News Report: Mattis - No Need to Shoot Down North Korean Missiles Yet

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the U.S. has not yet shot down any North Korean missiles because they have not posed a threat to the United States or its allies.

In remarks to reporters at the Pentagon, Mattis said Monday that if the missiles were perceived as a threat, "that would elicit a different response from us.''

Asked what that response is likely to be, Mattis refused to elaborate.

Earlier this month, North Korea tested what it described as a thermonuclear weapon suitable for mounting on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

At the beginning of this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced plans to develop a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile that can target the U.S. mainland.

On Monday, almost a dozen U.S., Japanese and South Korean warplanes armed with live weapons flew over the Korean Peninsula in what the U.S. military is describing as a "sequenced bilateral show of force" in response to North Korea's latest missile launch.

News Story: Japan's R&D misfire for defense reform

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo Aircraft (File Photo)

By: Paul Kallender-Umezu 

TOKYO — Since the October 2015 establishment of the 1,800-strong Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, Japan’s Ministry of Defense has been attempting to streamline its acquisition process and facilitate private-sector research and development. Results have been mixed.

In doing so, the MoD launched a new program to funnel more spending to Japanese scientists. The same year, ¥300 million (U.S. $2.7 million) was budgeted for the program. That doubled to ¥600 million (U.S. $5.4 million) in fiscal year 2016 and is set to rise to ¥11 billion (U.S. $98 million) in fiscal year 2017 as the MoD tries to build a research cadre in Japan’s academic sector that will benefit defense procurement later.

The establishment of the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, came on top of an April 2014 relaxation of defense export rules allowing cases that will contribute to global peace and serve Japan’s security interests, leading to the July 2014 sale of Patriot Advanced Capability-2 missile interceptors to the United States. ATLA’s new job is to try to better connect disparate R&D efforts to produce new outputs.

“We understand that China is very active, and we always want to stay ahead and secure technological superiority, and we are using this fund more actively to stimulate research in industry and academia,” said Takahiro Yoshida, director of ATLA’s Aircraft Project Management division.

Backers of the new strategy are banking ability or likelihood of success based on leveraging a series of Japanese civil technologies such as robotics, AI and machine learning and advanced materials, said Steven Ganyard, president of Avascent Global Advisors.

“The rise of a belligerent China and [North Korea] means that Japan can no longer afford a defense procurement process divorced from reality. Japan builds … products like C-2, P-1 and F-2 when they could be buying the best in the world for a fraction of the price. No other country in the world operates like this,” he said.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Report: Japan Plans to Equip Multirole Fighters With Hypersonic Anti-Ship Missiles

The Japanese government plans to equip the F-2 multirole fighters of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) with a new, domestically produced hypersonic anti-ship missiles starting from 2018 amid the tensions with China over the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, local media reported Monday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — On June 24, a total of four vessels of the Chinese Coast Guard entered Japan's territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands, and stayed there for two hours regardless of the Japanese maritime security service’s calls to leave the area. The Japanese Foreign Ministry expressed a protest to China over the incident.

Japan’s newly developed hypersonic anti-ship missiles would be able to fly three times faster than the speed of sound and would replace previous transonic missiles, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

The Senkaku Islands or Diaoyudao Islands are at the center of a heated dispute between Japan and China. The United States handed control over the chain of eight islets to Japan in 1972, but Beijing argues they were marked as Chinese territory on maps dating back to 1783.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Story: US bombers join jets from Japan, S. Korea for training mission

B-1B Lancer (Image: Wiki Commons)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two U.S. bombers flew to the Korean Peninsula to join fighter jets from South Korea and Japan for a practice bombing run as part of a training mission in response to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, officials said Friday.

U.S. military officials described the mission as a defensive show of force and unity from the three allied nations and said it demonstrated "the ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies."

"North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland," Gen. Terrence O' Shaughnessy, U.S. Pacific Air Forces commander, said in a statement from Pacific Air Forces. "Let me be clear: If called upon we are trained, equipped and ready to unleash the full lethal capability of our allied air forces."

The U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers from Andersen Air Force Base at the island of Guam conducted a 10-hour sequenced bilateral mission with South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said.

"U.S. bombers and Republic of Korea fighters are just two of many lethal military options at our disposal," said Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson, U.S. Forces Korea deputy commander. "This mission clearly demonstrates the U.S.-ROK alliance remains prepared to use the full range of capabilities to defend and to preserve the security of the Korean Peninsula and region."

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: Japan looks to US to partner on used aircraft resale

TC-90 KingAir (Image: Wiki Commons)

By: Jill Aitoro

LE BOURGET, France — As part of Japan’s strategy to expand defense exports, it’s looking to the United States to take part in a cooperation for the resale of used aircraft to Southeast Asia. 

The prospect follows initial success from Japan’s decision to lease TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines to conduct maritime patrols, which were reportedly used during the recent battle against Islamic State militants. Overseeing that program was Takahiro Yoshida, director of the Aircraft Project Management division in the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency at the Japanese Ministry of Defense, who estimated eight visits to the Philippines in the process. 

“We want to further explore opportunities for providing used aircraft to ASEAN countries with package support. I cannot name the exact countries, but we have a dialogue with several and want to explore possibilities of trilateral cooperation with the U.S., Japan and ASEAN countries,” Yoshida said in an exclusive interview with Defense News at Paris Air Show. “TC-90s are gone — already sold. So we’re now exploring other components from used helicopters and other used aircraft.” 

(ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is an international organization made up of regional countries meant for community-building.)

That is one of many strategies to build a defense manufacturing market, perhaps outshined by the current state of Japan’s fighter program. Yoshida said Japan is “having discussions with many countries” as the time quickly approaches for deciding how it will replace the F-2 fighters: through an international buy, an indigenous development,or jointly partnering with other countries. 

Japan’s F-2s are going to retire after the mid-2030s. The country plans to decide by next summer how it will proceed for replacing the fleet. And China is factoring into the decision. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Japan denies reports it test-fired XASM-3 missile

XASM-3 missile mock-up (Image: Wiki Commons)

By: Mike Yeo

MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has denied reports speculating that it had test-fired a new supersonic air-launched anti-ship missile last week, although a test-firing is still on the cards for later this year. 

Responding to questions from Defense News, a spokeswoman from the Japanese Ministry of Defense's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, also confirmed that it is planning to test-fire a XASM-3 missile from a Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jet at a missile range in the Gulf of Wakasa, off western Japan.

The ATLA spokeswoman was unable to provide a more specific date other than that it will be sometime in fiscal 2017 fiscal, which in Japan runs from April 1 of this year to March 31, 2018, saying that it would depend on the progress of the missile’s development program as well as weather and sea conditions. 

However, ATLA tender documents indicate that it is seeking flight test control and telemetry relay equipment specifically for the monitoring and recording of flight test data for the XASM-3 against an “offshore target” to be delivered in late April 2017, which suggests that any live firing will occur only in late May or early June at the earliest. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Asian Fighter Aircraft Market Looking Bullish

The Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin prototype

By: Mike Yeo

MELBOURNE, Australia — The need for new fighter aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to remain buoyant, with simmering tensions centered on territorial disputes for resource-rich islands in the South and East China Sea being most often cited as the main driver for increased regional defense spending.

At the same time, a number of regional air forces are also facing obsolescence issues with all or part of their fleets over the next decade, as the many Cold War-era aircraft still in use need to be replaced. 

Still, economic uncertainties cloud an otherwise rosy outlook for the defense industry in the region, with shrinking defense budgets and competing priorities often conspiring to push big-ticket fighter purchases to the back burner. Here is a rundown of Asian countries with outstanding fighter requirements and the progress of the respective programs. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: UK and Japan air forces kick off first ever bilateral exercise

The Royal Air Force (UK) and Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) on Monday Oct. 23 kicked-off exercise "Guardian North 16", which is the first bilateral drill JASDF conducted with another foreign military, excluding the U.S., local media reported.

Four Typhoon fighter aircraft, flown by No 2 (AC) Squadron pilots from RAF Lossiemouth, arrived at Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) Misawa Air Base, in the northern part of the island of Honshu on Saturday, Oct. 22.

An RAF Voyager from RAF Brize Norton, crewed by No 10 and 01 Squadrons, provided air-to-air refuelling during the 3,500 mile (5,600 km) non-stop flight from Malaysia.

Read the full story at Air Recognition

News Story: Japan Faces Challenging Choices for Cash-Strapped Air Force

Japanese F-15's (Image: Wiki Commons)

By Paul Kallender-Umezu

TOKYO — Critics have raised concerns that Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) could find itself with only a modest number of fifth-generation aircraft backed by obsolescing fourth-generation planes, based around the F-2 and F-15s, that lack interoperability.

For example, at present funding levels, the ASDF can only procure 42 F-35s at a rate of a handful a year, meanwhile diverting scarce resources to update its legacy fleet. This year, the ASDF can only afford to buy six F-35s while upgrading 11 F-2s with modern digital communications systems.

The recent ballyhooed unveiling of the putative fifth-generation X-2 Shinshin stealth fighter demonstrator and the future availability of the short takeoff/vertical landing F-35B on Japan’s carrier-convertible DDH Izumo-class helicopter carrier seem to offer the ASDF some pathways to building a more effective force. But do they?

Richard Aboulafia, vice president, analysis, at the Teal Group suggested that given budget constraints, costs and the dead-end nature of the costly F-2 program, ASDF’s most likely scenario will be some additional F-35s and more F-15 upgrades. Japan might even consider buying more up-to-date F-15s, but given the funding priority of the first 42 F-35s, cash for more F-15s is unlikely to be provided, he said.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Japan Shifts Air Force Posture South, Unveils Stealth Demonstrator

ATD-X Shinshin

By Paul Kallender-Umezu

TOKYO — On one level the Japanese Ministry of Defense latest budget request for the financial year starting April appears to be business as usual, as the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) chugs along with its piecemeal procurement of 42 F-35s and decisions on the eventual replacement of its aging F-2 and F-15 fleets shelved.

Behind this, the ASDF has signaled perhaps a more fundamental force shift south to better deter threats to Japan’s long southeastern island chain, or Nansei Shoto. Into the mix, last week’s unveiling of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)-developed X-2 Shinshin stealth fighter demonstrator hints that Japan wants to at least pitch in domestic technologies and productions for those later F-2 and F-15 replacements.

The ASDF will spend around ¥135 billion (US $1.1 billion) to purchase six F-35s and around ¥3.8 billion yen on upgrades to its F-2s, with some ¥29.4 billion yen allocated to local Japanese F-35 assemblers.

Japan opted for the F-35 in 2011 to replace its vintage F-4 Phantoms at a then-estimated cost of about US $8 billion, while opting to continuously upgrade its F-2s and F-15s to maintain air superiority over the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), according to the Defense Ministry.

If there is a big shift occurring in Japanese force posture, however, it’s south, with the ASDF doubling its number of F-15s to about 40 to Naha to form a new 9th Air Wing to fend of increasingly aggressive PLAAF probing of the Nansei Shoto, which last year provoked 441 ASDF scrambles, double that of 2011, according to JMoD.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Japan's F-2 beats China's J-10 in aerial combat

Mitsubishi F-2 (Image: Wiki Commons)

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-2 multirole fighter would have the edge over its Chinese counterpart, the Chengdu J-10, in an aerial encounter, defense and security blogger Kyle Mizokami says in a piece for National Interest published on Oct. 13.

The territorial dispute over the Diaoyutai islands (Diaoyu to China, Senkaku to Japan which controls them) in the East China Sea has increased the chance of close aerial encounters between fighters of the two sides, Mizokami wrote. He said Japanese patrol aircraft had already been intercepted several times by PLA fighters in the region after China declared its air defense identification zone over the East China Sea toward the end of 2013.

While Japan's American-built F-15J fighter will engage China's Russian-built Su-27 for aerial superiority, the Mitsubishi F-2 is more likely to go head to head with the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group's J-10 since both aircraft were developed as multirole fighters with aerial combat as well as ground support capabilities.

Read the full story at Want China Times

Industry: Japan’s F-2 Marks 8th Platform to Fly with Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod

Mitsubishi F-2 (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 10, 2015 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) received a direct commercial sale contract through Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to integrate the Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) onto the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s (JASDF) F-2 aircraft.

This initial contract, awarded in 2014, includes a Sniper pod, spares and support equipment for integration. The F-2 is the eighth aircraft platform to be equipped with Sniper ATP, joining variants of the F-15, F-16, F-18, A-10, B-1, B-52 and Harrier.

“Sniper ATP’s proven performance and low life cycle cost will provide necessary support to the JASDF mission,” said Marc Nazon, Sniper international program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Integrating Sniper ATP on the F-2 also enables increased collaboration in U.S. Air Force and JASDF joint combat operations.”

Lockheed Martin will work with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the prime aircraft manufacturer, to complete Sniper ATP integration on the F-2. Follow-on contracts are expected to include additional pods, spares, logistics and support equipment for the F-2 fleet.

Sniper ATP offers pilots high-resolution imagery for precision targeting and non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It detects, identifies, automatically tracks and laser designates small tactical targets at long ranges and supports employment of all laser- and GPS-guided weapons against multiple fixed and moving targets.

Lockheed Martin

News Story: Japan's Fighter Procurement Crunch

F-35 Lightning JSF (File Photo)

By Paul Kallender-Umezu

Decisions Await on Legacy F-2, F-15s as Upgrades End

TOKYO — The purchase of the F-35 should give the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) next-generation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance performance, but upgrades to Japan's F-2 and F-15 fleets can continue for only so long, and replacements will be needed in the mid-to-late 2020s, analysts say.

The JASDF is making a major investment in its slow but steady procurement of 42 F-35s. This year, the JASDF will purchase six units for ¥103.2 billion (US $827.4 million), plus ¥17.7 billion for initial expenses to promote industrial participation, and ¥18.1 billion for other equipment and training costs. Japanese companies will manufacture some 24 components of the F-35.

The Ministry of Defense opted for the F-35 in December 2011 at a cost of about $8 billion to replace 1970s vintage F-4 Phantoms, following a detailed RFP and reportedly severe competition from the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-18 Super Hornet. The decision was, for many domestic commentators, highly controversial, given the F-35's well-publicized development difficulties and climbing price tag.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Experts - Japan Budget Boost Still Won't Meet Goals

By Paul Kallender-Umezu

TOKYO — While Japan's newly unveiled defense budget represents the third small hike in a row after decades of low spending, experts say such spending remains insufficient to fund Tokyo's plans for "dynamic defense forces."

Japan's defense budget for fiscal 2015 is edging up 0.8 percent to ￥4.82 trillion (US $41.12 billion), according to figures by the Defense Ministry, bringing defense spending closer to 1990 levels.

While well below the 2.4 percent boost requested last August, the increase represents the third small hike in a row after a decade of decline. Japan has adopted a more assertive defense posture under the administration of the conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The MoD will receive funding for all the major purchases it has requested to begin updating its Air Force, restructure its defense posture to better protect Nansei Shoto, its southeast island chain south of Okinawa, and boost its naval fleet to strengthen its deterrence posture against China's Navy.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Japanese Defense Ministry Requests 2.4% Budget Hike

Kawasaki P-1 (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

By PAUL KALLENDER-UMEZU

TOKYO — Japan’s Ministry of Defense has requested a budget increase of 2.4 percent in 2015 for a total budget of ¥4.9 trillion ($47.25 billion), returning the budget to its 1990s peak levels and solidifying a reversal from a decade of declines during the 2000s.

Citing the need to counter growing instability in East Asia, the MoD said its most pressing need is to improve its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), particularly regarding maritime and ballistic missile threats, and to deter potential aggression to the nation’s far-flung southern island chain.

Accordingly, among its biggest items, the MoD is requesting ¥378.1 billion to deploy 20 of the PC-3 replacement Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft in groups of five between 2018 and 2021. The second big-ticket item is two new Atago-class Aegis destroyers, with the MoD expanding Japan’s Aegis fleet to eight ships by the end of fiscal 2020.

The third is a request for ¥131.5 billion for six F-35A joint strike fighters for the air self-defense forces, up from the four requested for the current year.

The Japanese fiscal year runs April through March. 

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Editorial: Japan Looks to Build Indigenous Fighters

Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin (File Photo)

By Ankit Panda

Although it’s committed to the F-35, Japan may still build indigenous stealth fighters.

According to reports out of Tokyo, Japan might begin indigenously building its own fighters, taking greater initiative within the framework of its defense cooperation with the United States. The news is likely to raise concern in China and elsewhere around the region that Japanese militarism may be on the upswing. Previous Japanese attempts to experiment with domestic fighters were met with resistance from the United States, but Japan and the U.S. have jointly collaborated on fighter projects, including the F-2.

According to Defense News, Japans’ “defense ministry plans to seek about ¥40 billion ($387 million) in state funding for the next year starting in April 2015 to test experimental engines and radar-dodging stealth airframe designs for a purely Japanese fighter.” According to Tokyo’s plans, its near-term plan (over the next four years) is to study the financial viability of going with a fully indigenous program. The strategic necessity for Japan to field a robust fighter force comes from a growing perceived threat from China, which has become more assertive about its territorial claims in the East China Sea where Japan and China dispute the sovereignty of several islets. For its part, Beijing regularly warns of impending Japanese aggression, harkening back to Japan’s historical aggression against China in the 1930s. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: PLA cannot compete with US F-22 fighters - Japanese media

F-22 Raptor (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons)

The People's Liberation Army Air Force and Navy Air Force would be unable to challenge US aerial superiority over the Far East because an American F-22 fighter is capable of defeating 20 fourth-generation Chinese fighters in aerial combat, according to the latest issue of the Tokyo-based right-leaning SAPIO magazine.

Facing the challenge of China's maritime expansion, Japan has equipped its Escort Flotilla 2 based in Sasebo and Escort Flotilla 4 based in Kure — which would be responsible for a potential naval operation over the disputed Diaoyutai islands (Diaoyu to China, Senkaku to Japan) — with Kongo-class guided-missile destroyers. In addition, Soryu-class and Oyashio-class submarines continue to conduct patrol missions in the disputed region of the East China Sea, which should be considered a great threat to the Chinese aircraft carrier operating in the waters, the magazine said.

Read the full story at Want China Times

News Story: Japan upgrading air forces in response to regional threats

SINGAPORE, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Japan, concerned about rising regional tensions, will spend more on defense, government officials said.

Japanese officials are attending the Singapore Ari Show 2014 to view the latest equipment available.

The upgrades will allow the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to boost its air and maritime forces.

Besides upgrading its current air arm of U.S.-built F-2 and F-15 fighters JASDF will purchase 28 U.S.-built Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft, 17 Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and three Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAVs by 2019, the Aviation International News reported Wednesday.

Read the full story at UPI

News Story: BAE Takes Aim at F-15 and F/A-18 Upgrade Work

By ANDREW CHUTER

SINGAPORE — With a substantial contract under its belt to upgrade South Korea’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s, BAE Systems is now looking to extend its activities in the market for modifying other nations’ aircraft by looking at Boeing’s F-15 and F/A-18 jets, said executives from the US arm of the British-based company.

BAE returned to the Singapore Airshow for the first time in years, hoping that a local program to update F-16s might be thrown open to competition rather handed to aircraft builder Lockheed Martin, as looks the case right now.

Buoyed by the recent signing of a $2.4 billion deal to act as systems integrator for upgrading 130 KF-16 fighters for South Korea, John Bean, the vice president for global fighter programs at BAE in the US, said if given the chance the company, would look to repeat the success in Singapore as well as attempting to land an upgrade deal on the two Boeing-built fighters.

“We have made initial inquiries in Japan where they are formulating their [F-2 and F-15] requirements at this point. All the countries are trying to keep their acquisition plans quiet so we can’t comment too much, other than to say we are active in a number of countries,” Bean said at the show.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: Japan plans to purchase more F-35s for defense of Diaoyutai (Senkaku)

Facing the expanding Chinese air power over the East China Sea, the Japanese defense ministry plans to purchase a total number of 42 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters from the United States to defend the disputed Diaoyutai islands (called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China), according to the Tokyo-based business daily Nikkei.

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) decided to purchase the fifth generation stealth fighters to replace its older F-4 Phantom II fighters. In addition to 60 F-4 fighters, the JASDF also operates 200 F-15J and 90 F-2 fighters, the paper said.

The new F-35 fighters are likely to coordinate with F-2s in potential missions to attack the naval and ground forces of the People's Liberation Army, while the F-15J would take care of Chinese fighters in the sky.

Read the full story at Want China Times