Japan Returns to Militarism

 

On December 11 Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported that “Japan plans to effectively upgrade its helicopter carriers to enable them to transport and launch fighter jets.” Concurrently the Indian Ministry of Defence noted that in the course of a large exercise being held in India by the US and Indian air forces, “two military pilots from Japan are also taking part in the exercise as observers.” There was also a Reuter’s account of Tokyo’s plans “to boost defence spending over the next five years to help pay for new stealth fighters and other advanced US military equipment.”

South Dakota Airmen arrive ready to ‘Fight Tonight’ from Guam

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers assigned to the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, flew from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for a 10-hour mission, flying in the vicinity of Kyushu, Japan, the East China Sea, and the Korean peninsula, Aug. 7, 2017 (HST). During the mission, the B-1s were joined by Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15s as well as Republic of Korea Air Force KF-16 fighter jets, performing two sequential bilateral missions. These flights with Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) demonstrate solidarity between Japan, ROK and the U.S. to defend against provocative and destabilizing actions in the Pacific theater. (Courtesy photo)

 

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii — Two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, under the command of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, joined their counterparts from the Republic of Korea and Japanese air forces in sequenced bilateral missions, August 7.

This serves as the first mission for the crews and aircraft recently deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota in support of U.S. Pacific Command’s Continuous Bomber Presence missions.

Japan scrambles jet fighters at record pace as Chinese military activity rises

FILE PHOTO: A Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-15 fighter scrambles at the Air Self Defense Force Naha base in Naha, Okinawa prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 13, 2015. Kyodo/via REUTERS

 

Japan worries that China’s probing of its air defences is part of a push to extend its military influence in the East China Sea and western Pacific, where Japan controls an island chain stretching 1,400 km (870 miles) south towards Taiwan.

“Recently we have seen Chinese military aircraft operating further south and that is bringing them closer to the main Okinawa island and other parts of the island chain,” Japan’s top military commander, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, told a briefing in Tokyo.

Russia and China Taunt NATO with Show of Friendship in the South China Sea

 

Russia and China are preparing for joint sea naval drills this weekend (Sept. 9-11).

The military exercises between the two countries are somewhat routine – there have been five since 2012.

However, this time will be the first joint exercises between these particular allies conducted in the fiercely disputed South China Sea.

Japan defense forces train to retake island

The annual Japanese military exercise near Mount Fuji used tanks as part of an effort to retake an “island.”

 

TOKYO — The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s annual large-scale live fire drill Sunday near Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture imagined combined air, sea and land forces retaking a remote island captured by an enemy, an exercise that appeared to have recent Chinese activity around the disputed Senkaku Islands in mind.

Japan can’t outgun China’s J-20 with F-35A purchase

As the US is refusing to sell Japan the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) will have to settle for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II instead, according to an analysis piece posted on Sina’s military news web portal.

The F-35 will still allow the JASDF entry into the stealth fighter club, however. China is likely to respond to the Japanese fighter upgrade with appropriate measures of its own, said the website.

China to buy 5,000 Russian air-to-air missiles: Japanese report

China is likely to purchase 5,000 R-73 and R-77 air-to-air missiles from Russia, writes Toshiyuki Roku, retired commander of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Air Development and Test Command, in an article for the Tokyo-based Japan Military Review.

Chinese aircraft enter Japan’s ADIZ

A Tu-154 electronic warfare aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and a Y-12 utility aircraft of China’s State Oceanic Administration entered the Japanese air defense identification zone (ADIZ) simultaneously on Feb. 21, according to the state-run China News Service.

Japan secretly developing nuclear weapons: Yazhou Zhoukan

So long as the United States continues suiciding itself out of existence and becoming increasingly unreliable in the eyes of its allies, expect countries with the capability such as Japan to rise up as they are left with no choice. They have the means for ‘breakout capacity’ and can go nuclear within months.

The Hong Kong-based Yazhou Zhoukan reports that Japan is secretly developing a nuclear weapons program in anticipation of a potential crisis over the Diaoyutai (Diaoyu or Senkaku) islands in the East China Sea.

Japan is currently the only nation in the world which has a complete nuclear industry. Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Toshiba are the three largest Japanese companies which produce nuclear energy. Under those three corporations, there are an additional 200 smaller firms which possess nuclear fuel or who have the know-how to handle plutonium.

Japan will shoot down PLA drones if necessary: defense ministry

The Japanese defense ministry said on Sept. 17 that Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles found flying over the disputed Diaoyutai (Diaoyu or Senkaku) islands in the East China Sea will be shot down by the country’s Self-Defense Forces, reports the Tokyo-based Nippon Hoso Kyokai.