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| US & RoK Marines come ashore in an Amphibious Exercise |
By Paul Kallender-Umezu
TOKYO — Concerns are mounting among US Marine Corps observers and defense analysts that Japan’s commitment to developing an amphibious capability is being sidelined by senior Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) leadership who favor investments in submarines, ASW capabilities, aerial reconnaissance and ballistic missile defense.
The “de-emphasis” potentially calls into question the effectiveness of the force, scheduled to become operational in the spring of 2017 and deemed essential to deter aggression against Japan’s far-flung southeastern Nansei Shoto island chain, said Grant Newsham, a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies.
“This is a historic point we're at. For the first time since the end of World War II, Japan has a choice of whether it wants a military able to defend Japan and protect its citizens or to just drift along with a stunted, misshapen SDF [Self Defense Force] that's of little use from a national security perspective and for Japan to remain pathologically dependent on the United States,” Newsham said.
The Joint Staff Office headed by Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano and the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) appear to still be committed to amphibious development, and the MSDF Mine Warfare Force that has been assigned responsibility for the effort appears to have operated effectively at last month's Operation Dawn Blitz exercise.
However, in the MSDF, Japan’s amphibious plans seem relegated toward the bottom of the pecking order, he said.
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