Japan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Published on Mar 20, 2018
PACIFIC OCEAN (March 17, 2018) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer JS Ise (DDH 182) participate in a bilateral exercise in the Pacific Ocean. The Carl Vinson Strike Group is operating in the Western Pacific as part of a regularly scheduled deployment (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan M. Kinee/Released) 180317-N-MT837-0001

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Japan has launched its first full-scale amphibious operations unit as part of a sweeping reorganization of its ground force, but questions remain about equipment delays and future basing.

The 2,100-strong amphibious brigade is drawn from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Western Army’s infantry regiment stationed at Camp Ainoura in Sasebo, Nagasaki prefecture. It is tasked with retaking Japan’s southern islands, stretching southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan, in the event

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.

The new brigade — under the command of Maj. Gen. Shinichi Aoki, formerly the deputy chief of staff of the Western Army — will include an amphibious infantry regiment along with a landing unit. The latter will operate the AAV-7 amphibious assault vehicles currently used by the U.S. Marine Corps. Japan has ordered the vehicle for itself.

The unit will also be transported by JGSDF Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and the amphibious ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

However, the JGSDF is facing hurdles equipping its amphibious forces. It ordered 30 AAV-7s from BAE Systems and has an eventual requirement for 52 vehicles by 2020, with deliveries of the first vehicles starting in 2015. Production delays for the first 30 vehicles were caused by a fire at a BAE Systems subcontractor and a parts shortage. Japan’s Defense Ministry said in late 2017 that it expected half of the vehicles to be delivered by the end of March 2018 and the other 15 by the end of July 2018.

Meanwhile, the introduction of the Osprey into the JGSDF has also been delayed by arguments over where to base the tilt-rotor aircraft. Japan has ordered 17 Ospreys, with the first aircraft undergoing flight testing as of late 2017. Delivery is expected in autumn.

It had originally been planned to base the Ospreys at Saga Airport, about 40 miles east of the amphibious brigade’s base, but this has been

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on the part of the local government

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of Okinawa-based

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and overseas, along with the crash in January of a JGSDF Boeing AH-64D Apache attack helicopter into a house in the region.

In addition to the creation of the amphibious brigade, the recent restructure also sees the creation of a Central Command to better integrate the various JGSDF regional commands, as well as improve coordination with the maritime force and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

The restructure will also see the revamp of eight of 15 JGSDF divisions and brigades, which will see them being reorganized into mobile/rapid reaction units.

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Jura said:

well here she looks sturdy:

...

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Jeff Head said:

As ...

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Jura said:

just most recent pictures of my favorite class of warships (actually I joined the SDF, in Summer of 2013, to try find some more info about the Akizukis than available at JeffHead.com, not knowing Jeff was on the SDF, too anyway the Suzutsuki in India:

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Jura said:

hey Jeff thought you'd like this:

(source:

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)

I sure do
Dec 24, 2016

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The U.S. Air Force has said today that it will deploy the CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft to Japan this week, more than a year ahead of schedule.

In a statement issued earlier today, U.S. Forces, Japan, or USFJ, announced that five U.S. Air Force Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft are scheduled to arrive at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo later this week, ahead of the previously announced fiscal 2020 timeline.

The statement added that the early arrival of the CV-22s “in the Pacific Command Area of Responsibility addresses regional security concerns in line with the recently released 2018 National Defense Strategy and also provides a platform that can rapidly react to natural disasters or crises.”

The CV-22s will remain at Yokota for a short time before leaving to conduct training around the region for the next few months and will continue to operate from Yokota upon their return. A total of 10 aircraft are expected to be assigned to Yokota as part of a phased-basing plan over the next several years, according to USFJ.

The arrival of the CV-22s makes it the second unit operating the type permanently based overseas after the 7th Special Operations Squadron at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom, and marks the first time the Osprey will be based in mainland Japan. The Yokota-based Ospreys will join the two Marine Corps MV-22 squadrons currently operating in the region based from Marine Combat Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, south of the Japanese mainland.

The V-22 Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft that combines the vertical takeoff, hover and vertical landing qualities of a helicopter with the long-range, fuel efficiency and speed characteristics of a turboprop aircraft. The Okinawa-based Ospreys have been successfully utilized for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, most notably by rapidly self-deploying to disaster affected areas in Nepal and the Philippines without the need to be transported by ship.

Japan has also ordered 17 Ospreys to equip its newly formed amphibious rapid deployment brigade, with the first aircraft currently undergoing flight testing in the U.S. However, questions remain over the future basing of the Japanese Ospreys over safety concerns of the type.

Safety concerns have also dogged the deployment of the Ospreys in Okinawa, as well as local unhappiness over the disproportionate burden the island bears in hosting U.S. military bases compared to mainland Japan.

Despite these concerns, Richard Whittle, who has authored a book on the 25-year, $22 billion development of the Osprey, has previously been quoted as saying that the type “is really a safe military aircraft,” with a safety record better than the helicopters it replaced.

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The U.S.

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plans to deploy its

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variant to

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, Japan, in roughly the next three years amid reports the C-variant will achieve combat-ready status later than expected.

While the timeline is not set in stone, Carrier Air Wing 5 in the Pacific is expected to receive the

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sometime after 2021, Cmdr. Reann Mommsen told Military.com.

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The Navy "places its most advanced and combat-capable units in the forward-deployed naval force," she said in an email. "CVW-5 has the Navy's most lethal aircraft, including the most combat-capable

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strike fighters."

Mommsen said the first F-35C squadron will replace an F/A-18 Super Hornet squadron, which will return to the U.S.

When the transition is complete, CVW-5 will have a mix of fourth-generation Super Hornets and fifth-generation F-35Cs designed to take off and land on aircraft carriers.

"Like all fixed-wing squadrons in CVW-5, the F-35Cs will forward deploy to MCAS Iwakuni. This future upgrade will enhance the capabilities of the air wing and its mission to defend Japan and contribute to regional peace and security," Mommsen said.

The F-35C is not expected to reach initial operating capability until 2019, according to a report from Aviation Week.

Rear Adm. Dale E. Horan, commander of Carrier Strike Group 8,

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that the Navy needs to see a successful demonstration of the F-35's software during its Initial Operational Test and Evaluation trials before it can declare the C-variant combat ready.

The Lockheed Martin Corp.-made F-35 was expected to be ready for IOC sometime between August 2018 and February 2019,

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submitted to lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the Navy is also gearing up to replace its aging

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fleet aboard CVW-5 with new Navy CMV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, Mommsen said.

A "CMV-22B detachment is expected to replace the detachment of C-2A Greyhounds currently assigned to Carrier Air Wing 5 and

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," she said, adding that no decision has been made as to which base in Japan will receive the Ospreys.

The

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's version of the Osprey, the

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,

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of schedule.

A squadron of 10 Ospreys was due to arrive at

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in 2020, but five aircraft will first be based at U.S. Forces Japan under the accelerated move.

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Jura said:

cross-posting from V-22 Osprey Thread - News, Pics, Videos
:
US Air Force to deploy CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft to Japan early

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Japan on Saturday activated its first marine unit since World War Two trained to counter invaders occupying Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea that Tokyo fears are vulnerable to attack by China.

In a ceremony held at a military base near Sasebo on the southwest island of Kyushu, about 1,500 members of the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB) wearing camouflage lined up outside amid cold, windy weather.

“Given the increasingly difficult defense and security situation surrounding Japan, defense of our islands has become a critical mandate,” Tomohiro Yamamoto, vice defense minister, said in a speech.

The troops conducted a 20-minute mock public exercise recapturing a remote island from invaders.

The formation of the Japanese marine brigade is controversial because amphibious units can project military force and could, critics warn, be used to threaten Japan’s neighbors. In its post World War Two constitution Japan renounced the right to wage war.

The brigade is the latest component of a growing marine force that includes helicopter carriers, amphibious ships, Osprey tilt-rotor troop carriers and amphibious assault vehicles, meant to deter China as it pushes for easier access to the Western Pacific.

China, which dominates the South China Sea, is outpacing Japan in defense spending. In 2018, Beijing which claims a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea controlled by Tokyo, will spend 1.11 trillion yuan ($176.56 billion) on its armed forces, more than three times as much as Japan.

The activation of the 2,100 strong ARDB takes Japan a step closer to creating a force similar to a U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) able to plan and execute operations at sea far from its home base.

“They’ve already demonstrated the ability to put together an ad hoc MEU. But to have a solid, standing MEU capability requires concerted effort,” Grant Newsham, a research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies.

“If Japan put its mind to it, within a year or year and a half it could have a reasonable capability.”

Newsham, who helped train Japan’s first amphibious troops as a U.S. Marine Corps colonel liaison officer assigned to the Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF), said Japan still needs a joint navy-army amphibious headquarters to coordinate operations as well as more amphibious ships to carry troops and equipment.

Japanese military planners are already mulling some of those additions. Its Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) wants to acquire F-35Bs to operate from its Izumo and Ise helicopter carriers, or from islands along the East China Sea, sources have told Reuters.

The United States last month deployed its F-35Bs for their first at-sea operations aboard the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship, which is based in Sasebo. The Kyushu port is also home to Japan’s Ise and close to the ARDB’s base.

Separately the GSDF may acquire small amphibious ships up to a 100 meters (328.08 ft) long to transport troops and equipment between islands and from ship to shore, two sources familiar with the discussion said. Japanese ground forces have not operated their own ships since World War Two.

“The idea is to bring forces and gear on large ships to the main Okinawa island and then disperse them to other islands on smaller vessels,” said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

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