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the u.s. navy news website noted on the 4th that as japan's defense budget hits new highs, the ministry of defense will thoroughly reform the current organization of the japan maritime self-defense force, which has lasted for more than 60 years, and abandon the "88 fleet" organization that has lasted for many years. some analysts believe that the ministry of defense's move is nominally to integrate the existing main battleships more effectively, but in the context of japan's continued increase in defense budgets and breaking through the peace constitution in recent years, the intention behind it has made neighboring countries wary.

the "88 fleet" became history

according to the u.s. navy news website, during the reorganization of the maritime self-defense force, the "escort fleet" established in 1961 and with a history of 63 years will be abolished and replaced by the newly created "surface fleet". the report said that japan has decided to abolish this "fleet organization that has been active on the front line of japan's seas for decades", which shows how big the move is.

according to the current organization of the maritime self-defense force, the "self-defense fleet" is directly commanded by the minister of defense and is under the jurisdiction of the "escort fleet" composed of main surface combat ships and supply ships. the latter includes four "escort groups", namely the first escort group in yokosuka, the second escort group in sasebo, the third escort group in maizuru, and the fourth escort group in kure port. for many years, the escort group has been the essence of the maritime self-defense force. in the 1980s, the united states intended to build the japan maritime self-defense force into its own "anti-submarine minesweeping brigade" in the western pacific. in order to strengthen its anti-submarine capabilities against soviet submarines, the japan maritime self-defense force used helicopter anti-submarine destroyers as the core and equipped each escort group with 8 modern destroyers and 8 ship-borne helicopters, becoming the famous "88 fleet" in the east asian waters at that time. in view of the relatively weak air defense capability of the "88 fleet", with the successive commissioning of four "kongo" class aegis destroyers, the "88 fleet" was upgraded to the "90" fleet in the late 1990s, that is, each escort group includes 10 destroyers and 9 ship-borne helicopters commanded by a "kongo" class aegis destroyer, becoming the most typical maritime fleet of the navies of various countries at that time, mainly composed of non-aircraft carrier surface ships. at present, each escort group of the maritime self-defense force consists of a helicopter carrier ("hyuga" class or "izumo" class), 5 general-purpose destroyers and two aegis destroyers, usually organized into two "escort groups", one of which has one helicopter carrier, one aegis destroyer and two general-purpose destroyers, called the "helicopter destroyer fleet", mainly responsible for anti-submarine warfare; the other has one aegis destroyer and three general-purpose destroyers, called the "air defense destroyer fleet", mainly responsible for sea-based anti-missile and air defense.

in addition to the "escort fleet", the "self-defense fleet" also includes five "local escort teams" composed of old-fashioned general-purpose destroyers and missile frigates that have been relegated to the second line, as well as a "sea sweeping team" that mainly performs mine and anti-mine missions.

according to the new plan of the ministry of defense, the maritime self-defense force will unify all surface combat ships under the command of the "surface fleet" (tentative name) headquartered in yokosuka, and re-divide them into three "surface combat groups" based on the performance of the ships. the "missile boat teams" originally under the jurisdiction of the local teams have also been cancelled and replaced by the newly established "patrol and warning groups" under the "surface fleet". in addition, another newly established "amphibious warfare mine warfare team" of the "surface fleet" may be merged from the "sea sweeping team group" directly under the "self-defense fleet" and the "sea sweeping team" under the jurisdiction of the local teams. according to the report, a spokesman for the japan self-defense forces said, "this is a thorough reorganization of our surface ship fleet," and all reorganization plans are expected to be completed in march 2026.

the idea of ​​adapting has been around for a long time

according to officials from the ministry of defense, the purpose of forming three "water battle groups" is to "flexibly respond to the operational needs of the three-way front"; the "patrol and warning group" is responsible for the surveillance and monitoring tasks of the maritime self-defense force bases and the waters around japan in peacetime, and can also be used to respond to long-term operations, while also ensuring that the main "water battle group" can focus on training; the "amphibious mine warfare team" is incorporated into the existing minesweeping and transport ships, focusing on mines and amphibious operations. the ministry of defense claims that by changing the current four escort fleets to three water battle groups, the number of ships in each water battle group will increase, ensuring that each water battle group has more warships that can be effectively rotated, trained, and maintained. "in addition, in an emergency, all three water battle groups will be able to act simultaneously to respond to crises."

the "navy news" website noted that if the existing four escort groups are converted into three water battle groups, there will be "extra" one helicopter carrier. at a press conference on september 3, when asked how to deal with the "extra helicopter carrier", japan maritime self-defense force chief of staff satoshi saito said that the carrier would be equipped for the newly established "amphibious mine warfare squadron". currently, japan's "sea sweeping group" mainly relies on the "osumi" class amphibious transport ship as a concurrent combat commander, and the latter's overall battlefield intelligence coordination capability is obviously weaker than the upcoming helicopter carrier.

experts interviewed by the global times said that the japan maritime self-defense force has continued to equip itself with new main warships in recent years, including the maya-class aegis destroyers and the mogami-class missile frigates. at the same time, it has also introduced us-made tomahawk cruise missiles and deployed them on the maritime self-defense force's warships and submarines. however, the ministry of defense believes that the current maritime self-defense force was established during the cold war, and the direction of the threats it targets has changed greatly. the dispersed deployment method is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with "the current maritime threats facing japan." therefore, the ministry of defense has continuously adjusted the maritime self-defense force's organization in the defense plan outline in recent years.

for example, in the "defense program outline" released by the ministry of defense in december 2018, it was required to integrate the escort teams and sea-sweeping teams of five places equipped with old general-purpose destroyers into two "multi-functional groups", and to completely eliminate the old "asagi" class destroyers and "abukuma" class escort destroyers, and replace them with 22 "mogami" class multi-functional frigates. the latter are equipped with greatly improved sensors and combat systems, allowing places that were originally only able to perform second-line patrol missions to be equipped with escort teams with the ability to cooperate in combat with the escort team group, which in disguise increases the number of main surface ships that can be used for front-line operations.

the latest maritime self-defense force reorganization plan was formulated in accordance with the december 2022 version of the "defense program outline (2023-2027)", which clearly requires "the existing escort fleet and sea-sweeping team to be reorganized into a 'water fleet', with patrol ships, destroyers and minesweepers to be introduced in the future as the core force". in the future, the japan maritime self-defense force will focus on "major regional threats". although the three water battle groups seem to have fewer directions to deal with at the same time, the number of available ships has actually increased rather than decreased. at the same time, the maritime self-defense force has formed a new "amphibious warfare mine warfare team", which means that japan's long-range maritime force projection capabilities have been greatly improved and have more offensive characteristics.

large-scale shipbuilding plan is imminent

kyodo news reported on the 4th that the ministry of defense's budget request for 2025, announced by the ministry of finance on the 4th, increased by 587.4 billion yen (100 yen is about 5 yuan) to 8.5045 trillion yen. this is also the first time that japan's defense budget has exceeded 8 trillion yen, setting a record high.

the "navy news" website noted that in the relevant budget submitted by the ministry of defense, the most prominent one is the 314 billion yen plan to build three new 4,800-ton multi-purpose frigates, which are upgraded models of the 3,900-ton "mogami" class frigates currently in service. they will be equipped with stronger combat capabilities, including newly developed long-range air defense missiles, improved type 12 anti-ship missiles, and stronger anti-submarine equipment. the report said that japan's request to build three new frigates within a year was "very unusual", as the ministry of defense previously only built one or two new frigates each year.

at the same time, the ministry of defense also requested 80.8 billion yen for the preparation of building two new ships equipped with the aegis system. this new destroyer is an alternative to the cancelled land-based aegis anti-missile system. it is expected to be 190 meters long, 25 meters wide, and have a standard displacement of 12,000 tons. in comparison, japan's most advanced "maya" class aegis destroyer in service is 170 meters long, 21 meters wide, and has a standard displacement of 8,200 tons. the japan maritime self-defense force is expected to receive the two super destroyers in fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028. at the same time, the japanese ministry of defense also requested about 1.8 billion yen to continue the conversion of the "izumo" aircraft carrier. japan converted two "izumo" class helicopter carriers into light aircraft carriers in order to strengthen deterrence in the pacific direction.

in order to strengthen the maritime transport capabilities to remote islands, especially the southwestern islands of japan, the ministry of defense will purchase a medium-sized transport ship, a small transport ship and a mobile support ship in the new fiscal year, and establish a new joint sea, land and air "maritime transport force". in addition, the budget request submitted by the ministry of defense also includes the purchase of small ship-borne drones to improve the surveillance and intelligence collection capabilities of surface ships, vertical launch systems installed on submarines, and the development of ship-borne high-power laser systems and other new equipment.

regarding japan's series of actions, experts interviewed by the global times reporter said that japan is currently strengthening its offensive capabilities with the tacit approval of the united states, and the maritime self-defense force, which is obviously outward-looking and aggressive, has become the "biggest beneficiary". however, japan's various actions to strengthen its armed forces and become a military power will worsen the regional and even global security situation.