The new order comes around two months after Abe told President Donald Trump that American military equipment would be "important to strengthen Japan's defences." In this file photo, Japan's Maritime Self Defense Forces helicopter carrier Izumo sails out its Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, on May 1, 2017. This is in addition to the 42 planes already purchased in the country's initial F-35 order. The news comes alongside Japan's fresh order of American stealth fighter jets-100 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft at a cost of more than $8.8 billion. "It's desirable that the Izumo can be used for multiple purposes," defense minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters this week, according to The Guardian. The class's lead ship, the JS Izumo, is the first vessel that will be modified. The ships can currently host 14 helicopters. The Japan Times suggested the government will upgrade at least one of its two existing 813-foot Izumo-class helicopter carriers to allow it to carry and launch fighter jets. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly voiced his desire to change the constitution to remove existing limitations on the role of the Japanese military. Past governments have refused to consider carrier acquisitions, arguing that such vessels could be interpreted as inherently offensive weapons, given their capacity for force projection far from homeland bases. Japan's post-World War Two constitution specifies that the country's military may only be used in a defensive role, a limitation designed to avoid a return to the country's wartime expansionism. New defense guidelines-set to be released next month-will include a plan for Japan to acquire at least one aircraft carrier, The Guardian reported.
Japan will begin work on its first aircraft carrier since World War Two as Tokyo nervously eyes Chinese naval expansion in the Pacific.
0 kommentar(er)
