Latest news with #SelfDefenseForce
ABC News
22-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Rocket launch demonstration off Jervis Bay shows military might as part of Talisman Sabre
Japanese forces have fired their most advanced anti-ship missiles off the coast of New South Wales for a second time as part of a military training exercise involving a record 19 countries. Japan's Self-Defense Force (JSDF) first conducted a live fire demonstration of Type 12 surface-to-ship missile at a weapons range in Jervis Bay during exercise Talisman Sabre, 2023. This time around, they had more to show. "Last time it was about proving we could fire the missile in the Southern Hemisphere just to ensure the range apparatus and the safety mechanisms," Talisman Sabre exercise director Brigadier Damian Hill said. "The Japanese have [today] fired two sea-skimming missiles moving 10 to 15 miles as the crow flies, about 70 miles through different types of terrain. "Both missiles fired with different trajectories and hit the target at the same time." Brigadier Hill said the JSDF had brought a level of sophistication the defence force had not seen from the Japanese military before. Talisman Sabre is Australia's largest military exercise and is designed to show military strength and a commitment to peace and protection in the Indo–Pacific region. It started as a bilateral partnership between the United States and has grown to involve 19 countries and more than 40,000 personnel. For the first time this year, Papua New Guinea has joined. Brigadier Hill said the Australian and Japanese forces had strengthened defence ties since their involvement with Talisman Sabre as an observer back in 2017. "There are over 1,500 Japanese personnel here undertaking the live firing," he said. While Chinese surveillance ships have again monitored the activities of Talisman Sabre, Brigadier Hill said the exercise was not about sending a military warning to specific countries. The 11th iteration of the three-week Talisman Sabre has been running across north-eastern parts of Australia, including for the first time at Christmas Island, and is expected to finish next week. Brigadier Hill said the exercise involved training against potential threats on air, land and water as well as cyber and space. He said, for the first time, Australia launched its own HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) able to reach up to 400 kilometres. This happened alongside the US and Singapore forces during training in Queensland last week. "I think it's demonstrating our ability to modernise at speed," Brigadier Hill said. "Our HIMARS arrived in Australia earlier this year and we've got proficient crews and capacities to live fire within months. "I think that shows a little bit about how fast we're modernising."
NHK
10-07-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Chinese military plane again flies close to Japanese SDF aircraft
Japan's Defense Ministry says a Chinese fighter-bomber flew as close as 30 meters to a Japanese Self-Defense Force plane over the East China Sea on two straight days. The ministry said on Thursday that the incidents took place on Wednesday and Thursday. It said there was no damage to the Air Self-Defense Force intelligence-gathering aircraft or its crew. But ministry officials say such unusually close approaches could trigger an accidental collision. They say they expressed serious concerns to China and strongly urged it to prevent a recurrence. Similar incidents took place also on June 7 and 8. On both days, a Chinese fighter jet flew extremely close to a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane over the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese government voiced serious concerns over these incidents as well and demanded measures be taken to prevent future incidents.
Japan Times
09-07-2025
- General
- Japan Times
GSDF begins Osprey deployment to new camp in southwestern Japan
The Ground Self-Defense Force opened a camp in the city of Saga on Wednesday as it began work to relocate its 17 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft from a camp in eastern Japan. The Osprey deployment from the GSDF's Camp Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, to the new camp is scheduled to be completed by mid-August. The move is aimed at enhancing the Self-Defense Forces' quick response capability for the defense of the Nansei group of islands in southwestern Japan, amid China's increasing maritime activities. According to the GSDF, one of the 17 Ospreys was transferred to the camp in the capital of Saga Prefecture on Wednesday. It arrived in the morning via the GSDF's Takayubaru subcamp in Kumamoto Prefecture, near Saga. The main role of the Ospreys is to transport members of the GSDF's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, which specializes in the defense of remote islands. They are also mobilized to airlift emergency patients and in times of natural disasters. A GSDF Osprey was used to transport goods during a wildfire in the city of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, in March this year. The Defense Ministry's plan to deploy the Ospreys in Saga, adjacent to Nagasaki Prefecture, which hosts the GSDF's Camp Ainoura, the base for the amphibious brigade, initially ran into difficulties due to tough negotiations with local fisheries industries. As a result, the ministry temporarily deployed the aircraft to Camp Kisarazu in July 2020, for up to five years. Concerns about the safety of the Osprey grew in the wake of a series of accidents. In November 2023, a U.S. Air Force Osprey crashed off the island of Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture. A GSDF Osprey suffered damage during a Japan-U.S. joint exercise in the town of Yonaguni in Okinawa Prefecture in October 2024. The GSDF Osprey deployment to the Saga camp is "of extreme significance for the strengthening of the (SDF's) capability for defending remote islands," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a news conference Tuesday. "We'll give detailed explanations and information, including on safety." "We are taking various measures to ensure safe Osprey operations," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in the city of Saga on Wednesday during a stump speech for the July 20 Upper House election. "We won't cause trouble to local residents." "The Ospreys are helpful for the defense of our country and for disaster relief because they can travel twice as fast as helicopters and three times farther," Ishiba added.
The Independent
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Watch: Japan launches first missile test on home soil
Japan test-fired a missile on its own soil for the first time Wednesday (25 June), marking a significant step in its military expansion aimed at deterring regional threats, including China. The Ground Self-Defense Force launched a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile from Hokkaido's Shizunai Anti-Air Firing Range, targeting an uncrewed vessel 40 kilometers offshore. Officials confirmed the test's success and plan another by Sunday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi stressed the drill's purpose was to enhance personnel skills, not target any nation.
CNA
25-06-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Japan conducts first domestic surface-to-ship missile test
TOKYO: Japan on Wednesday (Jun 25) called its first surface-to-ship missile test within its territory necessary training given the current "severe security environment", as it boosts military capacity to counter China. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) fired a single "Type-88" missile towards Pacific coastal waters from a training ground in the northern island of Hokkaido on Tuesday. The Japanese military usually conducts its surface-to-ship missile drills at bases in the United States, but those training sessions are costly with the number of personnel who can participate often limited. "Domestic live-fire exercises like this one provide training opportunities for more troops," top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular press conference Wednesday. Such drills are "extremely important for us to maintain and improve the capability to defend islands and other areas, given the current severe security environment", he said. He stressed that the exercise was not aimed at any specific nation, but Japan has previously called neighbouring China its greatest security challenge as Beijing builds up military capacity in the region.
