Japan departs from pacifist stance, plans two aircraft
carriers
Perception of North Korean threat may have led to decision
By Richard Halloran
HAWAII - The Japanese navy is preparing to build two small aircraft
carriers, its first in more than 60 years, according to Japanese
and United States officials.
The plan is further evidence that Japan is departing from its
pacifist post-World War II Constitution that restricts its military
to self-defence.
The carriers can be deployed as command ships in a task force to
give the Maritime Self-Defence Force, as the Japanese navy is
called, a modest ability to project power into the sea-lanes that
are vital to Japan's trading economy.
That capability is likely to draw protests from China, North Korea
and South Korea, which were invaded by Japan during World War
II.
Tokyo's decision to go ahead with the aircraft-carrier plan is
believed to be prompted by its perception of an immediate threat
from North Korea and a longer-term threat from China.
In its 2003 White Paper on defence published last week, the
Self-Defence Agency asserted in more forceful terms than in earlier
versions that the nation must build up its fundamental defence
capabilities to ensure its independence.
In that respect, Japan is on the verge of building a missile
defence. It has also just launched a second pair of intelligence
satellites to watch North Korea.
Tokyo also recently passed laws giving the Self-Defence Forces
wider latitude in defending their homeland.
Funds for the first small carrier have been included in Japan's
defence budget for fiscal year 2004, beginning April 1 next year.
The second carrier is scheduled for fiscal year 2005.
Japanese naval officers are calling the new ships 'destroyers'
instead of 'aircraft carriers' in an effort to avoid triggering
opposition from those against enhanced defence in Japan as well as
from China and the two Koreas.
Yet drawings of the warship show the flat deck of an aircraft
carrier and an 'island', or command structure, at the starboard or
right edge of the deck.
Moreover, officials familiar with the ship's design said the deck
and hangar below are capable of handling aircraft such as the joint
strike fighter being developed by Lockheed Martin, a leading US
defence contractor. That fighter, also called the F-35, is
scheduled to go into production in 2008 just as the first Japanese
carrier is ready for sea.
The F-35 will be a supersonic warplane capable of flying at 1 1/2
times the speed of sound. It will also incorporate stealth
technology to enable it to evade radar detection.
The Japanese vessels will be comparable in size to Spain's
16,700-ton Principe De Asturias, which carries 17 planes.
The plan calls for equipping the carriers with new SH-60 Seahawk
helicopters, which are designed to patrol the ocean, to detect
submarines, and to protect the fleet.
The first ship is to be commissioned in 2008, the second in 2009.
Two more may be built later.
An earlier proposal by the Self-Defence Forces to buy 'jump jets',
that can fly as fighters or bombers, for four 14,700-tonne assault
ships ran into political opposition. But that was before Japan got
worried about North Korean missiles and nuclear arms.
------------------------------------------------
Oh well. . . not totally unexpected. . . but how soon will it be
before the japs start thinking abt expansion again. . . haiz. .
.
