Adding helicopter hangars to ships expands area of operation across Indo-Pacific
KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei Asia diplomatic correspondent
TOKYO -- Off
the coast of Japan's glittering capital, the U.S. Navy recently dropped a hint
about its shifting strategy in Asia.
In March, the Navy and the Japan
Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted a torpedo drill in Tokyo Bay for the
first time. From the air, an MH-60R helicopter launched an inert training
torpedo into Japanese waters, simulating an attack on a submarine. Previously,
all similar torpedo exercises had been conducted off the shores of San Diego.
The drill came as the U.S. Navy
quietly reshuffles its ship roster in Japan, bringing newer and more capable
vessels closer to the Taiwan Strait and reflecting the changing priorities of
its global mission.
Since last summer, five Arleigh
Burke-class guided-missile destroyers have arrived in Yokosuka -- the largest
overseas U.S. naval installation in the world, about an hour's drive south of
Tokyo. They have replaced ships such as the USS John S. McCain and USS Curtis
Wilbur, which had been forward-deployed to Japan for a quarter of a century.
Whereas the old ships were focused
on ballistic missile defense -- and thus deployed with the North Korean threat
in mind -- the newer vessels are expected to multitask. They could engage in
anti-aircraft warfare against China's advanced fighters, stalk submarines and
defend against the latest anti-ship cruise missiles, all while keeping an eye
out for ballistic missiles as well.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105), one of the newest additions to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, moors alongside USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) in Yokosuka in September 2021. © U.S. Navy
Four of the new destroyers are the
Flight IIA version of the ship and are equipped with helicopter hangars. These
can accommodate MH-60Rs like the ones used in the torpedo drill. Equipped with
a sonobuoy launcher, various radar, torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, the
MH-60R can find, track and destroy all modern subsurface threats. It is
considered the primary tool for hunting enemy submarines, and is expected to be
a key part of the Navy's operations against great power rivals China and
Russia.
In the Tokyo Bay exercise, the
helicopters flew from land bases in Japan. But the new hangar-equipped
destroyers give the Navy a much longer arm.
"U.S. Navy Flight IIA
destroyers, with embarked helicopters and aircrews, greatly expand the range
and capabilities of anti-submarine warfare throughout the Indo-Pacific with
their ability to carry helicopters to areas beyond the reach of land-based
helicopters," Lt. Mark Langford, the U.S. 7th Fleet's deputy public
affairs officer, told Nikkei Asia.
Of the new ships in Yokosuka, the
USS Howard, the USS Dewey, the USS Ralph Johnson and the USS Rafael Peralta are
Flight IIA versions. They are equipped with two hangars that can both hold
MH-60 variants, support equipment, repair shops and store rooms. The ships have
added accommodation space for the air group.
"A principal difference between
the earlier Arleigh Burke-class ships and the more-recent Flight IIA ships is
the helicopter hangar," a U.S. naval analyst told Nikkei. While the
earlier ships also have a helicopter landing pad and can refuel choppers,
"they cannot embark a helicopter for an extended period of time," the
analyst explained.
"With its hangar, a Flight IIA
ship can embark a helicopter of its own and thus always have one on hand."
The one new ship without a hangar is the USS Higgins, which is categorized as a Flight II, a version earlier. But the Higgins has been outfitted with the latest Baseline 9 Aegis combat system, which allows it to act as a shield against faster incoming missiles.
There are now eight Arleigh
Burke-class destroyers in Yokosuka, alongside the flagship USS Blue Ridge, the
USS Ronald Reagan -- the Navy's sole forward-deployed aircraft carrier -- and
three guided-missile cruisers.
With 13 American warships, Yokosuka
is widely considered one of the most strategically important bases in the U.S.
military. Its importance has only increased under the Joe Biden administration,
which considers China the "pacing threat" amid concerns Beijing might
someday try to unify self-ruled Taiwan with the mainland.
From Yokosuka, it takes a day and a
half to sail to the Taiwan Strait at a speed of 30 knots, according to an
estimate by the U.S. Congressional Research Service. This is faster than Guam
(1.9 days), Singapore (2.5 days), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (5.9 days),
Everett, Washington (7.3 days) or San Diego (8.2 days).
The U.S. Navy's other major base in
Japan is in Sasebo, in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki. This site is
even closer to Taiwan and a further nine American ships are based there. Five
of these ships are large amphibious vessels that are tasked with picking up and
delivering hundreds of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to the battlefield in a
contingency.
In the past, the U.S. has faced strong headwinds when increasing its footprint in Japan. For instance, when the USS George Washington arrived in Yokosuka as the first nuclear-powered carrier to be forward-deployed there, it was greeted by hundreds of protesters.
But recent tensions in the region
have changed the atmosphere. In a Nikkei poll conducted in April last year,
74% of respondents said they supported Japan's engagement in pursuing peace and
stability in the Taiwan Strait, while only 13% were opposed.
In a report titled Defense
Primer: Geography, Strategy, and U.S. Force Design, the
Congressional Research Service identified the key element of U.S. national
strategy as "preventing the emergence of regional hegemons in
Eurasia."
Given the amount of people,
resources and economic activity in the region, a regional hegemon in Eurasia
would represent a concentration of power large enough to threaten vital U.S.
interests, the CRS notes.
But recent maritime activity by
China and Russia has added a sense of urgency to U.S. naval operations.
Last October, 10 naval vessels
belonging to China and Russia passed through a narrow chokepoint in the north
of Japan, heading eastward toward the Pacific Ocean.
The Tsugaru Strait, which sits
between Japan's main island of Honshu and the northern island of Hokkaido, is
just 19.5 km wide at its narrowest point. But the center of the waterway is
designated as international waters -- a legacy of the Cold War.
By limiting Japan's territorial
waters to just 3 nautical miles from shore, as opposed to the customary 12,
this allowed U.S. ships carrying nuclear weapons to pass without violating
Japan's "Three Non-Nuclear Principles," one of which prohibits the
introduction of nuclear arms into Japanese territory.
This was the first time Chinese and
Russian ships jointly passed these waters.
Several days later, the same fleet
of ships needled through a southern chokepoint, the Osumi Strait. This waterway
lies between the Osumi Peninsula and Tanegashima Island, both in Kagoshima
Prefecture.
Technically, the vessels did not violate Japanese territorial waters. But with the two passages, the Chinese and Russian ships in effect circumnavigated the nation in an unprecedented provocative move.
Submarines from the Chinese People's Liberation
Army Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea in
2018. © Reuters
China has overtaken the U.S. to
become the world's largest navy in terms of ship numbers. While it is shifting
its most capable vessels closer to the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. military does
not have the resources to expand its naval fleet to match China in sheer ship
count.
Instead, the strategy is to operate
together with allies and partners to maintain dominance in the Indo-Pacific.
At a congressional hearing on May 3,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, the highest ranking U.S.
military officer, said that "it would always be nice to have more ships.
But the fact of the matter is, the most important thing is to have the ships
that we do have, have them in a readiness status, have them with the manning,
the training, and the equipping, have them in a very significant readiness
status.
"We have allies and partners.
China doesn't. The Japanese navy, the Australian navy, the other allies and
partners that would probably work with the United States," Milley said.
On Taiwan, Milley said Chinese
President Xi Jinping's objective is to have his military prepared
"capability wise" to seize the island by force.
"That's not the same to say
he's actually going to invade," Milley said, calling such a seizure of
Taiwan "a very tall order."
But the target on the wall is 2027,
the Army general said. "We have to keep that in mind as we go into the
future."
No comments:
Post a Comment