The MSDF and Japan Coast Guard are in talks to push retiring Hatsuyuki-class destroyers into service patrolling the Senkaku islands to cover a shortage of mid-term vessel numbers.
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New Minister and a Change of Pace at Ichigaya
Incoming Defense Minister Onodera's foreign policy background and Ichigaya's new breeze of life over the New Year.
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RUSI Japan
Nothing of substance right now, although there is much to talk about. M.Taylor Fravel has a great post up that reflects a lot of my own thoughts and apprehensions on issues regarding the current Senkaku conflict.* It seems to be reviving for the third time this year after having been pronounced dead twice. Essential reading also includes...
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On the Misuse of the Reconstruction Budget
James Simpson takes issue with the reporting of misuse of reconstruction budget funds by the Ministry of Defense.
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Key Figures from the MoD FY2013 Budget Request
The Ministry of Defense publishes its FY2013 budget appropriations request including several previously unreported figures.
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Time For a Reform of the SDF Reserves?
Only 17.1% of reservists were able to be called-up following the March 11th Earthquake. With the Finance Ministry looking to cut the fat, is it time to take another look at the Reserves?
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Tanaka Out, Morimoto In: Noda’s 3rd Defense Minister
After 5 months of ineptitude, not all of it his own fault, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka - censured in the Diet - is replaced by Satoshi Morimoto. Is there a brighter future for Ichigaya?
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Japan-Australia Naval Exercises to Kick Off, June 4th
The coming week sees the kick-off of Japanese-Australian bilateral exercise Nichi Gou Trident 2012, soon followed by US-Japan-Australia trilateral exercise Pacific Bond 2012
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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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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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