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Japan Unveils Largest Warship Since WW2
schwit1 writes with an excerpt from an AP story on some interesting technology afloat: "Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier. Some experts believe the new Japanese ship could potentially be used in the future to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically. The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters.Though the ship — dubbed 'Izumo' — has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China."
It's well past time for the Japanese have a decent offensive capability against that of China. Leaning on the U.S. forever is not sustainable.
So am I correct in inferring that no one really takes Article 9 very seriously any more?
Would you believe that it's extremely complex and and the boiled down version dates back to WWII(and the real version dates way before that). Japan did some horrible things to Chinese people in WWII, and their government has never acknowledged any of it. Japanese nationalists, much like U.S. republicans are unwilling to accept that their country has ever done anything wrong, and view the Chinese assertions about the rape of Nanking and other atrocities as propaganda. The U.S. uses Japan as a proxy in limiting China's imperialism, which only further sours the resentment around these things.
China, for their part, are lead by a bunch of unelected fascists, who do in fact, publish anti-Japan propaganda in addition to the true things, making Japan seem like a inhuman monster in the public consciousness. We're lucky they're only really in a cold war with each other, because the U.S. would almost certainly get drawn into one side or the other.
What about their zeal to make everything smaller and more efficient? I'd have expected them to produce the smallest aircraft carrier with a few hundred fully automated drones that can conduct pinpoint strikes and play some soothing melodies while they clean themselves.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
And that is not a Helicopter Carrier.
It is going to be a "full sized" drone carrier.
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
While everyone else is speculating about 1990's "fighter planes" - you're probably closer to the truth. I suspect it's not a carrier for conventional fighters, but, as you say, robots^H^H^H^H^H^Hdrones.
Carriers are sitting ducks without a battle group. I doubt the Chinese are worried over this at all.
They should be worried about their own carrier shaped ships since they don't have a battle group either.
Besides japan does have a battle group.
Dont forget China's deadly and groundbreaking land carriers.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Japanese nationalists, much like U.S. republicans are unwilling to accept that their country has ever done anything wrong,
Since when has Obama been a Republican? Last time I checked the Democrats have been just as happy to bomb third world countries as Republicans have. The only outspoken criticism of these policies are coming from Tea Party Republicans like Rand Paul. The problem is not Dem or GOP. It's a problem with the federal government.
Carriers are sitting ducks without a battle group when outside land based fighter range. I doubt the Chinese are worried over this at all.
Fixed it for you. But I admit that even Japanese F 15 Eagle would not be able to keep a continuous air cover on the Sea of Japan.
Be aware tough, that the Japanese navy already has the basic capability of a carrier group. Kongo Class destroyers are equipped with the SPY-1 phased array radar and the SM2 block 3 missile, the same suite defending American carriers.
If anything, given the cold war capabilities of the Japanese navy, their carrier group is a bit skewed towards anti submarine warfare, but who's complaining?
given your original post, I must say that China has no reason to complain. Even if Japan builds another three of these (one for each battle group that it has available now), there's no way that it can mount a credible threat to China itself. It can, tough, be a credible threat against China's expansionary policy in the Spratleys, etc., and above all China's wayward province, North Korea.
"If a boss demands loyalty, give him integrity. But if he demands integrity, give him loyalty." (John Boyd, 1927-1997)
The Izumo is a replacement for the existing smaller Japanese helicopter carriers and they plan to build a second one. Some defence-oriented website put up a scale comparison picture -- the Izumo is about the same size as the IJN fleet carriers like the Akagi that attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. It's still significantly smaller than the USMC's Tarawa LHD carriers and the forthcoming America class replacements for the Tarawas are even bigger targets^W.
This is a VTOL carrier, through and through. I don't see any significant weaponry on board beyond the aircraft carrying capabilities, and no sources that I can find indicate the armanent of DDH-183 Izumo. Helicopters and VTOL manned and drone aircraft would be ideal uses for that flight deck.
A lot of people who fly fixed wing planes really don't consider helicopters as 'aircraft'.
"Helicopters do not fly. The ground repels them because they are so ugly."
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
For several years before war broke out, German airliners looked suspiciously un-airliner-like. Examples the HE-111 and FW-200. War breaks out, and surprise! Turns out with a few twists of a wrench they make much better bombers than they ever did airliners. Izumo may be a destroyer now, but I guarantee you there are plans - and possibly fittings already installed - for launch equipment.
Seriously, why not?
One reason is China's one child policy and the resulting gender imbalance. The crowds of young men outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, chanting "War! War! War!" would probably have something better to do if they had a family or even a girlfriend.
The US officially protects the Japanese with their nuclear weapons, this has been official US policy since WWII. In political science parlance Japan is under the Nuclear Umbrella of the US. In other words they are a country on a very short list that the US will defend with Nuclear weapons.
Good point, I am sure the Japanese engineers that build the ship did not think to make the surface not melt when something tries to land or take of vertically on it. Good thing Slashdot exists otherwise all kinds of engineers and scientists might be making fools of themselves.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Perhaps, but right now it's the best way of preventing a second Sino-Japanese War. China trusts the US military much more than they do a Japanese military, and US abandonment of the region would trigger an arms race (conventional and otherwise) that would make Indian-Pakistani relations look warm and fuzzy.
Not just with the Japanese, either -- basically, all the other countries in the region are going to have to decide whether they care more about the evil things Japan did to them prior to and during WW2, or about how powerful mainland China is today. Further, the less of a counterweight the US is to China, the more incentive there is for China's neighbors to go nuclear -- and Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have the technological/industrial base to do so very quickly.
Mind you, that might not necessarily be a bad thing. A while ago, one of the PRC's generals stated that Taiwan wasn't really protected by the US because the US wouldn't "trade Taiwan for Los Angeles or San Francisco." If the Taiwanese had their own nuclear arsenal, they can turn the question around and ask the PRC if they're willing to trade Taiwan for Shanghai and Beijing. Given that Taiwan's existence is at stake, they'd be taken much more seriously in the PRC's calculations. That might lead to a more stable situation -- or it might not. It depends on whether or not the bad blood between the smaller countries stays buried (a 1-to-n MAD situation, with the PRC being the 1) or if they don't (an n-to-n MAD situation).
"The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
Zeroes were excellent mid-speed dogfighter and had tremendous range, but that was the limit of its advantages. The P-40 routinely beat the Zero in China using energy tactics, and the Wildcat and Zero were dead even by actual loss count in carrier battles. The Zero was 30 mph faster than the Wildcat but fragile, and the controls locked up near its top speed, so it was no good in a dive.
Both US planes had the immeasurable advantage of bringing home rookies far more often than the Zero.
Read the two First Team books.
Infuriate left and right