War Zone – The missiles would offer land-attack and anti-ship capabilities and would be expected to serve as a deterrent to China and North Korea.

Kyodo News – Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military have drawn up a draft joint operation plan that would enable the setup of an attack base along the Nansei island chain in the country’s southwest in the event of a Taiwan contingency.

War on the Rocks – The most important development for Taiwan’s security might be unfolding right now in Japan. Tokyo’s strategy toward Taiwan is dramatically shifting. Once reluctant to join all but the most anodyne of pro-Taiwan statements with the United States, Japanese officials now increasingly state their desire to “protect Taiwan as a democratic country.” While no formal changes in security policy or diplomatic legalities are likely, Tokyo is signaling that it is willing to support Taiwan’s sovereignty, up to and including joining a military defense of the island against Chinese attack. This is likely giving Chinese Communist Party leaders and military planners much more short-term heartburn than the recently announced submarine and technology sharing deal between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

War On The Rocks – As the United States increasingly focuses on competition in the Indo-Pacific, and as elements of the U.S. military look specifically to amphibious aircraft, it would do well to consider acquiring handy Japanese seaplanes.

War on the Rocks – Earlier this month, U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighters embarked on the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force ship JS Izumo as a capability validation…It is also a milestone on a path that is establishing smaller aircraft carriers equipped with the F-35B Lightning II, or “Lightning carriers,” as the new capital ships of Asia.

Naval News – Shin Kurushima Hashihama Dockyard, located in Hashihama, Imabari city, Ehime prefecture today launched the first of two Yard Oiler Tankers for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.

1945 – James Holmes writes that Tokyo must refuse to succumb to the allure of prestige platforms.

Naval News – According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD)’s budget request for FY2022 announced on August 30, 2021, the budget includes the cost to modify the Lockheed Martin SPY-7 radar in order to operate it at sea. Japan’s SPY-7 radar was initially procured for the land based Aegis Ashore facility.

USNI News – Two U.S. carrier strike groups drilled with the United Kingdom’s Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21) and a Japanese big-deck warship over the weekend in a major naval exercise in the waters off the southeast of Okinawa, Japan.

Naval News – On August 31, 2021, Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced its FY2022 budget request. Here are some of the key points of interest, related to the maritime domain.

USNI News – U.S Marine F-35Bs from Iwakuni will support the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s post refit trials of the destroyer helicopter carrier JS Izumo (DDH183) next month.

USNI News – The Japanese Ministry of Defense detected a Chinese submarine operating in the contiguous zone of Japan’s southern islands.

USNI News – U.S. Marine F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters will operate off a Japanese warship later this year.

War Zone – It isn’t clear if the surge in Chinese drone presence over the East China Sea is indicative of a new trend or prelude to a major naval movement.

Breaking Defense – Japan’s new Defense White Paper warns that China’s growing military muscle, overflights and naval incursions “have become a matter of grave concern to the region including Japan and the international community,” one which will require new capabilities and doctrine to counter.

CIMSEC – The broader DOD (USN) and MOD (JMSDF) must better leverage emerging technologies and developing concomitant warfare concepts (doctrines) to adapt to the new way of fighting. Otherwise, the United States and Japan risk ceding the technology domain and consequently military superiority in the Indo-Pacific to revisionist China and revanchist Russia.

CIMSEC – This is part one of a two-part series on the urgent need for a bilateral technology roadmap to field and sustain a lethal, resilient, and rapidly adapting technology-enabled Joint Force that can seamlessly conduct high-end maritime operations in the Indo-Pacific.

Naval News – Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) is trying to build unique ships that will specialize in ballistic missile defense (BMD) using systems originally procured for a land-based installation known as “Aegis Ashore”.

1945 – Japan may be coming at the problem of defending its southwestern islands backward.

Naval News – ARC21 combined amphibious exercise will gather units from Japan, USA, France and Australia in waters around Kyushu.

Naval News – Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) is planning a multihull as one of the proposed designs for the Aegis system equipped ship.

Naval News – On February 16, 2021, Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi announced that the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) will establish a unit equipped with three new transport ships by 2024.

Naval News – The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) today commissioned its 12th and final Soryu-class diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK) in Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture.

Japanese Ministry of Defense – This latest set of major reports from Japan’s Defense Ministry.

Naval News – A new ocean surveillance ship, JS Aki (AOS-5203), was commissioned by the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.