The fast attack craft-missiles, a.k.a missile boats, are generally preferred for use in
littoral waters. The Hayabusa-class boats of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force,
shortly JMSDF, are an exception. These small surface combatants are one of the best examples
of how important missile boats can fulfil in modern blue-water navies. As the Weapon
Detective, we are investigating what the Hayabusa-class tell us.
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you like our video. Before starting our analysis, let's take a
look at the history and technical features of the Hayabusa-class.
The JMSDF's interest in missile boats dates back to the 1970s to replace its obsolete
torpedo boat fleet. Deciding to build three missile boats in those years, Japan also started
studies on a hydrofoil boat. However, after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the
members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries decided an oil embargo
against some countries including Japan. Therefore, the Japanese economy suffered a
crisis. For this reason, there was a serious delay
in the programme and the JMSDF was able to commission the first missile boat only in
1993. It was originally planned to build six hydrofoil type boats called the PG 1-go-class.
However, the programme had yet the under delay again, because of budgetary savings caused
by Japan's contribution to the 1991 Gulf War. During this period, it was observed that the
seaworthiness and hull strength of the PG 1-go-class were insufficient. Also, as a problem
peculiar to hydrofoil design, these boats could be operated efficiently either high
speed or low speed, which made the PG 1-go-class difficult to operate in the medium speed range.
Therefore, Japan cancelled the building of the last three boats and decided to work on
an improved hydrofoil design. Initially, it was planned to equip the new
enlarged boats with two engines providing a maximum speed of 40 knots.
But, after an incident off the Noto Peninsula involving a North Korea spy ship, the required
speed was raised to 44 knots. Based on this requirement the number of main
engines installed was also increased to three. Due to the layout, it became difficult to
adopt the hydrofoil type. So Japan started to work on a conventional
design. JS Hayabusa, the first boat to give its name
to the class, was commissioned in 2002. A total of six boats have been built of this
class. The new missile boats called the Hayabusa-class,
have a deep V-type hybrid hull to prevent the bow from rising. The hull is made of aluminium
alloy. The bridge has a two-layer structure which
is reinforced by bulletproof plates made of flame-retardant composite materials.
The living and working areas concentrates near the centre of gravity of the ship near
the bridge structure. This design helps to reduce pitching.
Each part of the hull is sloped so that it does not directly reflect the radar wave.
The mast also has a shape that ensures the stealth of the tripod structure.
The 76mm gun on the front deck has a low radar cross-section too.
Also, the protective material for the handrails on the port side and the water jet nozzle
is not made of normal cylindrical material but is made of a rhombic cross-section like
the mast. These boats are equipped with a satellite
communication system and an infrared night vision equipment.
Managed by a crew of 21, the Hayabusa-class boats have a length of 50.1 meters, a beam
of 8.4 meters, and a draft of 1.7 meters. The standard displacement is 200 tons, while
the fully-loaded displacement is 240 tons. Three 5,400 horsepower General Electric LM500-G07
gas turbines can provide the boat with a maximum speed of 44 knots. The Hayabusa-class is equipped
with one 76mm Oto Melara Super Rapido gun as well as four locally developed SSM-1B anti-ship
missiles. Besides, these boats have two 12.7mm machine guns. The 76mm gun is directed by
the FCS-2-31C fire control system. The Hayabusa-class is equipped with the OPS-18-3 surface search
and the OPS-20 navigation radars. The boats also have two Mk 36 SRBOC decoy launchers
and NOLR-9B electronic support measure system. Thanks to its pump-jets, the Hayabusa-class
has high performance in shallow waters. The Super Rapido can fire 135 rounds per minute.
However, it has been tested that using the gun with such a high rate of fire decreases
the barrel life sharply. So Oto Melara advised that the maximum safe rate of fire speed for
the gun should not exceed 120 round per minute. The Super Rapido is controlled from the CIC
via console. The gun, which has an effective range of 20,000
meters against surface targets, is also very effective against air targets.
The SSM-1B, also known as the Type 90, has a range of 150 kilometres and a 260-kilogram
high explosive warhead. The launching is carried out with a solid fuel booster rocket engine.
The TJM2 turbojet engine used in flight enables the missile to cruise at a speed of 1,150
kilometres per hour. The SSM-1B, which uses inertial guidance system during the cruise,
activates active radar guidance system in the terminal phase for the final attack.
The OPS-13 2D surface search radar operates in C-band and can display up to 10 targets
simultaneously. The FCS-2-31C fire control system can detect
a target with a radar cross-section of 1 square meter at a range of 30,000 meters and an altitude
of 15,000 meters. It operates in X-band.
Now that we have looked at the characteristics of the Hayabusa-class, it will be useful to
look at the approach of NATO countries' navies to missile boats for a better analysis of
it. These platforms are not considered as important
in Western countries as in the East. NATO's main naval strategy is geared towards
control of the open seas. In order to control of the littoral water,
aircraft have replaced missile boats since while.
Greece and Turkey, the only two NATO countries, although having more than 10 major surface
combatants also use the missile boats. This type of platforms is still used by Bulgaria,
Norway, and Romania. But these countries define their ships as corvettes, not missile boats.
Croatia and Poland are other NATO countries that still have missile boats.
Due to the different perceptions of maritime security, things are different in the Far
East than in Europe. Although South Korea and Japan are similar
to Western countries in terms of technology, they continue to use missile boats alongside
many major surface combatants. When we start to talk specifically about Japan,
maritime security perceptions and historical heritage reveal themselves as two important
points. First of all, if we touch the historical heritage;
In the second half of the 19th century, Japan, which launched a programme to have a modern
navy, started to be interested in the Jeune École by following the fashion of the time
in the 1880s. Jeune École, in other words young school,
doctrine depends on small and fast surface combatants, especially cruisers and torpedo
boats versus bigger units. At that time, The Meiji government which found
this doctrine suitable for its own security perceptions decided to build 48 warships,
of which 22 were to be torpedo boats. This was a suitable model for Japan with limited
resources. The correctness of this decision proved itself
during the 1905 Battle of Tsushima. In the night battle on May 27, 1905, Japanese
torpedo boats and destroyers managed to sink two battleships and two armoured cruisers
of the Imperial Russian Navy. In light of this success, the Japanese have
established a tradition of using small boats in narrow waters.
Besides, Japan has a different perception of maritime security than NATO's member states
with major surface combatant fleets, due to its geographical location.
The Russian Northern Fleet must travel a long distance from Murmansk to the North Sea.
For this reason, NATO warships must have a long-range to patrol on this wide area and
monitor the Russian ships. The requirement of long-endurance naturally requires ships
to increase in size. However, in the Pacific, Chinese, North Korean,
and Russian ships may reach a position that could threaten Japan soon after leaving their
home bases. So, the JMSDF needs ships that can quickly monitor the naval elements that
may pose a threat. Continuous patrolling with major surface combatants
for this task is costly. Also, large ships have a high reaction time
because they are not as fast as missile boats. The maritime patrol aircraft cannot operate
long time in the region as much as boats. Their high speed is too much for such monitoring.
Therefore, although their unit costs are lower, the use of maritime patrol aircraft in this
mission is not cost-effective. On the other hand, these six boats can be
directed towards Chinese, North Korean, and Russian ships in different locations in a
short time. This is cheaper than using six large ships
for the same mission. Another factor is, for example, deploying
a small-size vessel to monitor a ship leaving Vladivostok seems less aggressive than sending
a destroyer. In this way, Japan has managed to keep the
risk of experiencing tension with its neighbours to a minimum until today.
Also, Hayabusa-class, thanks to its speed of 44 knots, is more successful than large
ships in monitoring and intercepting North Korean spy boats.
The operational use of these boats to date also supports the arguments we mentioned.
If we talk about some significant example, on June 19, 2015, in cooperation with a Japanese
P-3 Orion aircraft, JS Wakataka, one of this class, detected and monitored the Russian
Navy destroyers RFS Admiral Vinogradov and RFS Marshal Shaposhnikov at the 100 kilometres
west-northwest of the Cape Sōya. The same boat detected and monitored a Chinese
Navy task force near the Aomori Prefecture in February 2016.
In June of the same year, in one day, near the Sōya Strait, JS Wakataka detected and
monitored separately an Akula-class nuclear attack submarine, one Udaloy-class and one
Sovremennyy-class destroyers, four Tarantul-class, three Nanuchka-class, two Grisha-class corvettes,
and a Boris Chilikin-class fleet oiler. Similarly, on November 4, 2015, JS Otaka detected
and monitored the Slava-class cruiser RFS Varyag, Sovremennyy-class destroyer RFS Bystryy,
and Boris Chilikin-class fleet oiler RFS Boris Butoma of the Russian Navy, 75 kilometres
northeast of Kamitsushima Town. A year later, the boat detected and followed
three landing ships advancing in the same area accompanied by the Udaloy-class destroyer
RFS Admiral Panteleyev. Many more patrol and monitoring missions performed
by other boats of the class, JS Hayabusa, JS Kumataka, JS Umitaka, and JS Shiritaka,
can be added to these examples. Despite these successes, In 2018, to replace
the Hayabusa-class, the Japanese Government has approved the construction of four 3,900-ton
frigates and the development of a new patrol boat.
However, this approval is not meaning the end of these vessels. The Philippines is known
to want to procure the Hayabusa-class boats that will be decommissioned in the future.
The Hayabusa-class has played an important role in the detection and monitoring of naval
elements that could pose a threat to the Japanese islands for many years. These boots are indications
that the Jeune École doctrine, which has lost its popularity for large navies today,
is still important. Our analysis as the Weapon Detective that it would be a premature decision
for the JMSDF to give up on them now. The missile boats will continue to take on important
tasks in these days as the Second Cold War rises.
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