited budget: Why not spend that budget on toys that will actually be useful?
I agree that war with North Korea is the most likely scenario, but I don’t think it’s the only plausible one. They have a territorial dispute with Japan. Indeed, they named their one and only amphibious assault ship, “the largest ship in the South Korean navy”, after these disputed islets, which I think is a pretty good indication that it’s not a trivial matter for South Korea.
“Under the Constitution, Japan is permitted to possess the *minimum necessary level of self-*defense capability.”
Who is going to argue with the current Japanese government about what constitutes “the minimum necessary level of self-defense capability”? The US, the UN, China?
The fact is that Japan will build any kind of military equipment it wants and feels it needs and if any one asks, they will call it “defensive”. And the way China is flexing its muscles lately, no one is going to say anything about a military build up in Japan.
I believe the argument is largely within the Japanese government / a matter for Japanese domestic politics, not from outside sources, although the Chinese and South Koreans are probably not very happy about it.
The Izumo can carry, what 4-6 F35B, maximum? The Chinese have a plethora of AShMs, designed to get through the defenses of a USN Super Carrier group. You really think a jumper up helicooter carrier is going to bother them?
I don’t know how many it could carry, but I don’t they’d be sending messages like “act prudently” if it didn’t. I suspect a half-dozen F-35Bs would wreck the Liaoning’s air wing rather readily.
ETA: but to your point, the Izumo is certainly not a design optimized for STOVL operations. Elevator in the middle of the deck, etc.
A pair of DF21 would break Izumo in two. So? Plus the ‘35Bravo would have limited range and no refueling at sea. So actually getting to a Liaoning or later a Type 002
And wouldn’t read too much into “statements of concern”. Nations always say such when neighbors/rivals develop new capabilities.
In a shooting war of course, but in confrontations less than war, 4 aircraft in the right place and at the right time can assert sovereignty just fine. If China decides that island X is in fact part of China and the current owners have 4 fighter jets already sitting right next to it-that is a confrontation short of war. If China starts shooting bad things will happen to those jets, but it might be considered worth the risk to both sides.
