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Appix said:

U.S. and Japan to jointly stockpile munitions, including near Taiwan​

Shared use of facilities for contingencies raised at 2-plus-2

NEW YORK -- The U.S. and Japan are discussing stockpiling munitions in each other's defense facilities across Japan, including islands in Taiwan's vicinity, to prepare for contingencies, Nikkei has learned.

The issue of joint usage of facilities was discussed in last week's two-plus-two meeting of foreign and defense ministers. The ministers "committed to increase joint/shared use of U.S. and Japanese facilities, including efforts to strengthen Japan Self-Defense Forces' posture in areas including its southwestern islands," the sides said in a statement after the meeting.

Joint use of facilities includes the stockpiling of munitions and shared use of runways, according to a source familiar with the talks. "There was progress on this issue so it was written into the joint statement," the person said.

The southwestern islands, or Nansei Islands in Japanese, are a chain that stretches from the southernmost tip of Kyushu to the north of Taiwan. If realized, the allies would have stockpiles of munitions that can quickly be deployed and replenished in Taiwan's immediate neighborhood. The westernmost of the Nansei Islands, Yonaguni, lies 108 km from the east coast of Taiwan.

The U.S. military has relied heavily on precision-guided munitions in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as battling groups like the Islamic State. Combined with budget cuts, this has led to a shortage of munitions in the army, navy and air force.

Precision-guided munitions are also expected to play a pivotal role in any potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait. With an accuracy reportedly less than 3 meters, precision-guided munitions are seen as vital to breaking China's anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy, which seeks to keep American and allied forces out of the East and South China seas.

"Are there sufficient stockpiles of precision-guided munitions?" Jeffrey Hornung, a senior political scientist at Rand Corp., said. "Most critically, are the precision-guided munitions stockpiles located where the allies need them?"

For a Taiwan operation, "there is a need to ensure that stockpiles are established to support not just the initial onset of operations, but the subsequent forces flowing into Japan from the continental United States and Hawaii," he said.

The types of munitions that the U.S. military fears could fall short include Joint Air-to-Surface Strike Munition (JASSM), a 4.3 meter-long missile that can be carried on B-1 and B-52 bombers, Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) that is carried by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) that is designed to target enemy air defenses.

These three types of munition "are being procured in relatively small quantities, given their potential use rates in a high-intensity conflict scenario, along with the time it would take for replacement spent munitions once initial inventories are exhausted," a

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warned in June.

Defense budget cuts have affected procurement. In fiscal 2018, the U.S. military acquired 68,800 munitions for $4.6 billion. In fiscal 2021, that was down to 39,500 munitions for $3.8 billion. The fiscal 2022 budget request saw 16,700 munitions for $3.1 billion, according to a separate

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.

Japan, for its part, has been strengthening munitions quality, such as extending the range of its Type 12 anti-ship cruise missile to 900 km from 200 km. But the issue of quantity has taken a back seat.

Last week's U.S.-Japan two-plus-two was the first such meeting since March and was the first under Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took the post in October. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi met virtually with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The two allies agreed to cooperate on research to counter game-changing new abilities such as hypersonic missiles, which are hard to intercept with traditional missile defense capabilities.
One new area of joint research that was added to the two-plus-two talks was directed energy, which damages targets with highly focused energy, such as laser weapons. Seen as a crucial technology to shoot down drones and incoming missiles, "directed energy could also replace munitions and solve the shortage issue," the source said.

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Bellum_Romanum said:

This video makes part of the U.S. looks like a scene from a post-apocalyptic America. What the heck is happening here?

The comment below sums up my thoughts pretty well.

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AssassinsMace said:

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What? Do they think Chinese rare earth elements have secret surveillance devices in them like how they think Chinese COVID-19 tests can read people's DNA and transmit that information to China? They're either stupid or they see the American people as stupid. All it's going to do is cost the US more money.

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Phead128 said:

RE: NATO tanks vs. Russian tanks. So what if Russia can deploy tanks quicker? US/NATO can outlast Russia in a prolonged war, so even if NATO is much much slower to mobilize it's force, it will eventually bring overwhelming firepower at some point in the future. Never understood the point? Is it that Russia can win a quick war and NATO submit?

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pmc said:

I am not sure how Nato can prevail in long war if it cannot win short. modern engineering is very complex and not easy to maintain long term. Current West is built around German engineering/economics and seem not sustainable.

CEO of Siemens not only had to climb down on turbines but enhance investment. and this supposed to represent German engineering dominance.

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Phead128 said:

This is Jai Hind level of delusion. Russia can win a short war with NATO because SIEMENS turbines is shipped to Crimea? How are they even remotely related to each other?

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xypher said:

Yes, I am sure - either that or some white-washed Asian who drank too much of Western kool-aid.

Oh, stop. You started the whole thing with your bullshit generalizations about Asians and now you are offended at me doing some of that back to you & stating facts. Seriously? Don't dish if you can't take the heat, I am no boba liberal who is going to eat up "Asians are the most racist" fairy tales.

Back to topic:

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Inb4 Western propaganda outlets will churn out "Yes, 1.1 million people get infected with COVID daily in the US but ACKSHUALLY this is good" and "China detected record-breaking 100 infections, CCP is finished?".

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Bellum_Romanum said:

The U.S. has made the following attacks on China from the time of President Trump. Started the Trade War, Technology War by banning Huawei and the sale of semiconductors to China, Extortionist action by kidnapping the CFO of Huawei, initiated the Chinese witch hunt act investigating every Chinese academics and researchers that are employed in U.S. universities and companies for "spying"; banning or limiting the number of academic students from China into U.S. universities, black propaganda and destabilization programs in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; black propaganda calling the One Belt One Road Initiative insidiously as "DEBT TRAP" through innuendos and providing no evidence, Space banning of China through the denial of access with ISS, sabotaging the work and effort of CSA with ESSA on then GPS and many more.

But despite all of that lists I can cite it's China that's being accused and labeled as the destabilizing factor in it's own REGION according to the U.S. and it's perpetual lackeys including JAPAN.

The situation is such a sick joke. Japan is a JOKE. Where the heck is your BUSHIDO code. What a weak willed country.

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