Japan de jure ceases to exist as a peaceful power. The Department of National Defense is abolished and a standard ministry appears together with it, intelligence is established - as if it did not exist before, the army and navy become the army and the navy.
The Japanese army has always been a serious size. I was personally convinced of this by visiting the only tank division in it.
The 7th Panzer Division, which is part of the Northern Army of the SVSS, is stationed, naturally, in northern Japan - on the island of Hokkaido, south of Sapporo, on the territory of the Higashi Chitose military base. The base itself is one of the largest in the country, with more than 5,000 people serving on it, and tankers are part of the main contingent. Since 1954, the main task of the division has been "maintaining high combat readiness for the conduct of hostilities." Against who? I do not know. But the emblem on the tower of pride of the Japanese armored forces (that is, the 7th division) - the Type 90 tank - made me somewhat embarrassed. The island of Hokkaido, depicted on it very plausibly, looks like a launching pad for a bull frantically jumping somewhere to the northeast.
“Isn't this bull jumping in the direction of the“northern territories”, or even, God forbid, in the direction of our entire Far East?” We asked Lt. Col. Nakamura, who was accompanying us. After some reflection, the officer assured us that the bull is shaped, the island is also depicted in a very stylized manner, and in general, this emblem should not be taken too seriously - it "remained from the old times."
However, the second task facing the division amazed us even more: "protection, including the border, of the southern part of Hokkaido." Looking at the map, we realized that a tank barrier in this direction could be placed, most likely, on the path of the landing from Aomori, but there are no tanks in Aomori … from time to time he interceded in the outfit, "special attention in the protection and defense" was given to all directions. And rightly so: who knows where he is - this mysterious and insidious enemy?
What really inspired respect was the third part of the division's mission: "to assist the local population and civilian authorities in eliminating the consequences of natural disasters." In a land of earthquakes and typhoons, volcanic eruptions and typhoons, tank support may not be superfluous. And this help may be needed much sooner than a barrier on the southern coast of Hokkaido. For this, local residents love and respect tankers - it's not a secret.
In general, they tried not to hide military secrets from us in the 7th division. The regular structure of the division was revealed, military equipment was shown, a video recording the participation of tankers in the exercises was played. Is it that they were not allowed into the barracks, but that we there - in the Japanese barracks - would see something that would shock us more than Japan itself? Cool Japanese tankers? We saw them even without, excuse me, pants, because the base is the pride of the Japanese army - a particularly deep pool, where “you can even drown” and where only “brave Japanese tankers” can swim. Evil tongues say that in some places the depth of this pool reaches as much as 2 meters - I don’t know, I haven’t checked it.
The crew members themselves made a somewhat strange impression on us. Middle-aged people, many with a noticeable belly and simple, worker-peasant faces, they did not in any way resemble the brave descendants of the samurai and kamikaze, which we imagined them to be before. It seemed that ordinary Japanese hard workers had entered the service. Only they are dressed strangely - in green overalls and steel helmets, and even mobile phones on their belts dangle in khaki covers. Many also have fashionable trinkets on their phones: small tanks, soldiers, and other military paraphernalia.
The similarity with ordinary clerks and tractor drivers turned out to be economic: the initial salary of an ordinary tanker is 155 thousand yen, a senior officer like our Lieutenant Colonel Nakamura serves 400-500 thousand. Everything is like "free". The situation with vacations and overtime is the same: they seem to be there, but they are almost never used, usually walking 7 days a year, plus a "golden weekend" in May and the same amount at Christmas and New Years. More than half of the personnel are Hokkaido, many from Sapporo, but even if there are families, they do not go home - the service runs around the clock, there are bars and restaurants on the outskirts of Chitose, and it is easier to spend the night in the barracks. About 80 percent of the personnel serve under contracts with non-fixed terms: on the one hand, you can resign at any time, on the other, life-long employment.
The sad faces of the tankmen were somewhat alive when we were brought to the exhibition of the division's weapons. We were not allowed inside the combat vehicles, but we were allowed to sit on top without hindrance. Corporal Yamada gave a short lecture indicating the tactical and technical characteristics in front of each piece of equipment, and at the latter, the Type 87 combat reconnaissance vehicle froze with a pointer in hand, waiting for questions.
We didn’t know what to ask, so we went to the performance characteristics: “Tell me, why is it so high? It can be seen from afar. " The corporal thought for a second and ran after Lieutenant Colonel Nakamura. When they returned, they conferred for a while, after which the corporal reported: “There are tall trees in Japan. Can not see". The logic interested us: “Why on wheels and not on tracks? After all, caterpillars are more reliable. " Again a small meeting with each other and a clear report from the corporal: “These are Japanese wheels. Very reliable. Bullets do not break through. " “Well, well, - we got excited, - and she swims?”. This time the conference lasted longer, and finally, straightening up, the corporal announced: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel asked me to tell you that he is swimming, but slowly and if there is no high wave."
“Yeah, and it still flies - low-low, if there is no wind,” we sneered, but it was just a joke. The sky overhead was buzzing almost incessantly: fighters from a nearby air base now and then crossed the blue sky with St. Andrew's crosses turned inside out. Well, something, but the Japanese military training is going on in full. It doesn't matter who they call themselves - the army or the Self-Defense Forces. They are.
Main battle tank "Type 90": Crew 3 people, weight 50 tons, dimensions: length 9, 76 m; width 3, 4 m; height 2.34 m, cruising range: 350 km, armor: as per specification. Armament: 120-mm cannon, coaxial 7, 62-mm machine gun, 12, 7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun, two smoke grenade launchers Engine: direct injection diesel engine 102RU-10 with a capacity of 1500 hp Driving performance: max. highway speed 70 km / h; overcome ford 2 m; overcome wall up to 1 m; surmountable moat up to 2, 7 / V. Produced from 1986 to 2004.
Main battle tank "Type 74": Crew 4 people, weight: 38 tons, dimensions: length 9, 42 m; width 3.2 m; height 2, 48 m, cruising range: 470 km. Armor: 110 mm hull forehead. Armament: 105-mm cannon, coaxial 7, 62-mm machine gun and 1 2, 7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun, two smoke grenade launchers. Engine: diesel "Mitsubishi" 1 02R V-1 0 with liquid cooling capacity of 750 hp. with. Driving performance: max highway speed 55 km / h; overcome ford 1 m; overcome wall up to 1 m; surmountable moat up to 2, 7 m. Produced in 1974-1986.
Self-propelled howitzer "Type 75": weight - 25, 3 tons; speed -47 km / h; armament: 155-mm howitzer and 12, 7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun; power plant capacity - 450 hp; cruising range - 400 km; obstacles to be overcome: rise - 30 degrees, wall 1 m high, ditch 2, 7 m wide, ford 1 m deep; calculation - 6 people.
Combat reconnaissance vehicle "Type 87": weight - 14 tons; speed - up to 100 km / h; armament: 25-mm KVA cannon, 7, 62-mm machine gun, power plant power - 308 hp; cruising range - 500 km; length - 5990 mm, width - 2480 mm, height - 2800 mm; calculation - 5 people.
The Type 89 Infantry Fighting Vehicle is a further modification of the older Type 73 armored personnel carrier. For many years BMP "Type 89" was considered the best armored vehicle of this type in the world. Equipped with a two-man turret equipped with a 35 mm KDE cannon manufactured by Oerlicon Contraves (Italy), and a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun. A single launcher for anti-tank guided weapons with a projectile range of 4000 m is installed on the turret. Like all Japanese infantry fighting vehicles, the Type 89 vehicle is not exported. Produced since 1989.
35-mm twin SPAAG "Type 87": Produced by the concern "Mitsubishi" on the basis of MBT "74" (see above); main armament - automatic cannons GDF of the Swiss company "Oerlikon"; late 1980s).
