This the first post on Dawn Blitz; I’ll do a second at the conclusion of the exercises, or if something really interesting comes up. – KM I made a conscious decision to not attend Dawn Blitz 2013. I’ve covered a U.S. – Japanese exercise at Camp Pendleton before, and I had been frustrated by the...
Read more...
Problems piling up for the Japanese F-35 dream
The Yomiuri has published (j) a report worrying about the British Sunday Times’ revelation that BAE Systems internal network may have been hacked by Chinese spies and critical information on the F-35 fighter may have been lost. Both the UK and the US were targets of the attack. In particular there is concern that the advanced...
Read more...
Read more...
SDF to Straits of Hormuz?
The Japanese government is considering the possibility of an MSDF dispatch to the Straits of Hormuz, but it seems unlikely that they will agree to a deployment putting them up against Iran's navy.
Read more...
Read more...
Japan Echo Web: Behind the Scenes of Operation Tomodachi
Japan Echo Web translated an eye-opening interview with representatives of the GSDF and USMC covering the decision-making and background to the US relief mission following the Tohoku Earthquake.
Read more...
Read more...
On the Exercise in Kyushu, Okinawa
As media reporting on the current SDF exercises gets underway, the significant scale is clear to see as Japan charters private vessels to ferry troops and equipment and engages in exercises across Kyushu and Okinawa.
Read more...
Read more...
Natchan High-Speed Ferry: The SDF and the Use of Civilian Transportation
The movement of GSDF vehicles from Hokkaido to Kyushu demonstrates the utility of chartering civilian assets for military logistics, an issue very much in debate among Japan's defense experts
Read more...
Read more...
T-90s to Leave Higashi-Chitose for Oita Tomorrow Morning
A local Hokkaido newspaper reports on the very slow journey to be taken by Hokkaido's 7th Division Type-90 tanks and other armored vehicles as they make their way to Kyushu for a major exercise.
Read more...
Read more...
Hokkaido's Type-90 Tanks To Train in Kyushu
Japan's most controversial tank, the Type-90, is to take part in exercises in Kyushu. The tank is currently only deployed in Hokkaido and so must make the journey across the country along with over a hundred other vehicles.
Read more...
Read more...
SAPIO: Japanese ship already using PMCs for armed protection
SAPIO reports that Japanese companies are already using PMCs to provide security to their freighters. This article from the current print edition discusses how one shipping company views the security of their vessels and personnel.
Read more...
Read more...
The Price of Dinner in the MSDF
¥47 million down the drain as MSDF reconsiders its force-wide year-old nutritional management menu-planning software. Will heads roll?
Read more...
Read more...
The Diplomat: Train Japanese Forces Abroad
My proposal for shuttling Japanese air and ground forces to the U.S. for training, “Train Japanese Forces Abroad“, is up at The Diplomat. A solution to the training problem is to move the training grounds all the way across the Pacific, to the United States. The US has plentiful land for training air and ground...
Read more...
Read more...
Japan Wants to Send SDF Engineers to South Sudan
The Noda administration plans to send up to 300 engineers to the South Sudan, in a plan that will be announced next week in New York.
Read more...
Read more...
