Japanese submarine conducts first drills in South China Sea

[endicom]

Yahoo!
Reuters
Sept. 17, 2018

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese submarine has for the first time joined a naval drill in the South China Sea, the Ministry of Defence said on Monday, in an expansion of Japanese activity in the disputed waterway claimed by China and others.

The submarine Kuroshio took part in the exercise on Thursday with other Japanese warships, including the Kaga helicopter carrier, which is on a two-month tour of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, a ministry spokesman said.

It was the first time a Japanese submarine had conducted drills there.

More... https://www.yahoo.com/news/japanese-submarine-conducts-first-drills-south-china-sea-034321356.html

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

Good!

[Absalom]

The news provokes this reflection.
At the turn of the 20th century, Czarist Russia, a nation/state, some 50x
the size of Japan, in land mass and population; decided to teach those
uppity Japs a lesson as to who wore the big boy pants on the Pacific Rim.
So in 1905, they sent their Grand Fleet to do Battle in the Strait of
Tsushima, adjacent to the Korean Peninsula.
Togo (yes him) sank 35 of those Russian Warships along w/their crews
exceeding 40,000 sailors and crippled the rest!
Pass that on to the next bozo who insists that China is the coming world
power who will stomp anyone who gets in their way.

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

After WWII their constitution limits the size of their armed forces to only a defensive capability.

These 2 are billed as helicopter carriers.

They're built to carry F-35s.

! No longer available

Japan currently owns 42 F-35s, and they're working toward getting 25 more of them over the next 6 years.

[thackney]

After WWII their constitution limits the size of their armed forces to only a defensive capability.

These 2 are billed as helicopter carriers.

They're built to carry F-35s.

! No longer available

Japan currently owns 42 F-35s, and they're working toward getting 25 more of them over the next 6 years.

Japan bought F-35As.  To use the helicopter carrier, they would need F-35Bs with the VTOL capabilities.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-defence-f35-exclusive/exclusive-japan-to-buy-at-least-20-more-f-35a-stealth-fighters-sources-idUSKCN1G507W