Prime Minister Kan Yoshihide instructed the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) on Nov. 28 during an inspection of the SDF to strengthen the land, sea, and air forces as one unit, in light of the increased importance of response capabilities such as space and cyber in Japan’s defense policy. He emphasized that “it is important to eliminate the vertical division of the organization and to take measures across the land, sea and air frontiers,” he said.
Kan spoke at an aviation review ceremony at the Air Self-Defense Force’s Iruma base in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, on the same day. He noted that the security environment in which Japan currently operates is becoming increasingly challenging. Kyodo News reported that this was Kan’s statement in consideration of the movements of North Korea and China. He then inspected the troops and sat in the cockpit of a retiring F-4 fighter jet for a photo op. The review ceremony was reportedly scaled down to prevent a neo-crowning epidemic, held without spectators, and the demonstration flight was canceled. According to the JASDF, this was the first time that the display flight was not performed, except for unfavorable weather conditions.
In his speech, Kan also mentioned the JASDF’s contribution to the response to the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where mass infections occurred, and expressed his expectations for future JASDF activities aimed at preventing the spread of the epidemic. He stated, “We are determined to host the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next summer as proof of humanity’s victory over the virus. It has also been revealed that the Japanese government intends to finalize guidelines for the construction of two new Aegis ships. According to a number of official sources, as an alternative to abandoning the “Land-based Aegis System” program, a land-based missile interceptor system deployed in the Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures, the Japanese government has begun coordinating on finalizing the guidelines for the construction of two new Aegis ships at a cabinet meeting. It is said that in order to reflect the plan in the next year’s defense budget, it is currently envisioned to be finalized in mid-December based on the agreement of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Gongmei Party.
It is estimated that the cost of introducing the two Aegis ships is 480 billion to 500 billion yen (about RMB 30.3 billion to 31.6 billion yuan) or more, which is expected to be higher than the land-based Aegis. With this, the total number of Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis ships will be 10. While securing crew members remains an issue, the Ministry of Defense is negotiating with the Ministry of Finance to extend the retirement age and expand the ceiling on the number of Self-Defense Force Aegis ships. As an alternative, a civilian vessel dedicated to intercepting ballistic missiles and an offshore platform similar to that for oil exploration are also considered options. It is known that at the LDP meeting on the 25th, support for the introduction of the Aegis ships was voiced one after another.
Recent Comments