The US & Japan has finished an important bilateral naval exercise.
The participants included Akizuki-class destroyer JS Fuyuzuki (DD 118), USS Ronald Reagan, the
Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam (CG 54) and USS Chancellorsville
(CG 62).
The objective was to enhance operational tactics and coordination.
This kind of exercise is designed to improve the ability of the two navies to work together
and enable them to respond to an aggressor cohesively.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why the joint exercise between the US Navy & JMSDF
is a major pushback against China?
Let’s get into the details.
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China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea have annoyed competing
claimants Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
United States, Japan, Australia, and India favor freedom of navigation as it is a very
important sea route with 5 trillion $ in trade, half of the global merchant shipping and 1/2
of world’s oil shipment pass through it.
Chinese military expansion has been a concern for Japan and it has been taking steps to
change its own posturing.
Article 9 of the Japanese constitution dictates that Tokyo will “forever renounce war as
a sovereign right of the nation … land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war
potential, will never be maintained”.
But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has altered the nation’s post World War
II security policy over the past few years, most notably through new security laws that
largely expand the range of activities permissible by Japan's Self-Defense Forces.
An important aspect to note is that the U.S is Japan’s ally and is bound by the treaty
of 'Mutual Cooperation and Security' to come to Japan’s aid in case Japan faces aggression
from an external party.
JS Fuyuzuki is an Akizuki class destroyer.
The Akizuki Class is intended to escort the Hyuga class and Izumo class helicopter destroyers,
and safeguard the other Aegis guided warships such as the Kongō class and Atago-class of
the JMSDF.
The destroyer provides defense against surface, airborne and undersea threats.
It carries 8 Type 90 Ship launched Anti Ship Missile
It also has one Mk 41 Vertical Launch System having 32 cells that can accommodate RIM-162
ESSM Surface to Air missile and Type 07 VL-ASROC Anti-submarine rocket.
There is also a long-range naval gun, two Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) as well
as two HOS-303 triple 324 mm torpedo tubes.
USS Ronald Reagan is a Nimitz class supercarriers
USS Ronald Reagan is the 9th ship of her class and was commissioned on 12 July 2003.
She is named in honor of Ronald W. Reagan, President of the United States from 1981 to
1989.
Yokosuka, Japan is the homeport of USS Ronald Reagan.
Ronald Reagan is one of the largest vessels constructed.
It has a displacement of 100,000 tonnes, and an overall length of 332.8 m or 1,092 feet.
To give viewers a perspective, it is about 3 football fields long.
USS Ronald Reagan is powered by two A4W nuclear reactors, kept in separate compartments.
These power 4 propeller shafts and can produce a maximum speed of over 30 knots or 56 km/h.
As a result of the use of nuclear power, the warship is capable of operating continuously
for over 20 years without refueling and is predicted to have a service life of over 50
years.
Practically it has unlimited range & endurance.
USS Ronald Reagan being Nimitz class possesses a multitude of different radars including
electronically scanned array 3D radars.
It has an elaborate defensive armament suite.
Ronald Reagan is equipped with 16 to 24 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow or NATO Sea Sparrow missiles.
RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a US ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system,
primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles.
Close-in weapon duties are performed by Phalanx, & RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile.
Phalanx CIWS has a 4500 /min rate of fire.
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles have speed in excess of 2 Mach.
For offense, Ronald Reagan carries a flight group of more than 60 aircraft, including
F-18 jet fighters.
These are twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable 4th generation multirole fighter
aircraft.
They have a payload of 7700 kg (17000 lbs) and can carry ground attack weapons as well
as air-to-air missiles.
Supporting aircraft like EA 18 Growler and E2 Hawkeye are also available apart from helicopters.
USS Ronald Reagan doesn’t operate alone but is deployed with the "carrier strike group”.
The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group includes the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers
and USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville.
Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers are equipped with a diverse array of weapons
for Anti Aircraft Warfare (AAW), Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti Surface Warfare (ASuW)
as well as have the ability to intercept ballistic missiles through Aegis Ballistic missile defense
system.
This class of cruiser has an overall length of 567 ft or 173 m and displacement of about
9,600 tons.
Ticonderoga class warship has a speed of 32+ knots (60+ km/h) and a range of 6000 nm or
11000 km.
Ticonderoga class cruiser has two 61 cell Mk 41 Vertical Launch System that can be equipped
with a choice of different weapons.
1. RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB for Air Defense & Anti Ship role with a range of 103
miles or 167 km and speed of Mach 3.5
2. RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV for Anti Aircraft & Anti Ship role with a range of 115 miles
or 185 km and speed of Mach 3.5
3. RIM-161 SM-3 for Ballistic missile defense with a range of 435 miles or 700 km and speed
of Mach 10.
It can also be used as an Anti-satellite weapon.
4. RIM-162A ESSM for anti-missile role with a range of 31 miles or 50 km and speed of Mach 4
It can be quad packed in single Mk 41 cell.
5. RIM-174A Standard ERAM or SM 6 for anti-air warfare with a range of 150 miles or 240 km
and speed Mach 3.5
6. BGM-109 Tomahawk for land attack.
It has a long range of up to 1550 miles or 2500 km with subsonic speed.
7. RUM-139A VL-ASROC anti-submarine missile with a range of 13 miles or 22 km
It also has 8 Harpoon Missile Launcher for Anti Ship role.
2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes are present launching Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedoes
2 Sikorsky SH-60B helicopters are responsible for Anti Submarine Warfare.
Other weapons consist of long-range naval gun and variety of Close-In Weapon System.
China has spent heavily on military buildup & is modernising its military forces.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy is now considerably larger than the Japan’s Maritime
Self Defense Force in both overall tonnage and number of ships.
In recent times, China has been very aggressive in it’s posturing.
Its activities are far off from being a sensible nation and it has even made threats to Japan.
Japan has been increasing conscious of the fact that its territory which is surrounded
by waters is vulnerable.
Hence, an increased coordination between the US & Japan is the need of the hour.
As predicated my several strategic experts, China’s aggressive military posturing may
come back to haunt it as its neighbours including Japan takes steps to strengthen their military
doctrine.
Keeping all the aspects in consideration, we may see a strategic shift in Asia where
the U.S & Japan work more closely to challenge against Chinese hegemony.