Japan develops beyond-the-horizon attack capability through "transplantation"
2024-08-13
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Japan's Aegis system-carrying ship (conceptual picture).
Recently, Japan's 2024 Defense White Paper announced the latest design details of the Aegis warship. The Japanese Ministry of Defense defined it as an Aegis system carrier ship as a replacement for the land-based Aegis anti-missile defense system that has been discontinued. This type of ship will clearly use the AN/SPY-7 radar, a standard displacement of 12,000 tons, and a vertical launch system with 128 units. The Japanese Ministry of Defense plans to build two ships of this type. Their overall layout and weapon configuration are similar to those of the Maya-class Aegis destroyers, while highlighting the scalability of combat functions. The Japanese Ministry of Defense said that it "will become the world's most advanced Aegis warship after completion."
Equipped with land-based Aegis system
The Aegis system carrier is a replacement for Japan's land-based Aegis anti-missile defense system. In order to share the combat missions of the eight Aegis destroyers currently in service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japan once planned to introduce two sets of land-based Aegis anti-missile defense systems, but due to various reasons, this introduction plan was eventually cancelled.
Subsequently, the Japanese Ministry of Defense launched a ship-borne plan for the land-based Aegis anti-missile defense system, and made it clear in the 2023 defense budget: based on two sets of land-based Aegis anti-missile defense systems, two Aegis system-carrying ships with a standard displacement of 20,000 tons will be developed to replace the cancelled land-based Aegis anti-missile defense system. The design plan of this type of ship has been iteratively refined several times, and finally formed a 12,000-ton plan disclosed in the 2024 Defense White Paper.
Focus on anti-missile interception capabilities
According to information released by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the Aegis system carrier is designed to be 190 meters long, 25 meters wide, and has a standard displacement of 12,000 tons, which is nearly 4,000 tons more than the Maya-class Aegis destroyers currently in service in Japan. This type of ship will be equipped with 128 Mk41 vertical launch system launch units, 32 more than the Maya-class, and can load and launch air defense and anti-missile weapons such as the Standard-6 long-range ship-to-air missile and the Standard-3ⅡA enhanced mid-course anti-missile interceptor.
In terms of detection systems, the detection capability of the AN/SPY-7 solid-state active phased array radar on the Aegis system carrier far exceeds that of the AN/SPY-1D (V) radar currently in service. The detection range of the two radar systems can cover the entire Japanese mainland. Combined with the air defense missile system, it can effectively detect and intercept long/medium/short-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, and even has the ability to intercept hypersonic weapons. The system has a maximum interception distance of 1,500 kilometers, and the air defense distance of the maritime formation is 370 kilometers.
In addition, this type of ship also reserves sufficient expansion space for carrying long-range attack or anti-satellite weapons.
Highlight long-range attack capabilities
Due to the "exclusive defense" policy and combat missions in the US-Japan alliance, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships do not have long-range sea and land strike capabilities. In the future, the Aegis system carriers will be equipped with improved "Tomahawk" cruise missiles and the Type 12 improved shore-to-ship missiles developed by Japan. The Type 12 improved shore-to-ship missile has strong stealth performance and can carry out long-range precision strikes on sea and land targets, making up for the lack of long-range sea and land strike capabilities of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, giving it the ability to strike outside the defense zone.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that after the two Aegis system-carrying ships are put into service, they will be mainly responsible for ballistic missile surveillance and defense tasks, relieving the combat pressure of the Aegis destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. However, judging from the information published in Japan's 2024 Defense White Paper and the combat performance of this type of ship, Japan is likely to adopt the means of "transplanting flowers and trees". The Aegis system-carrying ships can not only be located at the forefront of Japan's mainland sea for a long time, detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles of potential opponents, but also can be combined with light aircraft carriers, Aegis missile destroyers and other destroyers and frigates for combat formation, and can also conduct joint operations with other military forces in the Indo-Pacific, especially in assisting the US military in detecting and intercepting ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles.
Analysts believe that given the particularity of the maritime battlefield environment around Japan, in most cases during wartime, the Aegis system-carrying ships with large size and limited defense capabilities cannot perform ballistic missile defense tasks alone and still need to be grouped with other ships. Japan's initial plan of "double upgrade" and "win-win" situation of ballistic missile defense and formation air defense capabilities is not optimistic. In the waters around Japan with a relatively shallow strategic depth, it remains to be seen to what extent this type of ship can play a role.
(Source: China National Defense News)
