Stretching The Meaning Of The Word ‘Defense,’ The Japanese Navy Mulls Land-Attack Mis

[Boats]

Stretching The Meaning Of The Word ‘Defense,’ The Japanese Navy Mulls Land-Attack Missiles For Its New Warships
By: David Axe - Aerospace & Defense News
Re: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...h=71ac5f3f1f2a

The Japanese navy already was planning to acquire two new giant missile-defense ships to replace unpopular land-based missile sites. Now it’s considering adding long-range land-attack missiles to the two ships, as well.

The plan is sure to be controversial. Japan as a matter of longstanding policy does not possess meaningful long-range offensive military capabilities.

Still, the idea makes military sense, even if the political logic is tortured.

The missile-defense ships are a new development. As recently as this summer, Japan planned to install two Aegis Ashore missile-defense systems in ground facilities on the country’s west coast.

An Aegis Ashore system takes the guts of a U.S. Navy destroyer—the radar, computers, vertical launchers and SM-3 missiles—and crams them into buildings.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency already has set up one Aegis Ashore in Romania and is building another in Poland. Aegis Ashore in theory can knock down incoming ballistic missiles from hundreds of miles away.

Communities around the planned Japanese Aegis Ashore sites objected to the prospect of spent rocket boosters raining down on their homes. With protests intensifying, the Japanese defense government canceled Aegis Ashore back in June.

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The government settled on a pair of warships as an alternative to the land sites.
Japan already has spent $300 million on two sets of Lockheed Martin-made LMT -1% SPY-7 radars for the ashore missile bases.

The SPY-7 is Lockheed’s answer to Raytheon’s SPY-6, an earlier version of which forms the basis of the Aegis combat systems aboard more than 100 American and Japanese warships.

The plan is to add the SPY-7 radars to a new wide-beam variant of the navy’s Maya-class destroyer displacing 11,000 tons of water while fully loaded. A Maya has 96 Mark 41 vertical-launch cells. A larger missile-defense variant of the class in theory could pack even more cells.

The missile-defense ships, each of which could cost $2.4 billion, would be optimized for station patrols, essentially sailing in a slow circle, watching and waiting for incoming ballistic missiles.

But there’s no reason they couldn’t also handle other missions. The Mark 41 is compatible with a wide array of missile types, including Tomahawk cruise missiles that can strike targets a thousand miles away or farther.

At present, none of Japan’s warships carry dedicated land-attack missiles. Article nine of the country’s constitution prohibits the offense use of military force, a tenet that military officials have interpreted to mean long-range land-attack capabilities are forbidden.

But in light of China’s growing military might and increasingly aggressive foreign policy, recent governments in Tokyo have begun to reinterpret article nine to allow more powerful offensive capabilities.

This reinterpretation underpinned the Japanese air force’s plan to equip upgraded F-15s with a long-range cruise missile. That plan is on the verge of collapse owing to funding shortfalls. Adding similar missiles to the new missile-defense ships could help to compensate.

There’s at least one way for the navy to head off the controversy that could result from a decision to arm the missile-defense ships for attacks on ground targets. The fleet could spin a land-attack capability as integral to the ships’ defensive mission.

That is, the new ships could strike enemy missile sites before they launch their rockets, thus preventing attacks on Japanese forces. That’s “missile-defense,” right?

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Personal note: Like I said on my recent postings there is an awful lot of movement of military hardware of late. Hopefully mostly to check-mate other's options or maneuvers?

Boats