Considering Japan's military build-up, one must be very clear about two things. First, the Japanese lie in military matters. And second, they know how to show things not as they really are. Japan's military programs are an excellent illustration of both theses.
The format of a single article does not allow for a detailed analysis of what the Japanese really have and what they can get for themselves in a short (several months) time frame if political restrictions on military development are lifted. You will also have to leave the social prerequisites for what the Japanese are doing and what they are hiding outside the scope of the material.
Nevertheless, for the sake of interest, using the example of the Japanese aircraft carrier program, one can consider the difference between the reality of Japanese military construction and the "dust" that Japan truly brilliantly throws into the eyes of both allies and opponents.
In the modern world, it is almost impossible to hide significant facts. It is impossible in a society where everyone has a phone with a camera and the Internet, to hide an aircraft carrier or the transfer of an airborne division. Therefore, to mislead the enemy, the initiation of the so-called cognitive distortion is performed - a situation when the enemy sees reality, but his mind refuses to perceive it objectively. There are many examples in history. So, in June 1941, many Soviet commanders of units and formations not only knew that the war would begin literally the other day, but also knew the numbers of the opposing German divisions, the names of their commanders, heard at night the uniquely identifiable noise from mechanized formations being transferred to the border, saw the reconnaissance groups of the Germans - and still the enemy managed to achieve surprise. In 2015, all summer, the Internet was full of photos of Russian UAVs and soldiers in Syria, then a video of the transfer of aircraft, but Russia's open interference in this war came as a surprise to the world. Everyone saw everything … but did not believe.
As a result of the cognitive distortion supported by the Japanese, clichés are born: "The Japanese self-defense forces are an appendage to the US Armed Forces, incapable of independent action," "anti-submarine fleet" and the like. Behind these clichés, tests of medium-range ballistic missiles (under the guise of ultralight launch vehicles) are lost, and the already achieved technical superiority over the United States in light anti-ship missiles, the second largest anti-submarine aircraft in the world, a surface fleet, in terms of the number of warships in the oceanic zone, almost twice the size of all Russian fleets combined, preparations for the production of long-range cruise missiles and whatnot. The ability to build a reactor producing weapons-grade plutonium is also there, behind a veil of stereotypes. Although experts here know how it really is, the topic is still sensitive, and “about nine months before the bomb” were voiced where necessary for a long time …
Japan's aircraft carrier program is the clearest example of this cognitive distortion. The opinions that both ordinary people and even specialists have about her, as a rule, disagree with reality completely and reflect not her itself, but that simulacrum with which the Japanese are trying to cover up their preparations. The clearest example of what point of view Japan is trying to "push through to the masses" is a fresh article by Dmitry Verkhoturov "Japan already has an aircraft carrier" … It certainly deserves to be familiarized with it - this is the same distorted version of reality in which the Japanese made Dmitry Verkhoturov believe, and, frankly, most of humanity.
Now let's look at what reality looks like.
Back in the late nineties, it became obvious to the "elites" of Japanese society that the Japanese as a people had collapsed into a severe systemic crisis. And it was not about the economy. It was about the fact that the development of the Japanese as a nation stopped, that society as a whole took the path of degradation, at the end of which death. Infantilism, degeneration, demographic crisis, unwillingness to fight for a better life were just some of the particular symptoms. If for the Japanese youth of the past the value was high-quality education, work and family, and earlier, in the days before the Second World War, also military service, then by the end of the twentieth century, the "fire went out", the nation's forces ended. Young people were mired in children's entertainment, the average age of the population was growing rapidly, the birth rate was falling. This, in general, is the case now.
One of the consequences of all this was the emergence of an interesting document - "Japan's Goals in the 21st Century", from which it clearly followed - in order not to lose competitiveness (and not only industrial) in the future, the Japanese need to raise the quality of their human potential. Improving people. People were considered by the authors of the report as the very "decisive link", pulling on which you can pull out the entire chain.
And then the rapid militarization began. It is difficult to say what the mechanism for making decisions by the Japanese was, but let's give them their due - without militarization, people who have completely lost their desire to live cannot be made a fighting nation. And without a fighting spirit, there are no victories or achievements, only defeats and not necessarily military ones. A military threat, like military romance, stimulates emotions, generates self-confidence, and, as a result, makes a person both stronger and more active. What was and is necessary.
One of the aspects of the beginning militarization was the beginning of work on the revival of the aircraft carrier fleet, which began at the same time, in the late nineties. Indeed, for an island state, military force is a fleet, and what kind of a fleet is without aircraft carriers? Everything was natural.
However, here it was necessary to somehow get around the factor of American "masters". The Gaijins, who defeated the Yamato country and occupied all of its territory at one time, called themselves "allies", but they were more masters than allies. The Americans remembered very well how many problems they had with technologically inferior Japan. It is difficult to say how they would have estimated the full-scale renaissance of the Japanese war machine, and the Japanese did not risk it. There are arms spheres in which the Americans not only do not hinder their allies, but openly help and stimulate them. One of these types of weapons is light escort aircraft carriers.
In the 70s, the commander of US naval operations, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, proposed to recreate the concept of an escort aircraft carrier at a new technical level. It was the famous Sea Control Ship project - a marine control ship. Its tasks were simple - to protect convoys with military cargo and troops from Soviet submarines in the Atlantic using deck-mounted anti-submarine helicopters, and if Tu-95 RC appears on the horizon, or a hypothetical long-range missile carrier (they later appeared), then deck-based Harriers had to deal with him. The Congress did not give money for this undertaking to Zumvalt, but the elaborated project went to Spain, which built its "Prince of Asturias" on its basis. Before that, back in 1967, the Americans handed over to Spain the light aircraft carrier Cabot during the Second World War, which served the Spaniards until 1989. By the 1980s, the British had built a series of light aircraft carriers, and the Italians had built a Garibaldi-like SCS, so there was no one to work in the Atlantic without the SCS.
In the early 2000s, massive arms shipments to China from Russia were already a fact, the strengthening of China was already quite visible and the construction of a light anti-submarine ship, declared as a helicopter-destroyer, did not cause any concerns among the “owners”. And so that it did not cause any fears among potential enemies, the Japanese took care in a very peculiar way.
In 2006, the lead ship 16DDH “Hyuga” was laid down. And in 2009 he was introduced to the combat strength of the Naval Self-Defense Forces.
The Japanese announced an air group of 4 helicopters. This caused a lot of bewilderment on the part of observers - a ship with a total displacement of 18,000 tons, a through flight deck, two helicopter lifts and only four helicopters as the main weapon looked strange. The Japanese, however, shrugged their shoulders and said something like the following: “We are a peaceful country, and we refused to resolve issues with the help of force. Therefore, it should not be surprising that we have only four helicopters on such a ship. For peacetime tasks, more is not needed, but in case Japan is attacked, then we can add a certain number of helicopters. Maybe twelve or maybe fourteen - depending on which helicopters. Yes, and we must understand that we have crew quarters there for the landing, and they require internal volumes. All in all, don't worry. This is a small ship, it cannot threaten anyone, although indeed, it will be able to carry more helicopters, if necessary. Approximately this point of view literally spread from the Japanese specialized press further, through English-language reference books and then everywhere. Yes, and the ship did not have a springboard, and Japan did not have vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and did not intend to purchase.
A year later, the Japanese showed an image of their future larger ship - the "Izumo" class ("Izumo"). And immediately a rumor was spread that this project might be capable of carrying airplanes, and that this is the case for the Hyuga, training. Will insure ships with its anti-submarine helicopters. This distracted attention from the Hyuga and his sister ship Ise.
This is approximately how the public evaluates this ship to this day. The Japanese have achieved that this point of view on their "destroyer" has become dominant, they even take all photos of this ship from such an angle that its size is rather difficult to estimate. Although they are even on Wikipedia, who will watch them there …
But we will try to estimate the dimensions and look at the reference materials. We look at the picture.
And the veil falls! The Hyuga is quite a large and full-fledged aircraft carrier ship. In this image, he is perceived as exactly the same as the British "war hero" in the Falklands - "Invincible-class". The very type of ships that provided the Britons with the possibility of transcontinental war on the other side of the planet relative to their home territory. Indeed, the Hiyuga is just slightly smaller than the Invincible. But a considerable air group can be based on the latter.
For comparison, the Thai "Chakri Narubet" is added in the previous image - the latest reincarnation of the SCS. Here it is - a small one, carrying eight planes in total. The Hyuga is substantially larger.
So it turns out that these ships were built as full-fledged aircraft carriers? Almost. In order for the F-35B to take off from the Hyugi, they need to cover the deck with a heat-resistant coating, as the Americans had to do on the Wasp-class UDC, and mount the springboard, as the British did. After that, the F-35B will calmly and without problems start from this ship and land on it. Ideally, you still need a gas stop at the launch position, then the parking of aircraft behind the launch position will not interfere with takeoff. But how many of these aircraft can the ship carry?
To do this, let's pay attention to its hangar. According to Western sources, the dimensions of the Hyuga hangar are approximately 350x60x22 feet (0.3048 meters). This is almost the same as on the Wasps. Of these, about 60% of the area is available for storing aircraft outside the lifts, that is, an area of about 66x18 meters (the exact dimensions are unknown). The F-35B's wings do not fold, their wingspan is just under 11 meters. The length of the aircraft is 15.6 meters. In a rectangle of 22x18 meters, you can put 2 such aircraft in a checkerboard pattern, "nose to wing". At the same time, there will be enough space around for walking and carrying tools and equipment, including bulky ones. More dense placement options are also possible. In total, outside the lifts, you can put at least 6 F-35s. deck parking. With it, more aircraft are taken on the ship than can fit in the hangar, and some of the aircraft are always on the deck. On the deck of "Hyugi" you can "register" up to four F-35B, and for another two or three helicopters with folded blades, space will remain (in front of the island). Or an F-35B and a helicopter.
Thus, after the installation of a springboard and a gas baffle (which is never a problem for the Japanese shipbuilding industry) and the resurfacing of the deck cover (the destructive power of the F-35B exhaust at one time came as a surprise to everyone), the Hyuga will be able to carry up to 10-11 fighters and 2 -3 helicopters. Quite a full-fledged escort, and even with 16 missile cells, GAS, torpedo tubes and Falanx anti-aircraft guns. One such ship will be able to cover the transoceanic passage of a rather large convoy, depending on the composition of the air group (proportions between PLO helicopters and fighters), and will be able to intercept enemy patrol aircraft, fight aerial reconnaissance, and sink single ships or their small groups with air strikes. For the KPUG from the Chinese corvettes of the 056 project, this ship will become just a scourge of God. Its firepower is sufficient to support a small amphibious operation, say, on a battalion scale. A pair of such ships is already integral half of the Russian air group in Syria in terms of air power.
The Hiyuga entered service in 2009, and the Ise sister ship in 2011. It was during these years that Japan, in fact, acquired an aircraft carrier fleet. I just didn't tell anyone about it. After all, it won't take long to put up the jumps and rebuild the deck. And the gas stop is easy to make. The question was only about buying planes, in fact, but where should they be in a hurry in 2011?
It's funny, but the first, who could not keep their mouths shut, were toy manufacturers. Pictured below is a joint image of the Hyugi with the F-35B and the British Harrier at the correct scale for publicity purposes. Toy, but appreciate the scale, as they say.
Nevertheless, these were "trial balloons" - to wage a serious war with such ships is inconvenient and difficult, you need more.
A year after the delivery of the Ise, the Japanese laid down the lead ship of the new class Izumo. This time the ship was much larger. The lead aircraft carrier was handed over to the customer in 2015, and its sister ship "Kaga" flew under the flag with the rising sun in 2017. According to Jane's (now worn out from everywhere), the ship could carry up to 28 aircraft of various types. But the Japanese again announced that there would be nine of them, and that it would only be helicopters. And again, the same song: "We are a peaceful country …", 3/4 photo on which it is difficult to estimate the size of the ship.
But the truth cannot be hidden.
The ship is already really big, and it is possible that the Japanese lied about the displacement. A pure helicopter deck is ridiculous for such a giant.
And this year, more recently, the Japanese finally admitted that, yes, they would convert it into an aircraft carrier. Up to ten F-35Bs the ship will supposedly be able to carry … but we've already heard about four helicopters on the Hyuga, right?
We look at the hangar on "Izumo". Feet approximately 550x80x22. This is double that of Wasp. At the same time, the aft lift is made along the side and does not take up storage space for the aircraft. Having measured the hangar in the same way as on the Hiyuga, we come to the conclusion that at least 14 F-35Bs can be placed in its hangar, and again without crowding. And if you stuff them there wing to wing, then maybe more. A quick glance at the deck reveals about 6 or 8 more planes and 4-6 helicopters. This is about the same as that of the Wasp and this is logical, since the ships are almost the same in size, only the Wasp will have to store more equipment on the deck.
Thus, even a superficial analysis shows that in reality Japan is preparing right now to receive a pair of aircraft carriers, each of which will have twenty fighters and a certain number of helicopters, and has two more potential aircraft carriers of auxiliary classes in reserve.
It is worth noting that the forty short takeoff / vertical landing fighters announced to be purchased by Japan are just two air groups for the Izumo pair, and the Japanese are out of the question for now. They are a peaceful country. Just a little later, when everyone gets used to Izumo …
So the Japanese have potentially four aircraft carriers, including two light ones and a couple of, relatively speaking, "medium" ones. The latter will appear in their present guise very soon.
However, one must understand that two or four Japanese aircraft carriers are just the spearhead of Japanese air power. The spear itself is on the islands, and is not limited to carrier-based aircraft. Currently, the Air Force of the Self-Defense Forces has more than seventy deeply modernized Phantom F-4 fighter-bombers, each of which is capable of carrying a pair of Japanese ASM-1 or ASM-2 anti-ship missiles, the first of which is roughly similar to the Russian X-35 or the American anti-ship missile "Harpoon", and the second is similar to the first, with the exception of the guidance system, it uses infrared guidance instead of the radar seeker. Recently, the Japanese demonstrated a new generation of missiles in the same dimensions and with the same range - the experienced supersonic "three-speed" XASM-3. In the near future, they should begin to enter the combat units.
There are also sixty-two newer Mitsubishi F-2 multipurpose fighters, a further development of the American F-16. These aircraft are capable of carrying up to four anti-ship missiles, a pair of outboard fuel tanks simultaneously with air-to-air missiles for self-defense.
When conducting an offensive war over the sea, air groups from aircraft carriers are able to conduct aerial reconnaissance over a large area, detect enemy ship strike groups (in the case of China, aircraft carrier ones), destroy ships put on radar patrol, give continuous target designation for coastal aircraft, which will strike at the target with hundreds of anti-ship missiles. And the deckmen will record the result of the blow and finish off the survivors with bombs if necessary. For the mosquito fleet, a couple of dozen F-35Bs will be just a terrible threat, the Iranian operation "Pearl" in 1980 clearly showed what a terrible danger even a small number of aircraft pose to a small fleet. Landing ships, supply transports, individual warships, outdated warships, airborne troops on the coast, stationary objects - all this for an air group of a couple of dozen fifth generation fighters - easy targets, even despite the shortcomings of the F-35B as a combat aircraft …
In addition, the capabilities of this vehicle for targeting missile weapons and intercepting air targets (for example, attack aircraft attacking the Japanese KUG, hung with missiles and unable to maneuver) should not be underestimated. And for strikes against surface targets, coastal aircraft directed by the air group are quite suitable. In the course of their attacks, the decks may well carry out a false attack, drawing on the enemy's aviation or attention, and intensify their attack with their own, from a different course, and carry out an escort and take over the enemy's interceptors. They are also able to "cover" their missile salvo from URO ships or close the sky over the water area for enemy anti-submarine aviation, providing comfortable conditions for the operations of their submarines.
And of course, its own anti-submarine aviation will work quite calmly over the areas of operations of carrier-based fighters. Closer to the coast, base fighters would have escorted it, but at a great distance this is inconvenient, air refueling will be required, and Japan has few tankers, and for them there will be more important work. And then the deck ships, very useful.
In fact, even with a pair of re-equipped Izumos, Japan is already capable of carrying out an operation comparable to the British war for the Falklands. Only supply ships are missing, and one or two more landing ships are needed. Or to land troops on the Hyugi and deploy combat helicopters on them to support him - there is a place there. And that's all, you just need to retrofit both Izumos as promised.
And we still fantasize about the fact that "nothing can be done without the Americans."
This is how reality differs from Japanese mirages. Militarism in Japan, by the way, is slowly growing. So, the manga (don't laugh) about the battles of the Japanese aircraft carrier strike group against the Chinese has gained serious popularity. They even make a film on it. And the central "hero" is the DDH-192, a fictional Izumo-class aircraft carrier converted to be based on the F-35B.
However, the real aircraft carrier "Izumo" may look somehow different.
Of course, such militarism still evokes laughter. True, the Japanese have already participated in military operations abroad, and Abe recently hosted a very large-scale military parade … but the Japanese are doing all this very slowly, without attracting attention. After all, they need those around them not to see all these changes, but to continue to see that old reality, which will soon begin its "departure". So that no one worries. "We are a peaceful country …"
They do everything quietly. Without attracting attention, diverting other people's views in the direction they need, and skillfully using cognitive techniques to influence people's consciousness. Are you taking into account four Japanese aircraft carriers? And they are. And so in everything. And the Americans are not at all opposed to the country of the rising sun reviving the samurai spirit. After all, there is a battle with China ahead. And in it, such an ally will be very appropriate.
And our analysts can fantasize about future battles between the Japanese and the Chinese for the Senkaku Islands. After all, the maximum tension between Japan and China is precisely the issue of the islands. And the Japanese are clearly preparing to confront them.
Unless you take into account a couple of important facts. First, the Japanese lie about military matters. And the second: they know how to show things not as they really are.
