As I stated earlier, their armed forces have some nifty toys...
Posted on 04/15/2005 8:23:47 PM PDT by real_dd2
U.S. pushing Japan to boost military role
By ERIC TALMADGE ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- In the most sweeping re-examination of the U.S.-Japan security alliance in years, Japan and the United States are negotiating a military realignment that could move some or all of the nearly 20,000 Marines off the crowded island of Okinawa, close underused bases and meld an Army command in Washington state with a camp just south of Tokyo.
But something even more fundamental may be at stake.
With its own military spread thin, Washington appears to be trying to use the talks to nudge Japan out from under the U.S. security blanket and make Tokyo a much more active player in global strategic operations.
"The United States wants Japan to assume a role very much like the one it has vis-a-vis the British," said Tetsuo Maeda, professor of arms reduction and security at Tokyo International University. "The Self-Defense Forces would be regularly deployed overseas for military operations if this kind of realignment were realized."
It would not be an easy transition if the realignment is approved.
America's force of 50,000-plus troops in Japan dates back decades and has long been hailed by both sides as the key to stability in the Asian-Pacific region and a model of cooperation. In exchange for the security the U.S. troops provide, Japan pays a whopping $5 billion, an arrangement unparalleled anywhere else in the world.
But amid increasing calls in Japan for the U.S. to streamline its presence, and Washington's shifting focus from maintaining bases abroad to fine-tuning its deployments to respond quickly to specific flare-ups, topics are on the table that were long seen as virtually taboo.
Officially, there has been little comment.
TRANSLATION: Might need to raise the Rising Sun over Korea and China again.
Japan can seriously help rein-in China. China has the population, but Japan has the technology. The JSDF is, currently, small but quite capable. The have some top-notch warships and aircraft and their ground forces have some nifty toys.
We can do all the "protecting" we need to do for SK from Guam.
Not to mention that given enough time, they would re-militarize even against our wishes. Best to do it now so we remain good allies.
I mean, most of the Japanese Government and most Japanese people themselves are finally beginning to understand the real threat that the PRC poses. But to overcome residual domestic opposition, they have to cast themselves in the light of being MADE to re-arm, by outside, foreign forces....
It's called "gai-atsu". They have an EXTREMELY long history of this kind of positioning.
YAWN...
japan could be a world power militarily within a few years, their tecnology and manufacturing base is outstanding. they are the natural counter balance in the region.
Who should publish Japanese text books ?
That's a Kongo Class. It's a bigger version of the Arliegh Burke. They have at least 2 more in the works possibly a 3rd. One thing they did that was very clever, was they put VLS tubes on non-Aegis ships that work with with the Kongo. The missiles in the non-Aegis ships are aimed and controlled by the Aegis ship. The smart part is that they did not have to build 2+ Aegis class ships to get the firepower of 2 Aegis class ships, saving major $$s.
What do you expect from the same folks who made Walkman a hosehold word?
Ships like the Hatsuyuki are also laid-out nicely. Their air and ground forces have some good equipment.
Kongos are built to commercial standards to save money and wouldn't take the damage a Burke would.
However the reality is that pretty much any hit on a modern destroyer will be a "mission kill" anyway.....
Exactly. You take a hit from a sunburn it's pretty much over. As we move to smaller crews (like on the LCS) I hope we do the same.
It can be hard to find out details about the Japanese Navy, have you seen this link?
http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/asiapac/japan.htm
Sunburns are pretty deadly, but there are counters. Sunburn stops its weaving about three miles out, so CIWS could possibly still reacquire and shoot it down. And there's the Australian-made NULKA system...
I definately think they must have a capable, deployable, interoperable military, if they want to be on the UN Security Council. The last thing that it needs is a pacifist country.
I don't know...the current generation of Japanese men are kinda wussie...
Thanks!
I also go here: http://www.jda.go.jp/JMSDF/index_e.html
The main site (in Japanese) is more aesthetically pleasing, but this provides some basics. Their pages for the JASDF and JGSDF actually prvide more data and have some nice photo galleries.
That should have been the URL for the english version. If not, there should be a button marked "English."
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