Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Japan to host nuclear U.S. carrier The Navy says the move is unrelated to efforts to base such a vessel in Hawaii By Gregg K. Kakesako gkakesako@starbulletin.com The Pentagon's decision to locate a nuclear aircraft carrier in Japan for the first time is not related to the ongoing campaign to home-port one at Pearl Harbor, Navy officials said yesterday. Pacific Fleet spokesman Jon Yoshishige said no decision has been made on whether the Navy will base a nuclear aircraft carrier in Hawaii. The Navy announced yesterday that the USS Kitty Hawk -- one of its two remaining non-nuclear carriers -- will leave Yokosuka in 2008 and be decommissioned. It will be repla…

Japan To Vote On Modifying Pacifist Charter Written By U.S. By Norimitsu Onishi TOKYO, May 14 — The Japanese Parliament passed a bill on Monday calling for a national referendum on amendments to the country’s pacifist Constitution. The government will be able to hold the referendum as early as 2010, but experts say it may take far longer than three years to persuade voters and opposition lawmakers to back constitutional change. Polls show that Japanese remain split, especially on the Constitution’s Article 9, which renounces war and forbids Japan to have a full-fledged military. But Parliament’s action was an important preliminary step toward rewriting the…

Japan, U.S., India to hold joint naval drill The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Apr 3, 2007 9:32:29 EDT TOKYO — Japan, the U.S. and India will hold their first three-way naval drill later this month, a Japanese defense official said Tuesday, amid efforts by Tokyo to boost ties with the region’s naval powers. An Indian missile ship, two U.S. destroyers and three escort ships of Japan’s Self-Defense Force were among the vessels slated to take part in the joint exercise off Chiba prefecture on Japan’s eastern coast on April 16, according to defense official Yoshihito Fukabori. The drill, which Fukabori described as a goodwill exercise, will consist of bas…

From Defence Talk Japan says it can go nuclear but won't Agence France-Presse Oct 31, 2006 - 5:28:02 AM TOKYO: Japan said Tuesday it has the legal right to develop nuclear weapons despite its pacifist constitution but has no intention even to consider the long-taboo idea. Prominent lawmakers have called on Japan, the only nation to suffer nuclear attack, to debate the nuclear option after communist neighbor North Korea on October 9 said it had tested its first atom bomb. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki argued that the US-imposed pacifist constitution allows Japan "the right to possess minimum capability" for self-defense. "Theoretically and…

From Defense Aerospace Details of New Japanese 'Helicopter Destroyer' (Source: Forecast International; issued June 17, 2010) TOKYO --- Rumors that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's third "aircraft carrying destroyer" would mark a major improvement in size and capability over the Hyuga class ships now entering service have been confirmed. The new 22DDH will be 248 meters long and 39 meters in beam, and displace more than 24,000 tons. This makes her almost 50 percent larger than the Hyuga class and places an unbearable semantic strain on the use of the term "destroyer" to describe these ships. To put the size of the ship into context, she is comparable wi…

I found this episode of Wide Angle in the Notes of a wiki page linked from the HULL mailing list. There apparently is a Public Broadcasting System program called Wide Angle. Around July 2008, this episode aired, I viewed it in ints entirety this morning. Here is a link - Japan's About Face. It looks at the ongoing Japanese constitutional debate over the role of its Self Defense Forces. At the heart of the debate is Article 9 of their constitution - their "Constitutional Problem". It looks at cadets and instructors at their military academy, members of the powerful Japanese pacifist-peace movement, general citizens (many have no idea that they even have a self …

Japanese Navy Unveils Biggest Warship Since WWII

From DefenseNews Japan’s Missile Defense System Far from Readiness By ISABEL REYNOLDS, REUTERS, TOKYO While the world keeps a wary eye on signs of a possible North Korean missile test, Japan, perhaps the most nervous of the communist state’s neighbors, remains years away from completing a planned missile defense system. Many experts have cast doubt on the effectiveness of such an interceptor system even when it is fully deployed. Unnerved by North Korea’s 1998 launch of a ballistic missile, part of which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, Tokyo agreed to introduce elements of the U.S. missile defense system, but the installation process is far fro…

From Flight International DATE: 03/04/09 SOURCE: Air Transport Intelligence news Japanese carriers change flightpaths to avoid North Korea missile By Leithen Francis Japanese carriers are changing flightpaths to Europe and Hawaii in response to North Korea's planned missile launch later this month. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) have announced that all flights to Europe and Hawaii will operate on a different flightpath for the period 4-8 April. This is in response to the planned launch by North Korea, the carriers say. ANA operates to London, Paris and Frankfurt; while JAL operates to Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Milan and London. Nor…

Japanese Mayor Drops Opposition to US Carrier By Steve Herman Tokyo 14 June 2006 VOA After initially expressing strong opposition to the U.S. Navy's plan to base a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in their community, leaders of the city of Yokosuka have reversed course, to the relief of the U.S. and Japanese governments. Speaking to the Yokosuka municipal assembly, Mayor Ryoichi Kabaya said he has concluded it would be futile to try to stop the USS George Washington aircraft carrier from being based in the port city. The mayor says Yokosuka must face the reality that having a nuclear-powered carrier at its port cannot be prevented. Nuclear-powered ai…

A short but concise article in Mer et Marine (in French) about the Japanese Navy as fourth world navy, by Bernard Prézelin, editor of Combat Fleets of the World: http://www.meretmarine.com/fr/content/focus-la-marine-japonaise-la-4eme-place-mondiale

Reading the recent news report about the finding of the japanese submarines I-201 (advanced faster than Type XXI) and the seaplane-carrying I-14 (both and others sunked by the USN after the war in 1946, near Hawaii): http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...rai+subs++found http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/science/13wreck.html?_r=2 Some basic facts in the Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-201_class_submarine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_submarine_I-14 I've find in the Wikipedia references about this strange and intriguing film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_and_High_Water_(film) May be somebody can imagine a scenario based in the film

From Air Force Times Japan fires AF head for World War II essay By Shino Yuasa - The Associated Press Posted : Friday Oct 31, 2008 14:46:14 EDT TOKYO — Japan’s defense minister dismissed his air force chief on Friday for writing an essay that claimed the country was not an “aggressor” in World War II and was trapped into getting involved in the conflict by the United States. Toshio Tamogami’s essay will likely upset relations with China and South Korea, who remain bitter about Japan’s wartime occupation and say Tokyo has failed to properly atone for its invasion of the Korean peninsula, Taiwan and parts of China. “His views are different from the governm…

From Aviation Week At Matsushima: 18x F-2B fighter trainers, only 6-9 of which might be capable of being repaired 5x UH-60J helicopters 5x T-4 jet trainers 2x Hawker 800XPs

From eDefense JASSMs to Fly on Australian F/A-18s Source: Australian Department of Defense Feb. 28, 2006 Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) has been selected as the new long-range air-to-surface missile to equip the Australian Defense Force's F/A-18 Hornet fleet. The acquisition of long-range missiles does not represent a change in Australia's defense posture and capability planning. Acquiring a long-range air-to-surface missile has been publicly listed in Defense Capability Plan since 2001 and specific details were announced in August 2004. The missile is planned to be operational on the aircraft by December 2009. The intro…

For all of your Senkakus scenario needs. JGSDF Type 88 missile launchers deployed for exercise (Jane's)

From Defense Aerospace More Reason to Release the Air Combat Capability Review (Source: Australian Liberal Party (Opposition); issued Sept. 12, 2008) Lockheed’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has flown into a storm of controversy in Australia and the Netherlands, amid reports it was comprehensively defeated by Sukhoi Su-35s in a wargame. The dangers of having an indecisive Defence Minister became more apparent last night when Mr Fitzgibbon validated the flimsiest of rumours about the Joint Strike Fighter. Instead of jumping at shadows, Mr Fitzgibbon should immediately release the Air Combat Capability Review so we can see what Australia’s defence experts reall…

These things are pretty cool: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K9_Thunder

Australia Sells Amphibs for Scrap (DefenseNews)

Keating: China could join 1,000-ship navy By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Jul 25, 2007 9:21:49 EDT The Chinese navy could eventually become part of what Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen envisions as the “1,000-ship navy,” Pacific Command head Adm. Timothy Keating said Tuesday. At a question-and-answer session at a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a public policy research group, Keating said that maritime cooperation with China is important, saying he recently met with Chinese defense officials. He acknowledged that China could eventually become part of the “1,000-ship navy,” but he said chall…