Japan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
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October 19th,2016
The name JS Asahi was christened when launched.
Thanks Samurai i have forget and seeing the pic i have posted thinking new !

The new destroyer JS Asahi DD-119 (25DD) has been launched today in Nagasaki.


It 's so much nicer to have a country that communicates especialy for fans passionate when we see an other :rolleyes:
 

Jeff Head

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000 170207-F-XA522-077.JPG

944th Wing said:
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- The first Japan Air Self Defense Force national representative to Luke took to the skies Feb. 7 during a mission five years in the making.

After several months of training, Lt. Col. Nakano, JASDF F-35A pilot, completed a solo sortie and hit a historical milestone for the JASDF and 944th Fighter Wing.

Nakano was sent off on his flight by a joint delegation from the 944 FW, Lockheed Martin, and Japanese staff.

“This is an historical event for JASDF and my career as a pilot,” said Nakano. “My first flight was perfect. The weather was fine, and the jet was great. I'll never forget this day.”

With the mission accomplished and the day behind them, JASDF personnel look ahead for the next milestone and advance in their mission at Luke.

“My goal is to stand up the first F-35 squadron in Japan as soon as possible,” continued Nakano. “In order to enhance the aircrafts capabilities, I have to be a more efficient F-35 pilot.”

The first F-35 mission with a JASDF pilot is the culmination of years of planning and hard work.

“To watch a Japanese fighter pilot fly Japan’s F-35, launched by a Japanese crew chief, saluted by Japanese maintainers, while supported by an elite team of American men and women on American soil, was surreal,” said Lt. Col. Sean Holahan, 944th Operations Group Detachment 2 commander.

Holahan flew alongside Nakano and guided him through the sortie.

“It’s hard to describe the deep pride we all felt while sharing this moment with our friends and allies,” continued Holahan. “It’s been nine years since the 944th has had jets on our ramp so this was a sight for sore eyes.”

Next week JASDFs fourth and final F-35 is scheduled to arrive at Luke and over the next year the 944 FW will train three classes of JASDF F-35 pilots and graduate several dozen JASDF maintainers.

In addition to the Foreign Military Sales mission led by the 944 OG/Det 2 Ninjas, Luke is scheduled to have six fighter squadrons and 144 F-35s. Over the next several years, Luke will be training FMS pilots from Japan, Israel and South Korea along with partner nations including Australia, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada.

...and the beat goes on!
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
I see it Asahi launched
JMSDF DD-119 Asahi (the left) and DD-178 Ashigara (the right), at Mitsubishi Factory, Nagasaki.

SamuraiBlue Janiz you have more infos lauched when video?
In service 03/2018, 2nd 03/2019
View attachment 36306
JS Asahi looks very similar to the Akizuki class...and she should, and is supposed to.

My understanding is that she is more ASW oriented as will he sister.

I am waiting to see her go out for sea trials and get some good pics of her underway!
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Exclusive: Japan to speed up frigate build to reinforce East China Sea - sources

Japan plans to accelerate a warship building program to make two frigates a year to patrol the fringes of the East China Sea, where it disputes island ownership with China, three people with knowledge of the plan said.

Japan previously was building one 5,000-ton class destroyer a year, but will now make two 3,000-ton class ships a year, beginning from the April 2018 fiscal year, the people said, declining to be identified as they are not authorized to talk to the media.

It aims to produce a fleet of eight of the new class of smaller, cheaper vessels, which may also have mine-sweeping and anti-submarine capability.

Naval shipyard operators including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan Marine United Corp (JMU) and Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding are expected to bid for the work, the people said.

Japan and China dispute ownership of a group of islands in the East China Sea, about 220 km (140 miles) northeast of Taiwan. In Japan, they are known as the Senkakus, while China calls them the Diaoyu islands.

Senior Japanese military officials have said they are concerned that China may seek to increase its influence in the East China Sea around Japan's southern Okinawa island chain. Japan provides military aid to Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines and Vietnam that oppose China's territorial claims in the neighboring South China Sea.

BUILD-SHARING

In a departure from normal procurement practice, Japan's Ministry of Defense said in a report published on Wednesday it will require the winner of the - eight frigate - contract to offer major portions of the build to other bidders.

The change is meant to ensure naval shipyards remain open

In the past two years, JMU has won contracts to build the larger Aegis-equipped destroyers, raising some concern among defense ministry officials that rivals could shutter their shipyards, one of the sources said.

"We need to ensure our ability to build naval vessels at home," the person said.

The new ships will cost 40-50 billion yen ($353-$443 million) each, another of the sources said.

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Much détails here FFG 30 DD surely replace last Hatsuyuki and FF Abukuma
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it's kinda interesting (dated February 17, 2017) Japan Goes Back To The Future With Lithium-Ion Battery Powered Submarines
For nearly a century, diesel-electric submarines relied on constantly charging traditional lead-acid batteries by running their diesel engines either on the surface or later on, while
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. This left them constantly vulnerable, as they could only hide deep beneath the surface for hours or a couple days at a time. Over the last few decades, Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology has revolutionized the traditional diesel-electric submarine Performance capabilities approaching the the domain of highly expensive and large nuclear submarines have became available for a fraction of the cost in the form of smaller, AIP equipped diesel-electric submarines. Now the diesel-electric submarine is on the verge of yet another revolution, one that will return to type to its original roots, relying on diesel engines and batteries alone to go about its clandestine business.

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describes an idea more than one strict submarine configuration. The same general concept can be achieved via multiple methods. The most modern versions range from
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, to the French MESMA (translated as autonomous submarine energy module) closed-cycle steam turbine system, to
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to power the submarine while it is submerged for long periods of time. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, with cost, complexity and technological risk being major factors beyond raw performance.

For instance, Sweden’s deadly but comparatively
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uses Stirling Engines for AIP, and although the technology is well proven and affordable, it also requires the boat to lug around liquid oxygen oxidizer, which can have its own dangers, as well as inert gas to mix with it. The Stirling engines and other infrastructure needed to make the system work, much of a relatively small submarine’s bulk gets taken up by the system. Additionally, Stirling Engine based AIP has many moving parts, which can make noise even when a high-degree of soundproofing is designed into the submarine.

The French MESMA form of AIP, as
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, is far more complex than the Stirling Engine AIP concept. It basically acts in a similar fashion as a nuclear reactor, although it uses ethanol and liquid oxygen combustion to generate steam, not a nuclear reaction, to spin a turbine and generate electricity. Once again, the boat has to lug around ethanol and volatile liquid oxygen as well as complex machinery—which produces noise—to make the system work, but it can produce a lot of power, which is good for high-speed operations. Cost is a major factor as MESMA is not a cheap technology to acquire or maintain.

Finally,
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, although very high-tech and not capable of quickly ramping-up its power output like say a MESMA configuration can, is very quiet as there are few moving parts in the system. It also is a very efficient system for long endurance missions. So if you don’t have to sprint very fast but have to stay silent and stealthy for long periods of time, the technology has huge benefits. It is thought that
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, of French origin, will use fuel cell AIP propulsion. These massive submarines will offer as close to nuclear propulsion capabilities as possible. Israel's
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also use fuel cell AIP, which makes sense as they work as Israel's second-strike nuclear deterrent.

All sensors and weapons being equal, a Navy has to justify what type of diesel electric submarine to choose based not just on cost but also on what type of tactics they aim to employ and what type of combat environment they are most likely to fight in. For instance, if long-range patrols and ambush tactics are common, along with the need for maximum stealth, fuel cell AIP technology may be best. If bursts of high-speed during attack and evasion maneuvers are needed often, along with high endurance, MESMA may be most appropriate. For shorter-range littoral combat operations, the Stirling Engine-based AIP technology may make the most sense. The thing is that with the large leaps in battery technology realized over the last couple of decades, AIP technology may soon face serious competition in the world of submarine warfare.

High-tech diesel-electric submarines may begin to return to their simpler roots as Japan is pioneering a concept today that aims to eliminate AIP altogether. Their next generation Soryu class diesel-electric attack submarines will be equipped with lithium-ion batteries, and just like submarines dating back before World War I, they will run undersea on battery power alone.

The Soryu class is already a very modern submarine, having been introduced into service just over a decade ago. As an outgrowth of the previous
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, these are not tiny boats, displacing 4,200 tons submerged and measuring 275 feet long, They are the largest submarines Japan has constructed since the end of World War II. They also feature an “X” tailplane configuration for extreme maneuverability in tight littoral environments.

Today seven boats are operational, all of which leverage Stirling Engine AIP technology licensed directly from Kockums—the same Swedish company that produces the Gotland class. Japan, an island nation with long and complex coastlines, uses its submarines to patrol its territorial holdings and to protect its shores. As such, the proven and affordable Stirling Engine-based AIP technology, paired with the class’s large size and ample fuel reservoirs, was a good, balanced fit for their needs. But now Japan wants to eliminate AIP technology altogether without losing its benefits, and in doing so free up room for other capabilities while also simplifying design, construction and sustainment of their future submarines. Above all else, this new configuration should result in quieter operation than most existing AIP capable submarines.

The idea is to install thousands of lithium-ion batteries along with powerful diesel engines and generators, as well as large exhaust and intakes stacks to accommodate them, into a tweaked Soryu design. A new power handling system that can deal with high power loads and optimize efficiency is also included in the concept. Basically, the configuration is similar to a standard diesel-electric submarine, that uses diesel engines and batteries alone for propulsion, but infused with new technology.

Lithium-ion batteries have a ton of advantages over their old-school lead-acid cousins. They keep up their output even when their charge runs low, they are lighter than lead-acid batteries, they can be charged exceptionally fast (hence the more powerful diesel engine and generators), and they can store much more energy. Compared to the AIP system they aim to replace, endurance should be similar, while the overall boat’s propulsion system design will be less complex and bulky. Not just that, but lithium-ion batteries can provide large output on demand, allowing the boat to dash mush faster while dived compared to one running on an AIP system.

The main downside to lithium-ion batteries is very well publicized: they are known to “runaway” and combust—exactly what you don’t want on a submarine. When they do so they produce very high heat, give off toxic fumes and expel conductive dust. They are also hard to extinguish using traditional means. But because weight is not as much of an issue on a large sea-going vessel, new methods of abatement can be put in place to lower the risk of a fire and its potentially catastrophic results.
goes on in the subsequent post due to size limit; source:
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continuation of the post right above
Suppliers are working with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force to overcome these concerns by building larger lithium-ion cell matrices with reinforced boundaries and enhanced chemistry that is less susceptible to these types of events. Extensive short-circuit, saltwater intrusion, drop and impact testing has also been done to certify the batteries for such critical use. Also, a specialized fire extinguishing system will be installed aboard advanced Soryu boats to neutralize a fire quickly and automatically in its battery compartments should one occur.

Lithium-ion batteries have had their problems
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and
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, but Japan is investing billions into making the technology work, with the last three Soryu class boats being earmarked for lithium-ion propulsion. The seventh boat in the class, which is in the water now, may also use lithium-ion batteries, although it may be in combination with the four Stirling Engines found on earlier models. This boat could act as a “bridge” between the new all lithium-ion battery configuration and the older AIP configuration and could also serve as technology demonstrator for fielding the new batteries on a smaller scale aboard a submarine.

With this new Soryu class configuration, Japan has the potential to raise their profile as builders of an excellent class of attack submarine to the realm of world leader in new conventionally-powered submarine technology. This could mean serious exports if the type proves to be reliable and safe.

Down the road, the success of Japan’s lithium-ion battery powered subs could also mean a large cut in price for their AIP-like capabilities. Not just that, but other configurations, where existing AIP technologies are paired with lithium-ion batteries could also emerge, offering the best of both worlds for some users. The pairing of lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells for instance could result in highly capable and versatile submarines that feature extreme endurance, very quiet operation, fast acceleration and high dash speeds. In fact, there are rumors that
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pairing lithium-ion batteries with its own AIP submarines right now. But such a hybrid design would come at greater cost and complexity than what Japan or most navies require.

The US Navy, which got out of the
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, has since experienced a submarine deficit, one that has no sign of abating. If Japan is successful in proving that higher-tech, yet simpler and possibly cheaper lithium-ion powered diesel-electric submarines can achieve similar or better performance as AIP equipped boats, all with less of equal acoustic signature as the best nuclear submarines, the US should move to adopt the technology.

The USS Blueback was the last diesel-electric submarine in the US Navy's fleet. For years it worked as aggressor boat, but by 1990 the Navy had moved on to an all nuclear submarine force. Blueback was featured in Hunt for the Red October and now resides at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry:

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, there is every reason for the US Navy to invest in diesel-electric submarines now that they have evolved so much over the last three decades. For so many missions, a nuclear submarine is not needed, and their massive infrastructure needs and security concerns makes forward basing them in foreign countries impossible. But now that AIP may not even be needed, the Navy could solve its attack submarine capacity woes by adopting Japan’s technology and building their own version of the advanced Soryu class under license. This would provide the highest-tech solution at the lowest possible cost. Roughly four Soryu class boats could be bought for the price of a single Virginia class SSN today. If a Soryu derivative were put into wider serial production, their price would drop event further. Sadly, the politics and special interests behind naval shipbuilding in the US, and especially submarine building, along with the Navy’s blind unwillingness to deviate from its nuclear only submarine strategy, makes such a logical proposition all but impossible to realize.

Regardless of the US Navy’s elitist obsession with keeping an all nuclear submarine force, it will be interesting to watch Japan as they move forward with fielding their first lithium-ion powered diesel-electric attack submarine. And don’t expect them to be shy about possessing such a capability. Once they have found the technology to be stable they will likely show it off in an attempt to offset their investment with export sales.
source:
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I didn't post the pictures from inside except
A diagram of the so called "Super Soryu" class of submarines that was intended to fulfill Australia's requirement for a new advanced attack submarine. It would have used lithium-ion batteries instead of AIP and many thought it was a favorite to win the tender. In the end
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concept that supposedly leverages fuel cell AIP technology. Considering the extreme range requirements that Australia puts on their submarines, it really is no surprise that even the enlarged "Super Soryu," which was designed for more territorial operations, was passed over:
 
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