Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Image credits- Flickr/ United States navy Official Page Source- The Diplomat Author- Clint Richards Both Japanese and U.S. officials are leaking key pieces of information regarding the expected update to their defense cooperation guidelines, which was set to be announced by the end of this year. After releasing an interim report two weeks ago to outline the progress both sides have made so far, on Tuesday the allies said they are currently negotiating a meeting of their defense chiefs sometime next month. U.S. Secretary of State Chuck Hagel and his Japanese counterpart Akinori Eto will seek to hold a sideline meeting during the ASEAN defense minister’s summit on November 18 and 19, where authorities announced the two will discuss accelerating the revision process. Aside from their cooperation guidelines, the two are likely to also reaffirm the controversial plan to move the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station to a its new location of Henoko on the island of Okinawa. Ja

JS Izumo ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Dragoner JP) During his visit to San Diego, Itsunori Onodera, Japan's defense minister, inspected US amphibious assault ships, indicating Japan may be mulling introducing the ships to defend the disputed Diaoyutai (Senkaku or Diaoyu) islands against a potential attack from the People's Liberation Army, according to the Tokyo-based Kyodo News. The website of China's nationalistic Global Times, on the other hand, stated that Japan is buying military equipment under the guise of concerns over the disputed East China Sea islands, while in reality they are using this as an excuse to equip the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force at a time when Japan's government has reinterpreted its pacifist postwar constitution to loosen the country's restrictions on the use of its armed forces. Onodera was reportedly very interested in amphibious assault ships, saying that they are useful in disaster rescue missions. The Wasp-class a

RQ-4 Global Hawk ( Pic courtesy- Wikimedia commons/US Navy) With additional North Korean saber-rattling on Saturday and China  pushing against its South China Sea boundaries  last week, Japan and the U.S. have announced a plan to increase drone patrols over North Korea and the East China Sea  starting later this month . The U.S. will deploy two Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles from Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces plans to acquire three of those same UAVs from 2015. While the Japanese procurement  and the  stationing of both countries UAVs  in Misawa have been known since January this year, regional tensions have prompted officials to be more vocal about their intended use. A senior Self-Defense Force official said the drones, “will be effective in surveying the activities of North Korea and the Chinese military.” North Korea has been threatening a new round of nuclear tests since March, and on Saturday through its official KCNA

Image courtesy- Wikimedia commons and United States Army In a move that threatens to reverse the recent  signs of a burgeoning thaw  in China-Japan relations,  Japan will break ground Saturday  on a new military lookout station on Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost inhabited island. Yonaguni, which has a population of around 1,500, is located 108 kilometers east of Taiwan and 150 kilometers south of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. According to  Reuters,  with the new outpost, Yonaguni’s military presence will expand from two police officers to 100 soldiers and a radar outpost. A report in the  Ryukyu Shimpo  said that the base will be built on 25 hectares of land leased from Yonaguni to the Ministry of Defense. In return, the local government will receive around 15 million yen ($150,000) in rent each year. Construction will begin with the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, and is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2015. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Ono

Image courtesy- Reuters/ Toru Hanai U.S.-Japan naval cooperation has long been recognized as the critical core of the U.S.-Japan security relationship; the navies’ success in rebuffing the Soviet naval threat in the 1980s is legendary. The successful cooperation between the U.S. Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) even helped to buoy the broader alliance relationship, which was suffering at the time from trade-related and other economic challenges. The key elements that were so important to the naval relationship—strategic clarity, definitive roles and missions, and operational engagement—emanated from a strong and committed security alliance. As preparations are finalized for U.S. President Barack Obama’s upcoming trip to Japan, a reminder of what made these two navies so successful during a strategically challenging period of history can provide useful lessons. Today, the two navies once again find themselves on the front lines in the Asia-Pacific region as

JDS Congo- A Japanese Self defence Force Aegis class destroyer ( DDG-173) ( Pic Courtesy- Wikimedia Commons and United States Navy) Japan’s defense minister has ordered the Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF) to shoot down any North Korean ballistic missiles that are tested in the coming weeks,  Reuters  reported on Saturday. According to the  Reuters  report, which cited an unidentified government source, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera issued the order on Thursday, which directed the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces (JMSDF) to shoot down any missiles that North Korea launches between April 3 and April 25. An Aegis destroyer has been deployed to the Sea of Japan to carry out the order, the report said. Defense Minister Onodera’s order comes as tensions steadily escalate on the Korean Peninsula.  As  The Diplomat  previously reported , North Korea tested two Rodong-class (Nodong) mid-range ballistic missiles last week in what was its longest range missile test

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201401070039

http://japandailypress.com/chinese-state-run-media-states-japan-is-prime-target-of-air-defense-zone-2940331/

http://japandailypress.com/pm-abe-says-japan-will-respond-firmly-to-chinas-air-zone-issue-2940340/

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/336894/news/world/us-japan-slam-china-s-destabilizing-move-on-east-china-sea-airspace

http://patdollard.com/2013/11/china-and-japan-move-closer-to-war