Japanese Cameras Catch Chinese Naval UAV Again
The Japanese MSDF once more catches a Chinese UAV in flight, but with shots of the deck, might we also learn more of the capacity of the ships carrying them?
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Meet Japan’s New NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle
The GSDF's new NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle goes on display at the GSDF Chemical School in Saitama.
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Recent SDF Deployments News
There have been three notable pieces of news regarding SDF deployments in the past week: Tornado Relief A tornado struck the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, as well as other locations in Ibaraki and Tochigi on Sunday May 6th, damaging around 2000 buildings with surprisingly only one death (a 14 year old boy) and over...
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Japan’s F-35 Sticker Shock
It’s sticker shock in Shinjuku time. 238 million US dollars. That’s how much each Japanese F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is going to cost, including maintenance and training expenses. From the U.S. Department of Defense announcement (h/t Mike Yeo): All aircraft will be configured with the Pratt and Whitney F-135 engines, and 5 spare Pratt and...
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Japanese Light Aircraft Carrier Design: A Critique
ChinaSMACK has a post up on Chinese netizens’ reaction to a Japanese magazine article. The article in question included an artist’s impression of the ATD-X/Shinshin/F-3 fighter downing a Chinese J-20 fighter. Netizen reactions ranged from nationalistic to bemused. Of more interest however is the article the image was taken from, which depicts an indigenous...
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SDF Considers Use of US Philippine Bases
While Japan participates in a Command Post Exercise in the Philippines, the US and Japanese governments consider future access and joint use of Philippines bases for training
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JSDF on 2012 Asia – Pacific Humanitarian Mission
Japan will once again send ships and personnel to an annual U.S. – led humanitarian and civic action program. Japan will send the landing ship, tank JS Oosumi, two Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) and twenty medical personnel to Pacific Partnership 2012. The Japanese medical personnel will serve on the mission command ship, the hospital...
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Ishihara Shintaro Proposes the Purchase of the Senkaku Islands
Edited to provide updated information. In a deliciously interesting and mildly deranged proposal, Ishihara Shintaro has while in Washington told (日) the Japanese press that he is going to try and go forward with an idea to purchase the Senkaku Islands using Tokyo-to money. While technically part of Okinawa territory, the islands are actually owned by...
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MSDF Helicopter Crashes into Sea, Pilot Missing
MSDF Seahawk goes down in Mutsu Bay, Aomori, after hitting the port-side of the Matsuyuki. Pilot is missing and the vehicle is lost.
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How to solve ‘Okinawa’ and other issues
If you speak to certain Japanese security experts (ie Japanese persons), particularly those that are unrepentant supporters of the US-Japan alliance, you will often hear that there are only two options for the resolution of the Futenma impasse – either the Henoko base is built, or all US Marines go home. And of course this...
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JSW on Bloomberg (April 10th)
James Simpson on Bloomberg TV
I was invited to give a few comments on Bloomberg’s ON THE MOVE ASIA with Rishaad Salamat to discuss David Cameron’s visit to Japan and the tie-up of British and Japanese defense development. I’d like to thank the staff at Bloomberg’s Asia Offices in Hong Kong for the opportunity. It was a great experience.
Thin Pinstriped Line on Anglo-Japanese Defense Industry Cooperation
For a better analysis of what the recent news on the possibility of Japan and Britain developing defense industry ties, check out the following post by British blogger “Sir Humphrey”:
That said, it is important to be realistic about how much can really be achieved by the signing of this accord. This authors strictly personal view is that it is going to be unlikely to see Japan shifting allegiance to the Eurofighter, and ditching its F35 buy. Indeed, the likelihood of Japan purchasing Eurofighter was always slim, when one considers that the near entirety of the Japanese military is either sourced from US derived designs, or designed to operate with the US.Even so, there is the possibility of lower level co-operation which could lead to mutual projects of interest, but again it is unlikely to see the Japanese buying into the T26 design. The Japanese have their own national ship design capabilities that they would wish to protect, and its unlikely that their government would willingly sacrifice this hard won capability in order to buy into the T26. What is more likely is the possibility of co-operation in either weapons or ancillary materials – for instance engines or propulsion systems.
