Japan looks to US for tactics, gear for island defenses
YUKIO TAJIMA, Nikkei staff writer
Japan's defense minister got some air time with the Osprey
WASHINGTON -- Japan is seeking greater cooperation with the U.S. on defending far-flung islands and is interested in adding an American amphibious assault ship to its arsenal, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said on a trip to the U.S. this week.
"It's important for us to gain operational know-how," Onodera told reporters Thursday after meeting with Lt. Gen. Kenneth Glueck and other officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
Japan, which has ground, sea and air Self-Defense Forces, plans to create an amphibious unit to guard outlying islands and, if necessary, repel invaders. It is supposed to be in place by the 2018 budget year. Tokyo sees the Marines as an ideal source of tactical advice and other cooperation.
When it comes to outfitting the unit, the defense ministry has its eye on the Osprey, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but can fly as fast and far as a plane. The ministry plans to acquire 17 of them by fiscal 2018.
"It's suited to Japan, which has many outlying islands," Onodera said to reporters at the Pentagon after taking a ride in the aircraft.
On Monday, Onodera inspected an American amphibious assault ship at a Navy base in San Diego. Japan will consider adopting such a landing craft eventually, he told reporters.
Japan and the U.S. are updating their defense cooperation guidelines this year for the first time since 1997. A key challenge for the allies is contending with the rising naval power of China. Japan plans to bolster its defenses of outlying islands in response to China's increasingly assertive stance at sea.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet approved a policy of rapidly deploying the SDF in response to situations that fall in the "gray zone" just short of imminent threats. Such cases could include militants landing on the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, a group of East China Sea islets that Beijing claims sovereignty over and calls the Diaoyu.
Read more: http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Japan-looks-to-US-for-tactics-gear-for-island-defenses
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