It is really beginning to look like Japan is bringing back its World War 2 era Special Naval Landing Force.
Via Defense News.
Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Pacific Forum, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said he found recent talk of Japan bolstering its preemptive strike capability worrying.Read the whole thing but I'm amazed at a couple of things.
“CSIS has been conducting discussions on the issue of pre-emptive strike for six years, and in recent months, we have seen resumption of calls to develop this capability resurface. I am concerned about the proliferation of these capabilities because of the potentially destabilizing consequences,” he said.
Japan probably won’t develop a separate marine corps, but it will more likely reinforce its amphibious capability, largely based on the Western Infantry Regiment of the Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF) that trained in amphibious warfare as part of the Iron Fist exercises with the US Marine Corps in California, analysts say.
Paul Giarra, president of USbased consulting firm Global Strategies & Transformation, said the language of the policy proposal opens the possibility of the GSDF equipping one or perhaps two regiments with advanced capabilities, including up to four dozen amphibious landing vehicles over the next five years, beyond the four AAV-7A1S vehicles already planned, and a suitable number of Bell-Boeing V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft.
“I read it more as the [Japan Self-Defense Forces] with some improved amphibious capabilities like vehicles and tilt-rotor aircraft. That is potentially a significant development, but the LDP does not look like it wants to go the whole hog on a marine corps,” said Christopher Hughes, professor of international politics and Japanese studies at Britain’s University of Warwick.
1. The experts are wrong. The Japanese are well on their way to creating a Marine Corps.
2. Japan WILL develop a preemptive defense strategy and quite honestly its probably secretly developing nuclear weapons.
3. You can lay the blame for this at the feet of the Chinese.
My rationale for the above statements is simple. While the US has been importing goods and "making friends/apologizing" for the Chinese, the nations of the Pacific Rim have been bullied, pushed around, had land invaded and been exposed to the real face of China.
China is a bully and a destabilizing force.
India has been involved in an ongoing dispute with China over their line of control (border). China has crossed into India, not allowed Indian troops to properly patrol the border and there have been incursions by Chinese aircraft into Indian airspace.
Japan has seen its territorial waters breached by Chinese warships, its fishing boats harassed and incursions into its airspace by Chinese fighters.
Philippines has experienced the same.
Meanwhile, the US continues to try partnership missions as the response to this provocation against our allies.
In Asia, wisdom is prized, foolishness ridiculed and weakness hated. At the present we're being foolish and weak. Japan is simply being wise.
