Recent reports imply that Japan plans to introduce a new long-diversity cruise missile capability into its existing submarine fleet, or long-term submarines, with a weapon that would have a diversity of more than 620 miles and would be deployed from the moment part of the local missile would provide japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, or JMSDF, a new distancing capability to attack enemy surface warships and land targets and is obviously noted as a possible counterattack to counter developing threats from China and North Korea.
An article in the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun quotes several anonymous government officials verifying that Tokyo is the option of equipping existing and/or long-term JMSDF submarines with long-diversity cruise missiles, derived from the Type 12 anti-ship subsonic missile already in service with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, or JGSDF, and has a diversity of about 124 miles in its current form. At this stage, the characteristics for the vertical release formula (VLS) and torpedo launch tubes for the new missile are being studied. Currently, the JMSDF does not have a VLS submarine in service. There is also no verification of the length of the warehouse’s planned capacity for missile-armed submarines.
Test firing of a Type 12 anti-ship missile of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces.
The Yomiuri Shimbun report highlights the possibility of JMSDF submarines armed with the new cruise missiles hitting targets on the ground, namely “enemy missile launch bases for self-defense purposes. “However, an accompanying graphic shows a submerged submarine employing the same weapon to also aim a hostile surface fighter. In fact, the article suggests that the anti-ship edition of the missile would be brought in first, “to counterattack enemy ships from outside the diversity of the adversary’s missiles,” before the same weapon is more suitable for “attacking enemy bases in the future. . . “Ultimately, it is highly likely that only one missile would be provided for anti-ship and ground attack functions, as is the case with the Norwegian-designed Tomahawk Block IV, or Joint Stike Missile (JSM), which Japan acquired for its F-35 stealth aircraft.
The emphasis on “self-defense” reflects the Japanese military’s desire to frame at least such functions in the context of the country’s constitution, which excludes any offensive action. However, the truth around this provision is deteriorating, with important recent developments. adding the acceptance of fixed-wing aircraft carriers.
No exact timeline has been revealed for the progression of the new long-range cruise missile, the expected access in service towards the end of this decade proves ambitious, especially since the vlS boxes deserve to be adapted to existing ships, if the area allows it or in a different way installed on submarines yet to be launched. It should be noted that South Korea is reportedly running Dosan Ahn Changho-class submarines under construction with gradually higher VLS cells, starting with six and up to 10, which will house cruise missiles or ballistic missiles. This type of step-by-step technique may also be an option for Japan, just as it can opt for torpedo missiles on older ships and VLS on newly built hulls.
JMSDF submarines already feature Harpoon anti-ship missiles that are introduced from torpedo tubes, but they have a much shorter diversity than expected for the new weapon and have no ground attack capability. can reach goals of up to 80 miles.
The report says Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aims to incorporate the “ability to attack enemy bases” into the country’s next national security strategy, to be published no later than next year, which will set Tokyo’s medium- and long-term rules for defense and submarine-launched missiles would be a way to achieve this goal. With the JMSDF operating a fleet of 22 conventionally powered submarines, and with at least two more to be added in the future, there are potentially many hulls that can.
On the other hand, work is already underway to make the diversity of the truck-launched Type 12 anti-ship missile greater, as well as to adapt it to an air launch imaginable through the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF, of the F-15J fighter jets, as a component of an upgrade of those aircraft.
Artist’s impression of a Japanese F-15J enhanced with an AGM-158 air-to-surface (JASSM) joint missile in its midline. This is an option for a long-range missile that can be added as a component of the F-15J upgrade. .
Initial paintings on a long-diversity Type 12 began in fiscal year 2018, but in December last year it was reported that Tokyo had to embark on a similar redesign of the missile, adding larger flight surfaces and a powertrain optimized for high-altitude flights. as well as more fuel. This would increase the diversity of the existing 124 miles to 560 miles and, later, up to 930 miles. Even with the initial diversity extension, the new weapon would fall into roughly the same category as required for the new cruise missile It is vital to note that the revised Type 12 could also hit targets on the ground and there are also plans to incorporate measures to decrease the effective cross-section of the radar, which makes it more difficult to detect At the time, there was no indication that this type 12 with prolonged diversity was also planned for submarine launches.
However, paintings on those Type 12 revisions will take place between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, which would also have compatibility with the schedule required for the submarine-launched cruise missile.
The Ground-Launched Type 12 Anti-Ship Missile:
A dual-function long-range cruise missile would be of an abundant price for the JMSDF, as it faces a developing fleet of Chinese surface warships. and the East China Sea – the latter is home to a long-standing dispute over ownership of a chain of uninhabited islands – has risen in recent years and now includes carrier battle groups.
At the same time, the new weapon’s ground attack configuration would allow Japan to strike critical ground targets, such as the proliferation of ballistic missile functions in China and North Korea. The latter country, on several occasions, has introduced ballistic missiles capable of achieving Japan in the waters off that country. Other critical army and command infrastructure, as well as air bases and air defense sites, would likely be the targets of JSMDF’s long-range cruise missiles in times of conflict.
If China or North Korea attempt to attack Japan, a submarine-based land-attack cruise missile capability provides a much more reliable way to launch a counterattack, even if a large number of aircraft and surface ships have already been hit in the first enemy attack. . . Efficiency would be improved not only by the gigantic length of the JMSDF’s submarine fleet, but also by the fact that it operates some of the most complex conventional propulsion ships in service in the world, and among the quietest, adding a propulsion device founded around the lithium-ion batteries of the latest ships.
Japan’s most complex submarine, the Taigei, is unveiled in October 2020 in the city of Kobe.
However, given the adjustments made to the Type 12, it turns out that the paints on the production of a long-range cruise missile are already advanced. There are also unconfirmed reports that taigei-elegance’s lead shipment can also be planned for use as a control submarine, to assess the viability of VLS or tube-launched cruise missiles. It turns out that a hull segment corresponding to the dimensions of Taigei elegance was observed at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe with an enlarged upper component that possibly feared the testing of a VLS installation.
Japan has also looked in the afterlife to a popular acquisition of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States, which we talked about in 2017. The plan was to use those missiles as retaliatory weapons against North Korea’s missile launchers and launch facilities. at least one component of the expected long-range cruise missile project, Japanese tomahawk plans envisaged obtaining an edition of the missile launched by a surface ship, rather than a little-launched edition. , the Block IV edition of the missile turns out to perfectly meet Japanese requirements.
In addition to adding a new logo for the floor attack project to the submarine fleet, the advent of such a weapon with the ability to attack far beyond Japan’s territorial borders would again sign the continued abandonment of the classic purely “defensive” nature of its army. It is possible that the same missile will also be easily adapted for launch from VLS cells aboard JMSDF surface warships. The ranged attack functions as a component of the submarine force and the armed forces in general.
Contact the author: thomas@thedrive. com