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| USS Makin Island (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
During his visit to San Diego, Itsunori Onodera, Japan's defense minister, inspected US amphibious assault ships, indicating Japan may be mulling introducing the ships to defend the disputed Diaoyutai (Senkaku or Diaoyu) islands against a potential attack from the People's Liberation Army, according to the Tokyo-based Kyodo News.
The website of China's nationalistic Global Times, on the other hand, stated that Japan is buying military equipment under the guise of concerns over the disputed East China Sea islands, while in reality they are using this as an excuse to equip the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force at a time when Japan's government has reinterpreted its pacifist postwar constitution to loosen the country's restrictions on the use of its armed forces.
Onodera was reportedly very interested in amphibious assault ships, saying that they are useful in disaster rescue missions. The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8) which Onodera inspected is 258 meters in length and 32 meters wide, with a full displacement of 41,649 tons, and a mast speed of 25 knots. The ship can carry 1,687 marines, 12 Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM)-6 or 3 Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) amphibious landing vehicles plus 4 massive personnel landing craft. Forty-two airplanes and helicopters can be carried on the ship–mainly CH-46 transport helicopters, CH-53E heavy-lift cargo helicopters, and 6-8 AV-8B and F-35B fighters–along with 20 AV-8B air fighters, according to Global Times.
Japan has been showing interest in purchasing a large amount of new military hardware lately, including the V-22 Osprey multi-mission tiltrotor aircraft.
Read the full story at Want China Times