U.S. turns to private Japan shipyards for faster warship repairs
The U.S. Navy is studying the use of Japan's private shipyards to maintain, repair and overhaul its warships in a bid to reduce servicing backlogs back home -- an idea that could expand to South Korea, Singapore and the Philippines.
If realized, the move would signal a new level of integration with allies and partners as the U.S. maneuvers in the face of a now-larger Chinese naval fleet.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel is leading the efforts, speaking with members of Congress and mobilizing embassy staff to reach out to the Japanese government, Nikkei Asia has learned.
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TWO key takeaways:
One - If private shipyards (or just about any civilian-owned shipyards, not just government-owned ones) from these countries agreed to conduct maintenance, repair and overhaul of US and allied warships during wartime, then China shall consider such moves as an equivalent of these countries declaring an all-out war against China. Therefore, these shipyards should be considered as legitimate military targets, and be promptly dealt with.
Strike these shipyards with missiles, block access to these shipyards with naval mines, or attack these shipyards with UUVs - Do whatever it takes to keep these shipyards out of reach of the allied naval vessels, grind their warships down and wear them out.
Besides, didn't a team of Chinese researches conducted tests on the demolition of ports two years ago? Should consider if such methods can be applied to shipyards as well:
Two - China currently has the largest shipbuilding capacity in the entire world. Time to prepare for such contingencies.
Right now, while China does have quite a lot of shipyards and dry docks that are capable of building and repairing ships of substantial size, yet only a couple of those shipyards are actually capable of dealing with military ships and submarines:
1. Jiangnan
2. Dalian
3. Hudong-Zhonghua
4. Wuchang
5. Huludao
6. Huangpu Wenchong
7. Guangzhou
Perhaps it's time to start rope all the other shipyards into China's ultimate all-out war effort. Key lessons from Allied Powers of WW2 must be learnt and put into practice.
With that being set, this means that while the aforementioned 7 shipyards can focus on building and repairing larger, more expensive, more important and more powerful warships:
1. Supercarriers i.e. 004, 005;
2. Larger amphibious assault ships i.e. 071, 075, 076;
3. Destroyers i.e. 055, 052D, 05X;
4. Frigates i.e. 054B;
5. Nuclear-powered submarines i.e. 093B, 095, 096;
6. Larger replenishment ships, supply ships & tankers i.e. 903A, 901; and
7. Larger U(C)SVs and U(C)UVs;
etc -
In the meantime, civilian shipyards can be ordered to build and repair smaller, cheaper, less important and less powerful warships - especially those considered war-expendable:
1. Escort (ASW) carriers i.e. 07X;
2. Escort (ASW) surface ships i.e. 056A;
3. Patrol crafts & missile boats i.e. 022;
4. Conventional-powered submarines i.e. 039C, 041;
5. Smaller amphibious assault ships i.e. 072A, 073A, 726, 728;
6. Smaller replenishment ships, supply ships & tankers i.e. 904A; and
7. Smaller U(C)SVs and U(C)UVs;
etc.
Leveraging the power of the civilian shipbuilding sector to supplement the military shipbuilding sector shall bring enormous impacts onto China's sea-based warfighting effort in the IndoPac theater.