
With an order of battle which includes more than 50 frigates and destroyers, and some 16 modern diesel-electric submarines, the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) is one of the world's largest naval forces.
The JMSDF is well-equipped with indigenously-constructed ships, and has ready access to modern US naval technology and doctrine. The Force, has, however, for many years been subject to the political constraints of the Japanese Constitution, which has confined it largely to defensively-oriented operations in Asian waters. These restrictions have made it very difficult for the JMSDF to fulfil its full potential, and any formal amendment to the Constitution may still be some years away.
The last decade, though, has seen the JMSDF increasingly engaged, in concert with foreign naval forces, in types of offshore operations which are permitted under the Constitution, namely anti-terrorist, anti-piracy deployments and logistical support of allied forces on combat operations.
Recent JMSDF activities have included the assignment of destroyers to international anti-piracy naval forces in the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Japanese tankers have refuelled warships operating in support of Coalition land operations in Iraq, while the JMSDF has also provided seaward security for the, strategically vital, US military base on the British colony of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean.
Expansion and modernisation of the JMSDF, meanwhile, continues apace, with the commissioning of new vessels, including guided missile armed destroyers equipped with the very sophisticated US AEGIS surveillance and weapon control system, as well as advanced diesel electric-powered submarines.
Most significant, though, is Tokyo's current project to equip the JMSDF with aircraft carriers. These ships, despite featuring full length flight decks, aircraft lifts and offset navigation islands, are dubbed "helicopter-capable destroyers", as the Japanese government fears that aircraft carriers may be defined as offensive vessels, and therefore prohibited under the Constitution.
The first JMSDF carrier, 'Hyuga', was commissioned last year. Sister ship 'Ise', currently in build at IHI Marine, Yokohama, is due to enter service in 2011. These 18,200-tonne,197-metre, gas turbine-powered warships are capable of operating ten aircraft, with embarked air groups made up of SH-60K anti-submarine, and MCH-101 minesweeping, helicopters.
Armament includes Sea Sparrow air defence missiles, the ASROC anti-submarine system and six torpedo tubes. Advanced FCS-3 phased array radar, is fitted, along a with bow-mounted sonar system. The ships will form the core of JMSDF battle groups, replacing the big destroyers 'Haruna' and 'Hiei' in that role.
Late last year, the Japanese Ministry of Defence (MOD) requested funds for two even larger "helicopter-capable destroyers". This project has cannily been dubbed 22 DDH by the MOD, in honour of the 22nd year of the reign of current Japanese ruler, Emperor Akihito.
These projected ships will have a length of 247-metres, a loaded displacement of about 24,000 tonnes and will carry about 20 helicopters. Armament will include advanced RAM air defence missiles.
The new ships will again replace two ageing big destroyers, 'Shirane' and 'Kurama', both of which, incidentally, are currently out of service as a result of accidents.
The JMSDF has been examining the possibility of acquiring shipborne fixed wing aviation capability for some years. It is, therefore, probable that the DDH 22 will eventually be fitted with a bow ski-jump take off aid, in order to operate the short take-off and landing version of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. Japan is likely to join the multi-national F-35 programme in 2011.
These new Japanese warships provide further strong evidence of the radical eastward shift of naval power, most powerfully illustrated to date by the massive upgrading of the Chinese and Indian fleets. There are a number of specific drivers of Japan's naval expansion programme, an important factor being the requirement for the JMSDF to be able to counter possible threats to the very extended energy supply routes which are vital to the Japanese economy.
Tokyo is seriously concerned about its sovereignty over a number of offshore areas, which are strategically significant; and in some cases, also abut maritime energy resources.
The Senkaku (Diaoyutai) islands are claimed by China and Taiwan, as well as Japan, ownership of Takeshima (Dokdo) island is contested by Tokyo and Seoul, while Russia disputes with Japan ownership of the Chishima (Kurile ) islands.
Particularly important, though, is the Tokyo-Beijing rivalry over ownership of gas reserves which are believed to be under the East China Sea and the adjacent Sea of Japan. A tussle over drilling rights and territorial delineation has been simmering for years, with access to up to 200 billion cubic metres of natural gas at stake.
The massive build up of China's naval forces, which includes the creation of both aircraft carrier, and ballistic missile submarine forces, is, though, the prime catalyst for Japan's carrier programme, given Japanese concerns over future Chinese naval dominance in Asia.
Tokyo's concerns are not, though, focused solely on China. The Japanese are also watching the emergence of South Korea as a maritime power to be reckoned with. Although Japan and South Korea share common security interests, and both countries retain very strong defence links with the US, historical tensions between the two nations persist.
The launch, in 2005, of the Republic of Korea Navy's (RoKN) 19,000-tonne landing platform (helicopter) 'Dockdo' was significant. This warship, which features a full length flight deck, is designed to embark up to 15 large helicopters, and has strong ocean surveillance, and command and control capabilities, in addition to its main amphibious warfare role. The choice of name for the RoKN's latest warship, predictably, drew protests from Tokyo. The RoKN has two sister ships in the pipeline.
North Korea, for its part, has a very large and active navy, but being made up largely of obsolete Soviet and Chinese-designed coastal warships, it poses little threat to the Japanese.
Tokyo does, though, have to put considerable effort into countering incursions by armed clandestine North Korean "fishing vessels". These vessels carry out espionage missions as well as engaging, in co-operation with Japanese organised crime, in the smuggling of narcotics and counterfeit cigarettes on a huge scale. There have been a number of confrontations, including firefights, between these craft and JMSDF, and Japan Coast Guard ships.
Russia also poses maritime security concerns for Tokyo. As well as the dispute over the Kuriles, there have been periodic spats between the two nations over fishing rights and the alleged dumping of Russian nuclear waste. Russia may set out to test Japan's resolve to back up its territorial claims and to protect its maritime resources.
A further probable motive behind Japan's aircraft carrier project is Tokyo's fear that political pressures will eventually force the withdrawal of the US Navy's Yokohama-based nuclear-powered carrier 'George Washington', potentially increasing Japanese maritime vulnerability.
Furthermore, Japan's long-term future as a world power depends on Tokyo being able to execute a maritime strategy that combines the safeguarding of vital energy and food supply lines, with the ability to take part in international security operations. Finally, Japan has been for some time under pressure, from Washington, to take up a role in international security that commensurates with the nation's wealth and military capabilities. The acquisition of deployable and sustainable, deep-sea aviation capability provides powerful evidence of the JMSDF's determination to assume such a role.
Trevor Hollingsbee