Carriers boost Japanese naval capabilities

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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.  

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