The Japanese Navy: An Assessment of Missions and Capabilities

31 Dec, 2001    ·   673

Dr. Subhash Kaplia argues that a strong Japanese Navy can be a stabilising factor in the Asia- Pacific region
Dr. Subhash Kapila
The Japanese Navy euphemistically called the Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) due to Constitutional limitations has come into focus with the dispatch of Japanese naval ships to the Indian Ocean to aid US coalition forces involved in Afghanistan .  The Japanese Navy will be engaged in non-combat missions only. 

 

 

The Japanese Navy ships have been traversing the Indian Ocean earlier on training and goodwill cruises.  They have visited India a number of times and  have carried out joint exercises at sea. During the Gulf War in 1991, Japan had sent mine-sweepers to the Gulf, but this is the first time that Japanese naval destroyers are taking part in multi-lateral operations in the Indian Ocean .

 

 

Japan is an Island nation comprising four main islands which stretch in an arc running in a North-east to South West configuration.  Its economic super-power status rests solely on its re-processing economy based on external imports and exports.  Its energy requirements are predominantly based on the Middle East .  Hence the Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC) emanating from the Gulf, traversing the Indian Ocean to the Straits of Malacca and passing close to the Pacific Rim of China lead to Japan .  These SLOC are Japan ’s life-lines and  strong Japanese Navy is essential for their security.

 

 

Japan is situated in a perilous security environment dominated by two giant military neighbours i.e., China and Russia .  Both these countries have strong navies and have territorial disputes with Japan .  Under the circumstances.  Japan needs a strong Navy to obviate both political and economic coercion.

 

 

While Japan enjoys security guarantees under the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, the United States both for strategic and financial reasons has called for Japan to increasingly share the burden of its security.  This includes the operational responsibility to defend its SLOCs upto 1600 Km from the Japanese mainland and increased Japanese support for any military operations in the Pacific in the realm of logistics.  Both these factors are additional imperatives for a strong Japanese Navy.

 

 

As per published sources, Japanese Navy (MSDF) – Current Strength and Naval Assetts details are as under:

 

 

• Strength : 42,500

 

 

• Major Units 

 

 

Destroyer units (Mobile operations) 4 Flotillas 

 

 

Destroyer Units (Regional HQs) 7 Divisions

 

 

Submarine units   6 Divisions

 

 

Mine-sweeper units 1 Flotilla 

 

 

Land-based Patrol Aircraft Units  13 Squadrons 

 

 

• Main Assets 

 

 

Destroyer/ Frigates 55

 

 

Submarines  16 

 

 

Missile Craft  3 

 

 

Mine Counter/Measure ships 34

 

 

Amphibious ships  6

 

 

Naval Aviation 90 Combat Aircraft

 

 

90 Helicopters 

 

 

 

 

The Japanese Navy is armed with the most advanced ships and aircraft and weapon systems. It is strongly backed by a sizeable Japanese Coastguard comprising 328 naval vessels for coastal patrolling and defence.  Of these, 42 ships are over the 1,000 ton category and carry helicopters.

 

 

Any objective assessment of the Japanese Navy in terms of its missions and capabilities needs to incorporate the following factors :

 

 

• The Japanese Navy today, as the MSDF, may be a post- Second World War creation, Yet in terms of naval tradition, expertise and valour it draws heavily on the glorious record of the old Japanese Imperial Navy.

 

 

• History written from the perspective of a victors’ justice, cannot obliterate the glorious record of naval warfare of the Japanese Navy from the times  of its victories in the Tsushima straits against the Imperial Russian Navy at the turn of the 20th century to its battles with the British and American Navies in the Pacific in the 1940s. 

 

 

• The Japanese Navy and the Japanese Coastguard are totally reliant on Japanese indigenous naval production for their assets.  Hence it is not subject to external coercion.

 

 

• Japan possesses a sizeable naval production infra-structure which can speedily respond to enhanced production needs,  should Japanese defence policies be revised. 

 

 

• In terms of weapon systems and operational capabilities, Japanese Naval ships and submarines are class-equivalents of the best of US Naval ships, if not better.

 

 

• The Japanese Navy has a strong and sizeable punch both in terms of surveillance and hit capability arising from its over 90 P3C combat aircraft and over 90 antisubmarine warfare helicopters. 

 

 

• The Japanese Air Force acts as a force multiplier for Naval Aviation assets with its force of 4xAWACS and a number of in-flight re-fuelling aircraft which increase both range and time over target of combat aircraft.

 

 

 

The Japanese Navy does not have aircraft carriers and logically should be aspiring for them.  However some of the shortcomings arising from this deficiency can be overcome by Japan ’s outlying off-shore islands and also by in-flight re-fuelling capabilities.The Japanese Navy can be assessed as one of the best navies in Asia today.  While its numbers may be small but it can rightfully boast of possessing the most powerful naval ships in the world with advanced weapon systems giving them superior punch.  Japan needs to expand her Navy to meet the imperatives of her security and survival.  Japanese future naval expansion plans must take into account likely reduction in US naval presence in the Pacific and increased Japanese requirements for SLOC protection. A strong Japanese Navy could be a force contributing to strategic stability in the Asia Pacific.     
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