Japan Rises To Chinese Naval Challenge

Japan is moving to counter China's rapid naval expansion by developing counter missile technologies and supersonic anti-ship missiles. However, it remains to be seen how this initiative will impact on the ambiguous security partnership that currently exists between Japan and the US.

In the last decade, China has accelerated its production of large warships, aiming to replace hundreds of Cold War-era coastal patrol vessels with ships capable of traveling far from shore for extended periods of time. In addition to scores of destroyers, frigates and amphibious assault ships, China is also modifying the incomplete, former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag for potential operational use. The DF-21 ballistic anti-ship missile, still in development, and associated targeting satellites round out the Chinese naval modernization.

One of China's goals is to exert influence across the planet. Another is to limit rival nations' abilities to project power into Chinese waters. But Beijing is not alone in pursuing a defensive, "anti-access" strategy. Japan, too, is testing supersonic anti-ship missiles that could sink Chinese surface ships. And the island nation already possesses the world's most sophisticated non-nuclear submarines -- a big threat to China's surface and sub-surface forces -- and is bolstering its surveillance capabilities.

"You could argue that China is building anti-access capabilities to prevent U.S. forces from 'kicking down the door,' but Japan is doing the same thing regarding China," said Eric Wertheim, an independent naval analyst and author of the popular "Combat Fleets of the World."

The very fact that Japan spotted underway Chinese vessels this week and in April highlights Tokyo's ability to monitor, and thus control, regional waters. By combining submarines, aircraft, satellites and surface ships, Wertheim said, the Japanese navy can track Chinese vessels and provide targeting information for Japan's own weapons or for those of its American ally.

Beyond preparing to deny its own waters to Chinese ships, Japan is also improving its ability to blunt China's own anti-access systems, particularly the much-hyped DF-21 ballistic anti-ship missile.

"The biggest thing that's been on the minds of anyone is Ballistic Missile Defense and U.S. teamwork," Wertheim said. The Japanese navy's new Kongo-class destroyers, among the most powerful warships in Asia, are fitted with radars and missiles for tracking and shooting down ballistic missiles. The Kongos are used in part to defend the Japanese home islands. But "that BMD capability could also be used to protect U.S. Navy aircraft carriers in the event of hostilities," Wertheim pointed out.

By: Shelldrake