Japan spots Chinese Warships

sumdud said:

It is much better to have Japan as a friend than an enemy. Yes.........*sigh*

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Irrespective of what else might be said, the greatest example of turning former enemies into strong and productive allies is the US. Germany, Japan, Spain...even England. All were mortal enemies to the US at one time or another, now they are among the US's strongest allies.

There are others at various stages along that path.

How long that will hold is yet to be seen. But it is nevertheless the facts of the matter at this point in history.

Jeff Head said:

Irrespective of what else might be said, the greatest example of turning former enemies into strong and productive allies is the US. Germany, Japan, Spain...even England. All were mortal enemies to the US at one time or another. They and many more are now among their strongest allies.

How long that will hold is yet to be seen. But it is nevertheless the facts of the matter at this point in history.

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My son that's in the Navy has trained numerous JMSDF sailors on advanced sonar. He says those fellows are squared away. And the JMSDF has almost the same ASW capablity as the USN.

The JMSDF is very capable.

The thing is that if a conflict between Japan and China would beocme a full-scale war, neither one would probably be able to invade the mainland of the other one. This means that they would fight using only air and sea assets, which are the areas where Japan has the better assets.

bd popeye said:

He says those fellows are squared away. The JMSDF is very capable.

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Yes...arguably the second most powerful navy in the world at this time.

well, isalnd nations do need huge navies to protect themselves. but lpds...definitly not something of a defensive nation. also, if china builds an lpd, thet would mean japan has no right to complain.

Well MIGleader, the world doesn't work that way Any time someone builds something that there is an even remotly chance that it can be used against someone else, that 'someone else' will start quarreling and claiming that it is an aggressive act. Although I agree that some of the ampphibious assets in the region seems a bit unneccesary...

Lavi said:

Well MIGleader, the world doesn't work that way Any time someone builds something that there is an even remotly chance that it can be used against someone else, that 'someone else' will start quarreling and claiming that it is an aggressive act. Although I agree that some of the ampphibious assets in the region seems a bit unneccesary...

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both japan and sk operate or plan to lpds. and the japnese and koreans have aegis warships too. they cant really complain. i dont either would want to, becaue of their extensive economic realations with china.

taiwan might complain, but whod care?

Currently, Japan has the second strongest navy in the world. Behind only the US. Unless of course you are including nuclear options in your naval comparisons. In that case China, India, Russia, Britain, France, and even Israel have a strategic naval superiority over Japan.

But if you presume nukes are for deterrrence only, then Japan has the second strongest navy in the world. Japan has a large surface fleet, some of the best naval technology, and extremely well trained crews. Don't let the innocuous name 'self-defence force' fool you.

China's navy is still in a massive transition phase. They have recently retired all their Whiskey class submarines, and are still phasing out large numbers of Romeo class submarines. These old noisy obsolete subs are worthless in attack, but they do provide China with patrol services and require diversion of enemy resources for tracking. As China continues to replace them with new advanced subs, China's submarine fleet has grown smaller and more lethal. There is no actual naval buildup in terms of numbers. China's fleet is actually shrinking. But once the old junk is completely decommissioned (in about ten years) there will be a buildup, and it will be of a very potent variety.

Fairthought said:

There is no actual naval buildup in terms of numbers. China's fleet is actually shrinking. But once the old junk is completely decommissioned (in about ten years) there will be a buildup, and it will be of a very potent variety.

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In terms of raw number, this is true. In terms of actual, ongoing shipbuilding, the PLAN is building more rapidly than any other country at this time, and perhaps more rapidly than at any time since World War II.

MIGleader said:

both japan and sk operate or plan to lpds. and the japnese and koreans have aegis warships too. they cant really complain. i dont either would want to, becaue of their extensive economic realations with china.

taiwan might complain, but whod care?

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That's exactly what I meant, Japan I can understand, being an island nation means that it might be good to make amphibious landings, but South Korea? Maybe planing a new Inchon-landing in case of war with the DPRK? Btw I don't think South Korea has any Aegis-ships.