Japan to conduct island defence drill amid tension with China

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Japan will conduct a military exercise this month to practice defending an island, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday, underscoring concern about East China Sea islands controlled by Japan but claimed by China.The dispute over the islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, has raised fears of a clash between the Asian neighbours which could even drag in the United States.

Separately, China said on Wednesday it would carry out naval exercises with Russia in the East China Sea in what it called a bid to deepen military cooperation.Japan's Defence Ministry said the island defence exercise would run from May 10 to May 27 on a small uninhabited island in the Ryukyu chain, some 600 km (375 miles) northeast of the disputed isles.Some parts of the exercise will be held in southwestern Japan's Nagasaki prefecture and waters off Okinawa Island's east coast. Okinawa is home is a major US military base and Japan also bases forces there.

It will be the first time that Japan's military, known as the Self-Defence Forces, will use an actual island for island defence training involving its ground, air and maritime divisions.About 1,300 troops, as well as several fighter jets and destroyers, will practice landing on and retaking the island, the ministry said.But it said the exercise was not a response to the tension with China. "Boosting island defence is something that has been mentioned in the defence white paper in recent years. This is not a drill that is responding to the current security situation surrounding Japan," a ministry spokesman said.

US President Barack Obama said last month while on a visit to Japan that the disputed islands were covered by a US-Japan security treaty, angering China.Last month, Japan announced it would break ground on a radar base in the area, on a tropical Japanese island close to Taiwan.
The radar station on Yonaguni Island, just 150 km (93 miles) from the disputed islands in the East China Sea, marks Japan's first military expansion at the western end of its island chain in more than 40 years.


http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/japan-conduct-island-defence-drill-amid-tension-china

Japan puts early-warning aircraft on Okinawa amid China's moves

Japan has permanently assigned a new early-warning aircraft unit to Naha Air Base on Okinawa in response to Chinese probing around its southern island chain, officials say.

The Asahi Shimbun reported that four E-2C aircraft and approximately 130 members of the Japan Air Self Defense Force have been permanently repositioned from Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. The aircraft from the 603rd Airborne Unit will be responsible for surveillance and patrolling the peripheral airspace of the southwestern region, according to a Defense Ministry spokesman.The move comes after Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force broke ground last month on a Coastal Monitoring Squadron base at Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island. Experts have said Japanese expansions could be seen as a provocation by China and further inflame tensions in the region.

Officials from U.S. Forces Japan declined to comment.Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera attended a ceremony April 20 at Naha Air Base to commemorate the establishment of the new unit.“The number of scrambles against Chinese aircraft quadrupled in the past four years,” he told reporters following the ceremony. “The unit with E-2C early-warning aircraft was assigned newly here at Naha Air Base to enhance the early-warning and surveillance mission. The assignment of the new unit is important for Japan to continue to defend our territory, waters and skies.”

Onodera later told a news conference that having a defense force base on the island is critical for Japan’s security.“This island is located in the westernmost point of our country, therefore, the coastal monitoring mission on an island like this is crucially important for Japan’s security,” he said.To replace the aircraft moving to Okinawa, the Airborne Early Warning Group and the 601st Airborne Unit were assigned to Misawa, the statement said.


http://www.stripes.com/news/japan-puts-early-warning-aircraft-on-okinawa-amid-china-s-moves-1.281093

Imaginary video shows Japanese stealth aircraft soundly defeating the PLAN

All Japanese missiles hit but none of the PLAN missiles do.
Video shows missiles score direct hit on 2 PLAN aircraft carriers out of which one sinks.

Nice video to watch with kids.

Airborne early warning unit set up at Okinawa base to bolster surveillance by Japan

A new unit of early warning aircraft has been permanently assigned to an Air Self-Defense Force base here to bolster Japan's surveillance capabilities over its southwestern islands, including the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The four E-2C early warning planes that comprise the unit were restationed to Naha Air Base on Okinawa's main island from the ASDF Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture.

Until now, E-2C aircraft from Misawa had only been deployed to Naha on a rotational basis.

Japanese Stealth Demonstrator To Fly This Year

Mitsubishi ATD-X (advanced technology demonstrator-experimental) 

Speaking to the foreign affairs and defense committee of Japan’s upper house, defense minister Itsunori Onodera has confirmed that the Mitsubishi ATD-X (advanced technology demonstrator-experimental) future fighter demonstrator is on course to fly later this year, albeit with a slight delay. Originally to have been unveiled to the media in May, the ATD-X is now a few months behind schedule but should be revealed later this year, with a first flight to follow soon afterwards.

ATD-X is a project led by the defense ministry’s TRDI (Technical Research and Development Institute), with Mitsubishi as main contractor. The aim of the program is to build an experimental aircraft for evaluating the maturity and integration of advanced airframe and engine technologies for future fighters. The aircraft is also colloquially known as the “Shinshin” (spirit of the heart).

In late 2005 an ATD-X mock-up was used for radar cross-section tests at a range in France, and in the following year a one-fifth-scale radio-controlled model was built to test high-angle-of-attack controllability. Preliminary results from these trials led to a decision to proceed with a flying ATD-X demonstrator program in 2007, and a year later the mock-up was shown publicly for the first time at the Japan aero show.

It has been speculated that the project was initiated to apply pressure on the U.S. to sell the F-22 Raptor to Japan, although if true it was unsuccessful in that aim. However, it has subsequently evolved into a program that could lead to an indigenous sixth-generation fighter incorporating what is described as “I3” (informed, intelligent, instantaneous) technology. Among the technologies being explored are fly-by-light optic cable flight control, three-dimensional thrust vectoring and a “self-repair” flight control system that automatically recalibrates itself after failure or damage to the control surfaces.

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) has developed the XF5-1 afterburning turbofan to power the ATD-X. The company has considerable engine expertise through a long history of licensed production of U.S. engines, and indigenous development of the F3 turbofan that powers the Kawasaki T-4 trainer. The XF5-1 has already undergone extensive testing.

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ain-defense-perspective/2017-04-17/japanese-stealth-demonstrator-fly-year

Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) Kawasaki EC-1 Aoki-2

US to send more ships to Japan, prods China

2 days earlier U.S. had warned China not to try Crimea-style action in Asia.

The United States moved on Sunday to reassure Tokyo over its mounting security concerns, saying it would send more missile defense ships to Japan following North Korean launches and use a high level trip to warn China against abusing its "great power."

Japan has watched with alarm in recent weeks as North Korea carried out a series of missile launches, including firing two medium-range missiles capable of hitting the U.S. ally.Tokyo has also voiced growing anxiety over China's military buildup and increasingly assertive behavior in a territorial dispute over East China Sea islands.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that two Navy destroyers equipped with missile defense systems would be deployed to Japan by 2017. It was a response, he said, to provocations from the North, which has also threatened to carry out a "new form" of nuclear test.
The announcement followed other steps taken by the Pentagon to bolster its military posture in Japan, including an October decision to position a second X-band missile defense radar there. That radar is expected to be operational this year."These steps will greatly enhance our ability to defend both Japan and the U.S. homeland from North Korean ballistic missile threats," Hagel told reporters at Japan's defence ministry.

Narushige Michishita, associate professor and security expert at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, said the moves were "part of the U.S. attempt to bolster reassurances vis-à-vis Japan."
It also fits within the context of broader American efforts to bolster its military presence in the region, part of a strategic "rebalance" or "pivot" toward Asia that President Barack Obama will emphasize during his trip this month to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/world/132993/us-to-send-more-ships-to-japan-prods-china

Global Hawk to deploy to Japan for first time

USAF plans to remove sensors from U-2 spy planes and fit them on Global Hawks to meet Budget sequestration.

Wikipedia


Two Global Hawks, currently stationed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, will deploy to Misawa Air Base, Japan, from May to October, along with about 40 personnel, according to Pacific Air Forces.The Global Hawk already has experience flying over Japan. It was used to assist Japan in disaster relief and recovery following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The aircraft also assisted in the humanitarian response to last year’s tsunami in the Philippines.

Japanese ships in the past few years have encountered Russian and Chinese air and naval forces in international waters in the South China Sea. The deployment comes as the Air Force has switched its position from pushing to retire the Global Hawk fleet to now retiring the U-2. The Air Force said recent budget numbers have shown that the Global Hawk has dropped its price per flying hour to the point that it would be a better investment to keep the drone flying.

Izumo could serve as Japan's command center in Diaoyutai conflict

The Izumo, Japan's new helicopter carrier, could be used as a command center to coordinate the ground, air and maritime forces of the nation in a potential conflict with China over the disputed Diaoyutai islands (called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China) in the East China Sea, reports the Tokyo-based Kyodo News.

In an article for the paper, Makoto Yamasaki, a retired vice admiral of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), stressed that the primary mission of the Izumo is to serve as a flagship with intelligence command capabilities. Equipped with an electronic conference room that can give commands to individual units and an advanced communications system, Japanese military magazine Ships of the World indicated that the Izumo is capable of strengthening the integrated operations of Japan's military as a frontline headquarters.

Military experts said that the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's E-767, E-2C early warning aircraft, F-15J fighters, the JMSDF's P-3C patrol aircraft, destroyers, as well as the Ground Self-Defense Force's anti-aircraft and anti-ship units can all be coordinated on the battlefield once this 248-meter-long vessel with a standard displacement of 19,500 tonnes becomes a frontline HQ.

The Kyodo News also reported that the Izumo may be redesigned as an aircraft carrier when the F-35 fighters begin to arrive in Japan. The Japanese defense ministry, meanwhile, plans to purchase 17 MV-22 Ospreys from the United States to operate from the flight deck of the Izumo by 2018.

In addition to combating the People's Liberation Army Navy in a potential conflict over remote islands in the East China Sea, the ship may also be used in the the event of major natural disasters, Kyodo News said. It is capable of accommodating some 450 people, excluding crew members, and is equipped with a surgery room and beds for medical treatment.

Japan's ground and maritime forces have learned valuable lessons about fighting amphibious warfare through joint exercises with the United States Navy and Marine Corps. However, the Izumo still lacks a well deck like other dedicated amphibious assault ships, the paper said, adding that the carrier as a command center may become the first and an easy target for the PLA Navy is a conflict over the region were to occur.

Japanese engineers hasten humanity’s extinction, unveil fully-armed four-ton robot

http://suidobashijuko.jp/ 

I thought it was unreal when I first saw this...Skynet Terminator is here :O

U.S. to Remove 9,000 Marines from Okinawa, Japan

About 9,000 U.S. Marines stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa will be moved to the U.S. territory of Guam and other locations in the Asia-Pacific, including Hawaii, under a U.S.-Japan agreement announced Thursday.
The move is part of a broader arrangement designed to tamp down tensions in the U.S.-Japan defense alliance stemming in part from opposition in Okinawa to what many view as a burdensome U.S. military presence.

It also reflects a desire by the Obama administration to spread U.S. forces more widely in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a rebalancing of U.S. defense priorities in the aftermath of a decade of war in the greater Middle East.
The agreement was outlined in a joint statement issued Thursday night by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and their Japanese counterparts.
Citing an "increasingly uncertain security environment" in the Asia-Pacific region, they said their agreement was intended to maintain a robust U.S. military presence to ensure the defense of Japan.
"Japan is not just a close ally, but also a close friend," Panetta said in a separate comment. "And I look forward to deepening that friendship and strengthening our partnership as, together, we address security challenges in the region."
The joint statement made no mention of a timetable for moving the approximately 9,000 Marines off of Okinawa. It said it would happen "when appropriate facilities are available to receive them" on Guam and elsewhere.
Under the new agreement, about 10,000 Marines will remain on Okinawa, which has been a key element of the U.S. military presence in Asia for decades. The U.S. also has a substantial Air Force presence on Okinawa.