Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force Archives

Japan Warns World Facing its Greatest Post-WWII Period of Crisis

28 July 2023

JS Suzutsuki conducted a bilateral exercise with the French Navy Charles de Gaulle CSG in the vicinity of Western Arabian Sea. JMSDF Photo

Japanese defense officials warned the international community is facing its greatest post-war trial and has entered a new era of crisis. At the same time, Tokyo identified China, Russia and North Korea as the countries that pose a threat to Japan, according to the “Defense of Japan 2023” white paper.

The release follows the latest revisions to the national...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/28/japan-warns-world-facing-its-greatest-post-wwii-period-of-crisis

Japanese MoD Report on Chinese Gray Zone, Influence Operations

28 November 2022

The following is the Nov. 25, report from the Japanese National Institute For Defense Studies, China Security Report 2023: China’s Quest for Control of the Cognitive Domain and Gray Zone Situations.

From the report

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the Party’s army. It follows the Party’s command and defines its most important role as protecting the Party’s regime. Until President Xi Jinping’s military reforms, the Party exercised control over the military mainly through the PLA’s political...

https://news.usni.org/2022/11/27/japanese-mod-report-on-chinese-gray-zone-influence-operations

Japan Set to Buy SM-6s in Potential $450M Deal, Says State Deptartment

21 October 2022

SM-6 launches from guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on Aug. 29, 2017. MDA Photo

Japan is set to be the first country after the United States to field the Standard Missile 6 as part of a proposed $450 million arms package, according to a State Department notification to Congress.

According to the Thursday notification, Japan was conditionally approved to buy up to 32 of the Raytheon-built SM-6 Block Is, pending congressional approval.

“The proposed sale will improve Japan’s Air Defense...

https://news.usni.org/2022/10/20/japan-set-to-buy-sm-6s-in-potential-450m-deal-says-state-deptartment

2022 Defense of Japan Report

24 August 2022

The following is the Japanese Ministry of Defense 2022 White Paper Defense of Japan released this week.

From the report

The international community is currently facing its greatest trial since WWII. It is not an exaggeration to say that we have entered a new period of crisis in the twenty-first century. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has shocked the world, with the loss of countless innocent civilians’ lives giving rise to deep indignation and grief. Such unilateral changes to the status quo...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/24/2022-defense-of-japan-report

Chinese Ships Spotted Near Senkaku Islands, India Takes Carrier Delivery

29 July 2022

Jandao-class small frigate (615). JSDF Photo

Three Peoples’ Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) hydrographic survey ships transited the Japanese Straits this week while a PLAN corvette sailed south past the Senkaku Islands last week, according to Japan Ministry of Defense releases.

On July 22, a PLAN corvette was sighted sailing about 50 miles west of Uotsuri Islands, part of the Senkaku Islands, according to the Japanese Self-Defense Force. Subsequently, the corvette sailed south between Yonaguni...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/29/chinese-ships-spotted-near-senkaku-islands-india-takes-carrier-delivery

Japan Announces Indo-Pacific Warship Deployment Ahead of U.S.-led RIMPAC Exercise

1 June 2022

JS Izumo (DDH-183) docking at the Port Klang Cruise Terminal, Malaysia during its 2019 Indo-Pacific Deployment. Dzirhan Mahadzir Photo

Four Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force warships will leave later this month for a four-month deployment throughout the Indo-Pacific region, Japan’s Ministry of Defense recently announced.

From June 13 to Oct. 28, Indo-Pacific Deployment 2022 (IPD2022) will involve three ships, a submarine and three fixed-wing aircraft from the JMSDF.

The deployment has two...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/01/japan-announces-indo-pacific-warship-deployment-ahead-of-u-s-led-rimpac-exercise

Japan Countering China’s Naval Build-up with Modern Fleet

12 April 2022

JS Maya(DDG-179) in Port of Kobe, Japan on Nov. 23, 2020. JMSDF Photo

Last month, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force commissioned JS Kumano, the first of its new Mogami-class multi-role frigates. The warship was built at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries facility in Tamano and is the first of a planned class of 22 ships that are destined to replace the fleet’s aging Abukuma-class destroyer escorts and Asagiri-class light destroyers.

Displacing about 3,900 tons, the new frigates have a low radar...

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/11/japan-countering-chinas-naval-build-up-with-modern-fleet

Russian Warships Shelling Towns Near Odesa as Naval Activity Increasers in Northern Black Sea

17 March 2022

Graphic by H I Sutton used with permission

Russian ships are shelling targets in the suburbs of Odesa as naval activity ticks up in the Black Sea, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

“We do see increased naval activity in the northern Black Sea,” a senior defense official told reporters on Wednesday.
We also have observed on our own the shelling of some town outside of Odessa near Odessa, but not in Odessa. We believe these are… from Russian warships in the Black Sea.

The official did not say if the...

https://news.usni.org/2022/03/16/russian-warships-shelling-towns-near-odesa-as-naval-activity-increasers-in-northern-black-sea

Navy, Marines Drill with Japanese Forces in Test of New Island-Hopping Concept

21 February 2022

Ships of the America and Essex Amphibious Ready Groups, and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, sail in formation with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force during exercise Noble Fusion on Feb. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy and Japanese Self-Defense Force teamed up in the Philippine and East China seas to test the ideas behind the Marines’ Force Design 2030 plan.

Noble Fusion, held in early February, tested the Marines’ island-hopping concept with allies.

“Noble Fusion...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/21/navy-marines-drill-with-japanese-forces-in-test-of-new-island-hopping-concept

10 Chinese, Russian Warships Sail Through Japanese Islands

20 October 2021

Chinese and Russian Warships on Oct. 18, 2021. Japanese Self-Defense Force Photos

A combination of 10 Russian Navy and Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy ships sailed from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru Strait between Japanese home islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, Joint Staff of the Japan Self Defense Force said in a press statement.

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force spotted the ships at on Monday, in waters about 70 miles southwest of Okushiri Island in...

https://news.usni.org/2021/10/19/10-chinese-russian-warships-sail-through-japanese-islands

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