Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Obvious material here ... Japan explores war scenarios with China (The Diplomat, Flashpoints blog)

From Aviation Week Japan Eyes Defense Changes Sep 2, 2007 By David A. Fulghum U.S. military operations have centered on the Middle East and Southwest Asia for most of the last two decades. The result is a myopic focus on combat against insurgents and terrorists. But the Western Pacific and Eastern Asia offer another concern. Some of the world’s largest, economically fastest-growing and most industrialized nations are beginning to develop and flex their military muscle. The question for the U.S. and its partners, in particular Japan, is how to keep a lid on political tensions and the impulse to use military force to solve problems of state. Here, in a special rep…

From Flight International DATE:10/09/07 SOURCE:Flight International Japan to halt AH-64D Apache orders after 13th airframe By Seiji Hirokawa Tokyo's planned final purchase of one Fuji Heavy Industries/Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter in fiscal year 2008 will halt orders of the type for Japan's army after just 13 airframes way short of the 60 originally sought to replace the service's current Fuji Heavy Industries/Bell AH-1S fleet. The decision to stop Apache orders has been taken due to the type's high unit cost, and as a result of Japan's annual procurement model, under which the nation would take around 20 more years to complete its plann…

From Flight Global [excerpt] Contenders are Super Hornet, JSF and Eurofighter Typhoon.

From Defence Talk Japan Launches First Defense Ministry Since WWII Agence France-Presse | Jan 10, 2007 Tokyo (AFP): Japan launched its first full-fledged defense ministry since World War II on Tuesday as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to build a more assertive nation. Abe, Japan's first premier to be born after the war, made the creation of a defense ministry one of his top priorities. He aims eventually to rewrite the US-imposed 1947 constitution that declared Japan a pacifist country. "Since the Cold War ended, the national security situation facing Japan has changed dramatically," Abe said at a ceremony to mark the creation of a cabinet-level …

Looks like excellent scenario fodder for any Japanese "resurgence" backgrounds. :smoke: Japan Losing Military ‘Allergy’: Top Officer By ISABEL REYNOLDS, REUTERS, TOKYO DefenseNews Japanese are developing a new respect for their country’s armed forces, in stark contrast to the distrust that prevailed for decades after defeat in World War Two, the military’s new chief of staff said on May 12. Hajime Massaki, 62, was appointed to the newly created post in March in an attempt to draw together the air, sea and ground branches of what Japan calls its Self-Defense Forces and make them more effective. Massaki, a native of the southernmost main island of …

From Reuters [excerpt]

http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2013/06/04/japan-mulls-a-preemptive-strike-capability/ (The Diplomat, Flashpoints blog)

Japan mulls F-15MJ upgrade (Jane's)

From Flight International DATE:31/07/07 SOURCE:Flightglobal.com Japan mulls over indigenous stealth fighter By Siva Govindasamy Japan has started a study to develop next-generation stealth technology, which if successful could lead to the production of its first indigenous fighter in almost 30 years and give it a long-coveted ability to counter China's growing air power. The study, however, could also be a way of putting pressure on the USA to release information about the Lockheed Martin F-22. Japan is one of the few countries that can afford the Raptor's $200 million price tag, but US Congress has banned export sales of the aircraft due to its use of secr…

From Defense Aerospace Breakthrough in Japan for Stirling AIP (Source: Kockums AB; issued July 11, 2005) Kockums has signed a contract with Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) concerning delivery of Stirling engines for Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems of Japan’s submarine programme. The order has been placed following several years evaluation of Stirling engines aboard the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) training submarine. Japan has decided to adopt the AIP system that is based on Kockums' Stirling engine technology for its new submarines. “We are very pleased for the new orders for Stirling engines from Japan, including our long-term …

From DefenseNews Japan Plans First Spy Plane to Watch North Korea By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TOKYO Japan plans to introduce unmanned spy aircraft to watch military bases in North Korea or other countries, letting Tokyo gather such intelligence on its own for the first time, a report said July 26. The Defense Agency will tighten its watch on North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan in 1998, regardless of the outcome of multilateral talks that began July 26 in China to end Pyongyang’s nuclear drive, the Tokyo Shimbun said. The agency will seek funds on the project for the fiscal year beginning in April 2006, the newspaper said, without citing sources. …

Japan Plans to Raise Military Budget Amid China Row (DefenseNews)

DefenseNews RIA Novosti

From Jane's Japanese MoD maintains plan to pursue F-22 By Jon Grevatt and Craig Caffrey 07 January 2009 The Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) has dismissed reports that it is prepared to drop plans to evaluate the F-22 Raptor fifth-generation air superiority fighter as part of its programme to procure next-generation (FX) fighters for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). Media reports from Japan have quoted government sources as saying that the MoD will abandon efforts to seek access to the aircraft's technologies and performance data in light of increasing budgetary pressures on the F-22 programme in the United States and the continuing ban on its exp…

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

From the australian ABC news service. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-05/australia-japan-navy-frigates/105613688?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Japan to Choose Osprey for China Defense? (The Diplomat)

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Japan To Formally Nationalize 280 Islands (The Diplomat, Flashpoints)