Japan’s Self-Defense Air Force may turn into an aerospace force in the future. This was stated by the Prime Minister of the island state Abe Shinzo, speaking at a briefing on September 17.

The politician emphasized that talking about the creation of the Japanese air forces does not belong to the category of fantasies, local media reported.

“These are not fantasies,” Kyodo quoted him as saying.

Recall that the plans of the Japanese government to create in 2020 the space division of the Self-Defense Forces became known in early August, then the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri reported this. According to the publication, a new unit of the Self-Defense Forces is being created in connection with increasing activity in space from countries such as the USA, Russia and China. It was reported that the space division of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces will consist of 70 people and will be located at the base in the city of Futu west of Tokyo.

  • Abe Shinzo.
  • © Issei Kato / Reuters

"The Japanese government is currently working on a space tracking system from the earth using a highly sensitive radar and an optical telescope, the beginning of its operation is expected in 2023," the media reported.

It is specified that this system will be used to track threats from satellites of other countries, as well as to monitor the situation with space debris. The Japanese aerospace agency will train the Japanese aerospace agency JAXA, as well as the US military.

Area of ​​fiction

The development of defense projects and the buildup of the military potential of Japan for many decades was limited to the commitments made by Tokyo following the Second World War and enshrined in the country's constitution. Destroyed by the anti-Hitler coalition, Japan was forced to renounce the right to have its own full-fledged army. Tokyo also guaranteed that it does not use force in disputes with other countries. The army for Japan was replaced by the Self-Defense Forces created in 1954.

  • Fight of the Air Force of Japan and the USA, 1945.
  • globallookpress.com

However, over the years, Japan began to strengthen its position as supporters of the revision of post-war obligations and the revival of the country's military potential. Actively supporting this course is the current Prime Minister of Japan, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Abe Shinzo. In 2006-2007, he already held the chair of the head of government, but was then forced to resign.

After the LDP won the elections again in 2012, the course towards restoring the military potential of Japan continued. An important step in this direction was the expansion of the powers of the Self-Defense Forces to participate in foreign operations, even if Japan itself is not at risk. According to Abe, this step will allow the country to deepen its strategic partnership with the United States.

After the victory of the LDP in the early elections in July 2019, Abe Shinzo said that he intends to hold a referendum on constitutional amendments by 2021, we can talk about canceling an article fixing Japan’s refusal of a full-fledged armed forces.

However, the presence of this constitutional norm did not prevent Japan from developing its defense potential over the past years, experts say. In the Global Firepower ranking of the world's strongest armies, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces currently occupy 6th place out of 137. For comparison, back in 2017, the country took 7th place in this rating. Thus, the Japanese self-defense forces have a total of 1,572 units of aircraft, including helicopters and airplanes. For this indicator, Tokyo is ahead only of South Korea, India, Russia, China and the United States.

At the same time, a significant part of the Japanese Air Force fleet is represented by foreign cars - Tokyo does not spare funds for importing the latest technology. For example, in August of this year, the Japanese Ministry of Defense approved a contract for the purchase of a batch of F-35B combat aircraft with short take-off and vertical landing manufactured by Lockheed Martin, an American corporation. According to The Wall Street Journal, Tokyo is the largest buyer of the F-35, ahead of even its closest ally to the United States.

According to military expert Mikhail Tymoshenko, Japan has virtually no aircraft of its own production, mainly the country imports military aircraft from the United States.

  • © JAXA

As Alexander Panov, head of the diplomacy department at MGIMO, explained in a RT commentary, to date, the Japanese air force is represented exclusively by fighters, the country does not have bomber and long-range aviation.

“The Japanese are trying to independently produce aviation and weapons for the naval forces, but Tokyo does not have high-tech offensive weapons. Japanese videoconferencing is from the realm of fantasy, ”said the expert.

Until recently, Japan could not boast of advanced means of space delivery, the country is not among the leaders in the number of launches of launch vehicles. The one-time launch vehicle H-2A, first launched in 2001, has shown high reliability, but the cost of its launches is too high, Japanese media say. The cost of delivering one kilogram of cargo using the H-2A is much higher than that of Russian or American missiles. Hopes are assigned to the H3 heavy launch vehicle under development, the project of which was presented by the Aerospace Research Agency in 2015. The first launch of a new rocket is scheduled for 2020.

"Raise Awareness"

The space exploration of Japan for many years was conducted exclusively in a civilian direction. In 1969, the National Space Exploration Agency (NASDA) was established, and at the same time, the Japanese parliament adopted the Resolution on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, according to which Tokyo pledged to engage in space exploration exclusively for peaceful purposes.

According to the document, Japan guaranteed that it would refrain not only from the development, but also from the management and use of military space systems. Japan has achieved significant success in the peaceful exploration of space - already in 1970 the country independently launched its satellite into low Earth orbit, ahead of China, today Japanese specialists are actively involved in the operation of the International Space Station.

  • DSN 2 (Kirameki 2)
  • © DSN Corporation

However, in light of the tendency toward the restoration of the Japanese army, Tokyo thought about the need for space research and defense purposes. In 2008, the country's authorities adopted the Basic Law on Outer Space, which lifted restrictions on space exploration for defense purposes. At the same time, Tokyo did not achieve much success in this direction, only in 2017 the first military satellite, Kirameki-2, was launched in Japan, earlier the Self-Defense Forces had to resort to the use of civilian satellites.

At the beginning of 2015, the Japanese government approved a new reference plan for space research and development, the document covers the period until 2025. As Shinzo Abe said then, the plan "fully meets the objectives of Japan's new national security policy." According to the new plan, Tokyo intends to direct about 5 trillion yen (about $ 46 billion) of public and private investments to expand the national space program, we are talking about launching 45 new communication satellites over 10 years, as well as setting up satellite systems for use to ensure national security.

According to experts, announcing plans for the early creation of an aerospace force, Tokyo follows in the wake of Washington, which announced the start of the work of the Armed Forces Space Command in late August.

According to Alexander Panov, the goal of creating the Japanese VKS will be to monitor how the armed forces of China, as well as North and South Korea are developing, relations with which Japan is far from cloudless.

“Tokyo is particularly interested in Chinese space strike systems. It should be noted that the Japanese have no programs to create large offensive weapons, especially of a space nature. In addition, the number of satellite launches they have is quite limited and basically they launch defensive satellites, ”the expert explains.

Deputy Director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Konstantin Makienko believes that Russia may also be in the spotlight of the Japanese air forces.

“Tokyo intends to increase its awareness in order to better understand what is happening in neighboring countries,” the expert explained in an interview with RT.

At the same time, the Pentagon and Tokyo should not be compared with the cosmic forces, the difference between the capabilities of the countries is too great, Makienko believes.

“For the Japanese it is now important to establish at least an observation, while the Americans are going to deploy shock weapons in response to Russian hypersonic weapons. However, it cannot be ruled out that in the future Tokyo will try to develop its own potential in this area, ”concluded Konstantin Makienko.