Japan protects vessels with deployment to Middle East
Top Stories | Feb 6, 2020:
Felix Kim
In a potentially precedent-setting move, Japan has announced plans to deploy airplanes, Navy vessels and 260 military personnel to the Middle East in early February 2020. The Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) will send a pair of P-3C anti-submarine patrol airplanes and a 4,650-ton destroyer, pictured, equipped to carry patrol helicopters.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government announced the mission at a time of heightened tensions in the region. The mission includes the Gulf of Oman, where a Japan-bound oil tanker was attacked in June 2019.
“In order to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East and the safety of Japanese-affiliated vessels, we will make solid preparations for the launch of JSDF vessels and aircraft activities,” Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono told reporters at a December 27, 2019, news conference.
The cost of deploying the destroyer Takanami and the aircraft will total nearly U.S. $43 million, Kono said.
The planned deployment is “largely an independent initiative,” Japan defense analyst Jeffrey Hornung of the Rand Corp. told FORUM, noting that it will not be under a U.S. command structure. The deployment is significant, Hornung added, because it demonstrates Tokyo’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Tokyo is able to launch the deployment despite constitutional constraints on military activities, thanks to a Japanese law that allows for investigation and research without geographic restrictions, Japan’s Kyodo News reported.
When asked why Japan would not be joining the U.S.-led multinational maritime effort to promote freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf, Kono explained that his country’s assets would be deployed “for information gathering as a unique measure in Japan” and that these activities would be conducted “mainly in the Gulf of Oman.” Information would be collected and exchanged with “related countries” active in the region, he added.
The independent nature of Japan’s deployment mirrors its participation in anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, Hornung said, adding that Japan recognizes a “gray zone” between its own interests and those of its allies.
“Japan is heavily dependent on the region for its energy,” he said. “That has a lot to do with why it has forces taking part in anti-piracy.”
Under the plan for the deployment, the JSDF will not be allowed to use weapons to defend the ships of other countries, Kyodo News reported. In an emergency, however, Tokyo could place the unit on maritime police operations, allowing the destroyer and aircraft to use weapons to defend Japanese-flagged ships.
“Being somebody who supports a more proactive Japan in the security sphere, I actually hope that this sets a precedent,” Hornung said. “I hope, for Japan, that this affirms to them that they can play a more active role as a security contributor.”
Felix Kim is a FORUMcontributor reporting from Seoul, South Korea.
