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海上自衛隊
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| Sailors | 45,800 (2003 est.)
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| Major Surface Combatants | 146 (2003 est.)
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| Fixed Wing Aircraft | 179
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| Helicopters | 135
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The , or , is the maritime branch of the
Japanese Self-Defense Force , tasked with the naval defense of Japan and formed following the dissolution of the
Imperial Japanese Navy after
World War II . The force is based strictly on defensive armament, lacking the offensive weapons typically handled by naval forces of equivalent size. Currently, its main tasks are to maintain control of the nation's sea lanes and to patrol territorial waters. Recently it has also stepped up its participation in UN-led
Peacekeeping operations (PKOs).
The Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) had an authorized strength of 46,000 and maintains some 45,800 personnel and operates 146 major combatants, including twenty one
Submarines , fifty-five destroyers and frigates, thirty-three mine warfare ships and boats, nine patrol craft, and nine amphibious ships. It also flys some 179 fixed-wing aircraft and 135 helicopters. Most of these aircraft were used in antisubmarine and
Mine warfare operations.
1
The
Ship Prefix for JMSDF ships is (JMSDF Defense Ship).
stand in ranks after docking in Pearl Harbor.]]
Following the defeat of Japan during World War II, the
Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved. In the
1947 Constitution ,
Article 9 specified that "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes." Over the years, the Japanese people have debated over whether this article allows for military forces to be kept for the purposes of self-defense, with the vast majority agreeing. Furthermore, due to the
Cold War , Japan's greatest ally, the
United States , was also agreeable to the Japanese government providing for a part of its own defense instead of fully relying on American forces. The JMSDF was then formed as the naval branch of the
Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) following the passage of the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Law.
The first ships in the JMSDF were former
US Navy destroyers, transferred to Japanese control in 1954. In 1956, the JMSDF received its first domestically produced destroyer since World War II, the Harukaze. Throughout the Cold War, due to the size and power of the
Soviet Navy 's submarine forces, the JMSDF was tasked primarily an anti-submarine role. It mainly used its large force of
Destroyers ,
Frigates and anti-submarine warfare (ASW)
Helicopters for this.
Following the end of the Cold War, the role of the JMSDF has been vastly changed. Starting with a mission to
Cambodia in
1993 , it has been active in a number of
United Nations -led peace keeping operations throughout Asia. In 1993, it commissioned its first
Aegis destroyer, the DD173
Kongo . Following an increase in tensions with North Korea following the 1993 test of the
Nodong-1 missile, the JMSDF has also stepped up its role in theater
Air Defense of Japan. It has also been active in many joint naval exercises with the United States. During the US-led
Operation Enduring Freedom , the JMSDF dispatched a number of its destroyers on a rotating schedule to the
Indian Ocean in an escort role for allied vessels.
The JMSDF is known in particular for its mineclearing capability. MSDF training emphasizes both antisubmarine and antiaircraft warfare. Defense planners believe the most effective approach to combating submarines entails mobilizing all available weapons, including surface combatants, submarines, aircraft, and helicopters, and the numbers and armament of these weapons were increased in the Mid-Term Defense Estimate. A critical weakness remains, however, in the ability to defend such weapons against air attack. Because most of the MSDF's air arm is detailed to antisubmarine warfare, the
ASDF has to be relied on to provide air cover, an objective that competes unsuccessfully with the ASDF's primary mission of air defense of the home islands. Extended patrols over sea lanes are also beyond the ASDF's capabilities. The fleet's capacity to provide ship-based anti-air-attack protection is limited by the absence of aircraft carriers and the inadequate number of shipborne long-range surface-to-air missiles and close-range weapons. The fleet is also short of underway replenishment ships and seriously deficient in all areas of logistic support. These weaknesses seriously compromise the ability of the MSDF to fulfill its mission and to operate independently of the
United States Air Force and the
United States Seventh Fleet . In
August 2003 , a new "helicopter destroyer" class was requested; the size of the class has most non-MSDF analysts referring to it as a "helicopter carrier", which is problematic as carriers are prohibited by the pacifist constitutions, which consider carriers to be an offensive weapon.
The MSDF is commanded by the chief of the maritime staff and includes the maritime staff office, the self-defense fleet, five regional district commands, the air-training squadron and various support units, such as hospitals and schools. The maritime staff office, located in
Tokyo , serves the chief of staff in command and supervision of the force. The self-defense fleet, headquartered at
Yokosuka , is charged with defense of all waters around the Japanese Archipelago. It commands four escort flotillas (two based in Yokosuka and one each in Sasebo and Maizuru), the fleet air force headquartered at Atsugi, two submarine flotillas based at Kure and Yokosuka, two mine-sweeping flotillas based at Kure and Yokosuka and the fleet training command at Yokosuka.
2 See section 2: "The Self Defense Forces"
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--Fleet Escort Force
--Fleet Air Force
--Fleet Submarine Force
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Each Escort force is formed as an 8-8 fleet of 8 destroyers and 8 on-board helicopters, a modification of the old Japanese Navy fleet layouts of 8 battleships and 8 cruisers. Each fleet is composed of one helicopter destroyer (DDH) acting as a command ship, two guided-missile destroyers (DDG) and 5 standard or ASW destroyers (DD).
- First Escort Force - Yokosuka
- Second Escort Force - Sasebo
- Third Escort Force - Maizuru
- Fourth Escort Force - Kure
Five district units act in concert with the fleet to guard the waters of their jurisdictions and provide shore-based support. Each district is home to a major JMSDF base and its supporting troops and staff. Furthermore, each district is home to one to two regional escort squadrons, composed of two to three destroyers or destroyer escorts (DE). The destroyers tend to be of older classes, mainly former escort force ships. The destroyer escorts, on the other hand, tend to be purpose built vessels. Each district also has a number of minesweeping ships.
The Fleet Air Force is tasked with patrol, ASW and rescue tasks. It is composed primarily of 7 aviation groups. Prominent bases are maintained at
Kanoya ,
Hachinohe ,
Atsugi ,
Naha ,
Tateyama ,
Oomura and
Iwakuni . The Fleet Air Force is built up mainly with patrol aircraft such as the
Lockheed P-3 Orion , rescue aircraft such as the
US-1A and helicopters such as the
SH-60J . In the JMSDF, helicopters deployed to each escort force are actually members of Fleet Air Force squadrons based on land.
Special Forces units consist of the following:
MSDF recruits receive three months of basic training followed by courses in patrol, gunnery, mine sweeping, convoy operations and maritime transportation. Flight students, all upper-secondary school graduates, enter a two-year course. Officer candidate schools offer six-month courses to qualified enlisted personnel and those who have completed flight school. Graduates of four-year universities, the four-year
National Defense Academy , and particularly outstanding enlisted personnel undergo a one-year officer course at the Officer Candidate School at
Eta Jima (site of the former Imperial Naval Academy). Special advanced courses for officers are also available in such fields as submarine duty and flight training. The MSDF operates its own staff college in Tokyo for senior officers.
The large volume of coastal commercial fishing and maritime traffic limits in-service sea training, especially in the relatively shallow waters required for mine laying, mine sweeping and submarine rescue practice. Training days are scheduled around slack fishing seasons in winter and summer—providing about ten days during the year. The MSDF maintains two oceangoing training ships and conducted annual long-distance on-the-job training for graduates of the one-year officer candidate school.
3 See section 2: "The Self Defense Forces"
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JDS Murasame '', ''
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