Category: Japan

There may be only 300 JSDF personnel involved with this exercise, but the fact it is happening in the southern Ryukyus is sending a strategic message to China. The southern Ryukyus are the weak point to any Chinese blockade of Taiwan that the Japanese have been busy fortifying with both offensive and defensive fires over the past three years:

The Japanese army’s highest operational command will focus on remote southwestern islands near Taiwan for the first time in training that includes command-and-control drills with U.S. Marines. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Ground Component Command will practice deploying troops and transporting supplies in the Nansei Islands from May 17 to 22, according to a Ministry of Defense news release April 24.

The Nansei chain, also called the Ryukyus, includes Okinawa and stretches from Kyushu to Taiwan. The exercise will primarily take place on Ishigaki, Yonaguni and Miyakojima. About 300 Japanese soldiers from all regional armies will participate, a Ground Staff spokesman said by phone Tuesday.

Stars & Stripes

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Here is an example of the Japanese defense industry expanding into export markets:

Australia will purchase 11 Japanese-built Mogami-class frigates, with the first delivery expected in 2029, officials from both countries announced, underscoring growing defense ties amid concerns about China’s military expansion. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi unveiled the deal Saturday aboard the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force frigate JS Kumano in Melbourne. The contract, valued at up to $10 billion, calls for initial ships to be built in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with later vessels potentially constructed in Australia by Austal, according to Australian government statements.

Stars & Stripes

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It looks like South Korea could soon have a competitor in the competitive global arms industry:

“Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling party approved the changes this week as she tries to invigorate the pacifist country’s military industrial base. Her government will formally adopt the new rules as soon as this month, three Japanese government officials told Reuters.

Despite largely isolating itself from global arms markets since World ‌War Two, Japan spends enough on its own military – $60 billion this year – to sustain a sizeable defence industry capable of manufacturing advanced systems like submarines and fighter jets.

Among the potential new customers are the Polish military and the Philippine navy, which are undergoing modernization amid regional security challenges, according to Reuters interviews with Japanese officials and foreign diplomats in Tokyo. Defence contractors Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric (6503.T) are hiring staff and adding capacity to capitalise on demand, their executives said, providing previously unreported details.

One of the first deals Takaichi’s government will likely approve are exports of used frigates to the Philippines, which is locked in maritime confrontation with Beijing in the South China Sea, according to two of the Japanese officials. Reuters is the first to report the timeframe of the likely sale, which may be followed by missile defence systems, the officials said.

“Warsaw and Tokyo can help plug gaps in each other’s arsenals, cooperating in areas like anti-drone and electronic warfare systems, said Mariusz Boguszewski, deputy chief of mission at Poland’s embassy in Japan.”

Reuters

You can read more at the link.