News Story: Security blogger maps out JMSDF's top five craft

Hayabusa class patrol craft (Image: Wiki Commons)

In case of a conflict with China over the East or even the South China Sea, Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force is ready to deploy its five most deadly craft against the People's Liberation Army Navy, said Kyle Mizokami, a defense and security blogger in Washington-based magazine National Interest on July 5.

The JMSDF's Hayabusa-class patrol craft is the most deadly weapon that the PLA Navy would face in a potential naval conflict. It is indeed the Japanese version of the United States' littoral combat ship. Designed smaller for better agility, the Hayabusa-class patrol craft is able to hide among Japan's many island and in the country's rugged coastline. They can carry out hit and run missile attacks on much larger enemy ships. This could be effective should China attack near the waters of the Ryukyus or could also be used in the southern Kurils should Russia pose a threat.

Modeled after the United States Navy's Flight IIA Arleigh Burke destroyer, the Atago-class Aegis Destroyer is the JMSDF's second most powerful craft. While the destroyer is capable to engage surface targets with its one Mark 45 5-inch naval gun and two Phalanx CIWS close-in weapon systems, it can also hunt and destroy enemy submarines with its hull-mounted AN/SQQ-89 undersea warfare combat system which combines an active/passive sonar system with ASROC rocket-propelled torpedoes.

Read the full story at Want China Times