Tokyo maintains a steady course on military spending
Tokyo’s latest defence procurements may not be expansionist but they do keep pace with Beijing’s blue-water capabilities, analysts say
Japan is quietly developing an array of "formidable" defensive and offensive military capabilities within easy reach of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, according to an analysis by .
In its latest issue, the magazine reports that while much has been made of China's efforts to develop a blue-water capability for its naval forces - which includes the completion of its first aircraft carrier, plans for two nuclear-powered carriers and the ramping up of construction of nuclear submarines - there have also been significant advances in Japan's military resources.
As recently as October of last year, Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Forces were described as a cold war navy designed mainly to fill holes in the coverage provided by the US Navy.
In an interview with the magazine, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of staff of the MSDF, emphasised efforts to improve Japan's mine-sweeping capabilities; procure a 5,000-tonne anti-submarine destroyer and two long-range maritime patrol aircraft; and significantly upgrade the navy's command, communications and intelligence-gathering systems.
"So far, so low key: no one could accuse the JMSDF of an expansionist agenda - just a steady ramping up of the 'defensive-minded' capabilities at which it already excels," said. But there was a more "proactive stance" in some of Tokyo's most recent purchases and its military drills, it added.
Most glaring of these additions are two "22DDH" helicopter carriers, the first of which is scheduled to be operational in 2015. At just under 250 metres with a displacement of 27,000 tonnes, these vessels are significantly larger than the 19,000-tonne, 197-metre Hyuga-class helicopter carriers that are now Japan's biggest warships.
