Japan buying more stealth missiles to deter China

[Ryan]

JAPAN’S AIR SELF-DEFENSE FORCE IS GETTING PRETTY OFFENSIVE. THE JASDF FLIES A FLEET OF ABOUT 150 FIFTH-GEN F-35 STEALTH FIGHTERS. TOKYO WANTS TO BE SURE THEY’RE PROPERLY ARMED, SO IT’S SPENDING ANOTHER $175 MILLION OR SO TO BUY MORE JOINT STRIKE MISSILES.

THE BUY MARKS THE FIFTH ORDER FOR JSMs PLACED BY JAPAN SINCE 2018. THE MISSILES WERE DESIGNED BY THE NORWEGIAN-OWNED KONGSBERG DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE. KONGSBERG PARTNERS WITH RAYTHEON TO BUILD THE JSMs, WHICH ARE BASED ON THE ALREADY COMBAT-PROVEN NAVAL STRIKE MISSILE.

JSMs ARE STEALTHY, LONG-RANGE, PRECISION GUIDED STAND-OFF WEAPONS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO FIT IN THE INTERNAL WEAPONS BAY OF AN F-35. THUS, MAINTAINING THE AIRCRAFT’S STEALTH CAPABILITIES AS WELL.

THEY CARRY 275 POUND WARHEADS, ARE ACCURATE AGAINST TARGETS ON LAND OR AT SEA, AND BECAUSE OF THEIR ADVANCED GUIDANCE AND TARGETING SYSTEMS THEY CAN HIT MOVING TARGETS AS WELL, AND CAN EVEN TRACK A TARGET AUTOMATICALLY.

LIKE THE NAVAL STRIKE MISSILES, JOINT STRIKE MISSILES USE A LOW-ALTITUDE FLIGHT PROFILE TO AVOID DETECTION. KONGSBERG SAYS THE JSMs RANGE IS GREATER THAN 150 NAUTICAL MILES, OR JUST OVER 170 NORMAL MILES.

BECAUSE OF THAT RANGE, PAYLOAD SIZE, AND ITS STEALTH CHARACTERISTICS
THE JOINT STRIKE MISSILE IS WHAT’S KNOWN AS A FIRST-STRIKE WEAPON. MEANING IF JAPAN FELT LIKE ITS SECURITY WAS BEING IMMINENTLY THREATENED, IT MAY CONSIDER FIRING A FEW OF THESE TO TAKE OUT TARGETS IN CHINA BEFORE BEIJING HAS A CHANCE TO ACT.

(RYAN AT TOUCH SCREEN)
SO, LET’S DIVE INTO THAT A LITTLE MORE. HERE WE HAVE A MAP OF THE REGION IN QUESTION.

NOW, THIS ISLAND DOWN HERE IS TAIWAN. WE’VE GOT LOTS OF REPORTING ABOUT ALL THE TENSIONS INVOLVING CHINA AND TAIWAN, SO BE SURE TO CHECK THAT OUT AT SAN.COM.

BUT IN A NUT SHELL, TAIWAN WANTS TO BE INDEPENDENT. CHINA DOESN’T LIKE THAT, MAY DECIDE TO INVADE AND TAKE THE ISLAND BY FORCE, WHICH COULD KICK OFF A REGIONAL CONFLICT.

JAPAN DOESN’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. SO, IT’S BEEN INVESTING HEAVILY IN ITS ARMED FORCES, AND EVEN CHANGED SOME LAWS TO MAKE IT EASIER TO SELL WEAPONS TO ALLIES IN THE REGION.

YOU SEE HERE WE’VE LABELED THE THREE AIR BASES IN JAPAN WHERE F-35As OPERATE.

JAPAN HAS ABOUT 100 F-35As, AND 40 OR SO F-35Bs WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO USE SHORT RUNWAYS TO TAKE OFF AND CAN LAND VERTICALLY. AS IT TURNS OUT, JAPAN JUST DRILLED ON THOSE TACTICS WITH THE UNITED STATES USING ITS NEW KAGA CARRIER, THE SECOND SHIP IN THE JAPANESE NAVY THAT CAN ACCOMMODATE F-35Bs.

IN THE EVENT OF A CONFLICT, WE CAN ASSUME THOSE SHIPS WILL BE OPERATING NEAR JAPAN.

F-35S HAVE AN OPERATIONAL RANGE OF AROUND 1000 MILES–GIVE OR TAKE– BEFORE NEEDING TO REFUEL. AND THIS BASE RIGHT HERE, NYUTABARU AIR BASE, IS JUST 975 MILES AWAY FROM BEIJING, THE CAPITOL CITY OF CHINA.

THE COMBINATION OF 5TH-GEN STEALTH FIGHTERS USING STEALTHY MISSILES MEANS ITS NOT JUST POSSIBLE, BUT HIGHLY LIKELY, THAT JAPAN’S FIGHTER JETS COULD FLY UNDETECTED JUST OUTSIDE OF CHINA’S AIRSPACE AND TAKE OUT LAUNCHERS, SILOS, TRUCKS, SHIPYARDS, DEPOTS–YOU NAME IT.

JAPAN ISN’T THE ONLY U.S. PARTNER IN THE PACIFIC WITH JOINT STRIKE MISSILES EITHER. AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCED IT’S BUYING SOME TOO, AND EVEN PUTTING IN A FACTORY TO BUILD THEM. IN FACT, THE JSMs ARE IN SUCH HIGH DEMAND RIGHT NOW, KONGSBERG IS BUILDING ANOTHER FACTORY IN VIRGINIA AS WELL, TO HELP BUILD THE MUNITIONS.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON, AND IF YOU WANT MORE REPORTING LIKE THIS, BE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA, DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP, OR CHECK US OUT THE OLD FASHIONED WAY AT SAN.COM.