Such a quiet Japanese pool
For what I love my regular readers, it is because they will not let me die in peace. Yes, I wrote a review of Japanese fleet and its capabilities, compared with others. And then a non-intrusive letter like this: why don't we talk about the Japanese ground army?
Indeed, here you can not argue. Moreover, already at the twentieth minute of reading about the Japanese self-defense forces, you begin to gradually end up being surprised and realize that these are not self-defense forces, but the army itself.
The only surprise is that, having a completely peaceful Constitution, Japan somehow so imperceptibly ended up in sixth (!!!) place in the world in terms of the military budget.
Moreover, in the Asia-Pacific region, the country confidently ranks second after the United States in the list of countries participating in the anti-Chinese coalition. We have already analyzed the Japanese fleet, it is a very progressive structure. In general, Japan has confidently embarked on the path of militarization, and in this one can safely acknowledge the merits of the current Prime Minister of the country, Fumio Kishida, who has already replaced more than one ministerial chair. The current prime minister began to "help" the country's politicians (by the way, Kishida is an analogue of our Zhirinovsky, only younger) back in 2007, when he became Minister of the Northern Territories. This is how the Kurils are called in Japan.
As a result, by the time Kishida came to power, the soil was not only prepared, the sprouts were already sprouting with might and main.
And the fact that on December 6, a full-scale exercise began in Hokkaido with the involvement of dozens tanks and self-propelled guns, MLRS, thousands of soldiers, no one was particularly surprised.
Yes, in Hokkaido. On the island, from which to Sakhalin 43 km through the La Perouse Strait, and to Kunashir Island through the Treason Strait - 25 km.
And the teachings, which are not really talking about something like that, rather, make you think. After all, as soon as Russia starts any movement of troops on the border with Ukraine or the Baltic states there, a cat's throat begins in the West on the theme that soon Russia will begin to seize these territories.
The question arises: what, by analogy, should Russia think and how to react to Japanese exercises near Russian territory?
It is worth making a comment here about what the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are. If someone thinks that this is like our National Guard, then he is very mistaken. These are not at all police-border formations, this is the most that neither is the army.
However, it's time to look a little at the numbers.
Tanks. 1004 pieces, the newest "Type 10" more than a hundred. Plus about a hundred wheeled support vehicles with a 105 mm gun.
BMP and armored personnel carriers. 772 pcs.
Armored vehicles. More than 2 thousand.
Self-propelled and towed artillery. 542 barrels.
MLRS. 100 pieces.
Anti-aircraft missile systems. More than 300 pcs.
Aviation Japan is also a tough nut to crack.
Helicopters. About 200 different purposes.
Aircraft. About 200 Japanese-made F-15Js plus 16 F-35s, plus 42 more F-35s on request.
Agree, well, more than enough for the defense of the country. The whole question is - from whom?
In Japan itself, they believe that this is against the likely aggression of China and Russia. As proof - the passage of a detachment of ships from the PRC and the Russian Federation in the framework of the recent exercises. The hysteria in Japan was no quieter than the European one.
If we approach the problem of militarizing the country in this way, there are so many threats in East Asia, just make sure weapon Cook.
And nothing that many countries still remember the "exploits" of the Japanese military during the Second World War. And they have valid claims. The Japanese government believes that building up the power of the "self-defense forces" is the country's only path.
In Japan itself, opinions are mixed. The country has a very widespread pacifist movement, whose representatives believe that funds allocated for military purposes can be spent wisely. But revanchism is also strong, its supporters openly come out of the underground and declare that the issue of the Northern Territories must be resolved and resolved in any way and as soon as possible.
The government, which is now headed by Kishida, known for his revanchist positions, after the conservative Suga Yoshihide, can easily not only increase military spending, but do it significantly.
Nobuo Kishi, the current Minister of Defense, will definitely help him in this. By the way, the younger brother of Shinzo Abe, the man who has held the post of Prime Minister of Japan for the longest time. Kishi has a different surname, as he was brought up by relatives on the maternal side. It was Shizo Abe who began to amend the Constitution in 2014 in favor of strengthening the army, and who adopted a number of important documents after the constitutional amendment.
Of course, the question of citizens and their perception of such a situation is still open. It is clear that the citizens of Japan will need to be convinced that it is necessary to maintain the military budget at the proper level, and the armed forces should play an increasingly significant role in reinforcing the political ambitions of a revanchist sense.
But something tells that Kishi and Kishida can handle it.
In the meantime, Japan's "self-defense forces" are easily competing with the armed forces of countries such as France and Great Britain. Moreover, it is worth noting that Japan produces the bulk of the weapons itself, purchasing a very small amount, such as modern fighters and MLRS.
It remains only to clearly understand against whom all this militarization is directed. Japan's neighbors in the region are not very calm about this military construction. The memory of the "Blitzkrieg" that Japan staged at the beginning of World War II did not disappear from the memory of the inhabitants of those countries that the imperial army marched with a bloody scythe.
And in Japan itself, the consequences of the atomic bombings of Japanese cities are still remembered. The fact that Japan does not have a nuclear deterrent is not bad; imperial revanchist ambitions, moreover, backed up by a nuclear arsenal, are overkill.
The United States provides security for Japan in this regard, but the United States is quite far away. And the neighbors, some of which have nuclear weapons, are much closer.
Today, supporters of the transformation of the "self-defense forces" into the army say that it is simply necessary to strengthen the military potential, since there is a military threat from China and Russia. Accordingly, it is worth building up your military potential without looking back at the United States. Moreover, the United States has already demonstrated more than once how it can deal with an ally. Even with someone who is the first to enter the trenches of confrontation with China.
Pretty reasonable. In general, Japan, until the recent change of government, limited its military budget at 1% of GDP. And with such a budget, we got such an army and navy. Today, the revanchist prime minister Kishida says that he is ready to double the country's military budget and bring it to the standard of NATO countries, that is, up to 2% of GDP.
This is more than serious. With the existing budget, Japan's military industry has performed a miracle in the form of a modern navy. What the Japanese will be able to do by doubling the military budget, I really would not like to imagine. Today, the Japanese Navy can simply sweep away the Russian Pacific Fleet and it is quite normal to compete with the Chinese fleet.
And the beginning has already been made. Prime Minister Kishida's cabinet approved an additional budget of 770 billion yen ($ 6,8 billion) for fiscal 2022. Considering that the entire military budget of Japan in 2020 amounted to 49,1 billion dollars, it can be concluded that this is a significant amount even for Japan.
This money is planned to be spent on the creation of missile defense systems and the modernization and creation of new reconnaissance systems and airspace tracking.
It seems that Japan is planning to fight the entire region again. The Japanese dream of the Kuril Islands, they have problems with China near Senkaku Island, Japan has begun deploying its surface-to-air missiles on Yonaguni Island (the westernmost island of Japan), which is located only 110 kilometers from Taiwan, around which serious passions are also unfolding with the participation of the same USA and China.
We are used to seeing a threat from NATO member states or from countries from which waves of terrorist threats on religious grounds emanate. It is a fact.
However, just like that, from a quiet Japanese whirlpool, like a mythological creature from Japanese kappa mythology, a very impressive army appeared, which is not legally an army. But shells and missiles are not legally binding. They have a destructive force, before which all the codes of rules and laws easily succumb.
Plus, the army is backed up by an excellent fleet.
As a result, a new player with quite decent muscles. Who will be very difficult to convince that his aspirations are somewhat futile. The Japanese are very revanchist and see China and Russia exclusively as opponents. At least, such conclusions can be drawn by familiarizing yourself with the military websites of Japan itself.
Here is such a whirlpool. And if you follow Russian mythology, then nothing good emerged from the pool.
However, only problems emerged from the Japanese whirlpools.
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