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Japan Defence Forum

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I wonder if the Type 01 LMAT is available for export because I am pretty sure the FGM-148 Javelin system is more expensive.
 
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I would love to the Type 10 in the Philippines if Japan is done with its changes to the arms sells law it would be nice to see it as bid for the future MBT project anyway news on the plan Joint training of the Philippines and Japan?
 
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Japan’s Next F-X Fighters: F-35 Wins Round 1

July 17/14: Weapons.In the wake of recent changes that allow Japan to export some defense items to certain customers, and engage in multinational collaborations with allied countries, Japan is becoming involved with MBDA’s Meteor long-range air-to-air missile:

“Separately, the government also gave a green light to Japan’s joint research with Britain using Japanese seeker technology. It’s a simulation-based project linked to a Meteor missile development among European countries. Defense Ministry official Toru Hotchi said Japanese officials are hoping the research can lead to a technology that can be used for F-35 stealth fighter jets that Japan plans to purchase for its Air Self-Defense Forces.”

Meteor is about to enter service on the JAS-39C/D Gripen, with Eurofighter and Rafale qualification to follow by 2018. MBDA has previously stated that they plan to field a variant for internal carriage in the F-35, and have taken some design-related steps, but there’s no definite program or timeframe yet. Could interest be picking up?

Feb 4/14: Bottakuri.Costs continue to rise for Japan, and F-35Js could end up costing YEN 300 billion each. Meanwhile, Japan’s new 5-year Mid-Term Defense Plan will buy just 28 F-35s by 2018, of a 42 plane order that would see 38 assembled in Japan under a final assembly and checkout deal. At that rate, they won’t make the target of completed deployment by 2021 without a high 2019 order surge. Meanwhile, prices have already climbed from the original YEN 9.6 – 9.9 billion agreement to YEN 14.95 billion each for 2 jets in FY 2013, and YEN 15.4 billion each for 4 more in FY 2014.

“Added to this are plant and tooling up costs of [YEN] 83 billion for 2013 and [YEN] 42.4 billion for 2014 as Japanese companies Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric and IHI establish assembly and production lines…. Sources here have privately begun to refer to the F-35 deal as a “bottakuri bar,” referring to establishments that lure customers… and force them to pay exorbitant bills through a range of excess charges for items not mentioned explicitly on the menu….. locally produced versions of US kit generally cost double their US prices…. Kiyotani said the F-35′s costs could climb to more than [YEN] 300 billion a fighter.”

Abe’s decision to print money at astronomical rates (q.v. Aug 22/13) is going to worsen this problem by dropping the exchange rate. The Yen has lost 28% of its value vs. the US dollar since June 29/12. Defense analyst Shinichi Kiyotani is quoted as saying that lack of specifics in Japan’s 10-year plan reflects uncertainty over the country’s ability to afford the F-35, and its 200 F-15Js and 90 or so F-2s will eventually need replacement. What to do? Sources: Defense News, “Future of F-35 Unclear as Costs Mount in Japan”.

Further details:
Japan’s Next F-X Fighters: F-35 Wins Round 1

The tax hike will make up some short. But I still don't like this F35.
 
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Standard equipment, JGSDF -- Paratrooper Infantry



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JMSDF --- Rikusentai (naval infantry force = marines)

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JGSDF -- Anti-Tank Brigade
 
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Japan military holds drill as its role expands

GOTEMBA, Japan — Japan's military showcased its ability to defend remote islands Tuesday, as its role expands at home and abroad under new defense policies instituted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that have divided the nation.

The military began large-scale annual "Fire Power" exercises at the foot of Mount Fuji aimed at repelling a hypothetical invasion of far-off Japanese islands, defense officials said.

Lt. Kunikazu Takahashi, spokesman for Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, said the exercises, which last until Sunday, follow new defense guidelines that emphasize island defense.

The defense plans, approved in December, reflect a shift in Japan's defense priorities from its northern reaches near Russia to the East China Sea, where Tokyo and Beijing are locked in a dispute over a chain of uninhabited islands. Under the guidelines, Japan is setting up an amphibious unit similar to the U.S. Marines to respond quickly to any invasion of those islands.

"We believe such arrangements can discourage any foreign invasion," Takahashi said in an interview during the exercise. "It would be best if we can defend our land without fighting."

Abe's Cabinet approved in July a reinterpretation of Japan's war-renouncing constitution, which was drafted under U.S. direction after World War II, to allow the military to defend foreign countries. The endorsement of what is known as the right to collective self-defense has sharply divided public opinion, mainly due to sensitivity over Japan's wartime past.

Air force veteran Toshiya Hamada, 80, welcomed the decision. "It doesn't mean we want to wage war, but we need to gain strength because we don't want to go to war," he said. "I know soldiers feel most strongly about that because they are the first ones to go to the front line."

But Naomi Uchida, 36, who came to see the exercise with her husband and two children, said she doesn't think Japan needs to expand its military role.

"Japan is safe as it is," she said. "I'm worried if my boy says he wants to join the army."

Fighter jets, attack helicopters and tanks, guided missile systems and artillery fired Tuesday at targets at the base of Mount Fuji, where soldiers demonstrated tactics to fight off foreign invaders.

The live-fire exercises involve 2,300 troops, 20 aircraft and 80 tanks and armored vehicles, among other equipment.


Read more here: Latest local news from San Luis Obispo, CA | The Tribune



https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aLhcDMaPPC0
 
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Japan Ground Self Defense Force


The largest of the three services, the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichikawa, east of Tokyo.
Strategy is determined by the nation's elongated insular geography, its mountainous terrain, and the nearness of the Asian mainland. The terrain favors local defense against invasion by ground forces, but protection of the approximately 15,800-kilometer coastline of the four main islands would present unique problems in the event of a large-scale invasion. Potentially hostile aircraft and missile bases are so close that timely warning even by radar facilities might be difficult to obtain. Maneuver space is limited to such an extent that ground defenses would have to be virtually in place at the onset of hostilities. No point of the country is more than 150 kilometers from the sea. Moreover, the straits separating Honshu from the other main islands restrict the rapid movement of troops from one island to another, even though all major islands are now connected by bridges and tunnels. Within each island, mountain barriers and narrow roads restrict troop and supply movements. The key strategic region is densely populated and highly industrialized central Honshu, particularly the area from Tokyo to Kobe.

Japan has many places suited for landing operations and is geographically located close to neighboring countries on the continent. It is expected that an aggressor will attempt to assure the safety of its landing forces by concentrating its naval and air assets to secure overwhelming combat power at the time and on the point they choose. It is extremely difficult, or practically impossible, for Japan to have enough defense capability to repel all troops of an aggressor on the sea. It would incur enormous and unbearable costs to build up such defense capability. Consequently, we need to preserve an adequate ground defense capability to destroy those aggressor troops on the ground who have succeeded in their landing operation. A robust ground defense capability to repel an aggressor, which might succeed in breaking through our maritime defense, will enable us to maintain solid defense posture required for effective deterrence against an aggression.


Organization

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