JAPAN SPACE DEFENCE

• SATELITTE
4 recce satellites (2 radar, 2 optical)

Note:  In a shift little noticed outside professional military circles, in the last decade Japan has quietly developed a suite of cutting-edge military space technologies -- rockets, satellites, and spacecraft -- that were originally designed for commercial applications. The subject of this book is highly technical: the list of acronyms is 14 pages long, and some passages are hard going for a nonspecialist. But the bottom line is clear enough: Japan's capabilities are widely underestimated, all the more so in space. The strategic logic for Japan's space program is obvious, with a growing naval, space, and nuclear power across the East China Sea and a second nuclear power even closer, on the Korean Peninsula. The emphasis of In Defense of Japan, however, is on the industries that pushed military applications when they could not make money from commercial projects. Today, in addition to ballistic missile defense capabilities developed in cooperation with the United States, Japan is working on reusable launch vehicles (that is, space planes); satellites that detect missiles and help with navigation, communication, and targeting; warhead reentry technologies that can advance the use of missiles in warfare; unmanned aerial vehicles; and technologies for "space situational awareness," which reveal a concern about possible future conflict in space. It is too soon to count Japan out in the arms race in Asia. (Source: Saadia Pekkanen,Paul Kallender-Umezu /  Reviewed by By Andrew J. Nathan - www.foreignaffairs.com / February 2011)

JASDF was established on July 1, 1954 when the Defense Agency replaced the Security Agency, in order to bear the defense mission of Japan. Of the Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), JASDF is the most recent department. There are 47,361 Self-Defense officials and 3,731 administrative officials for a total of 51,092 persons (as of the end of 2004)