By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Japan’s Massive Intelligence Gathering & Weapons Increase
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Forces are massively increasing intelligence gathering and counterstrike stand-off weapons such as the Tomahawk missile, advanced drones and upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles. … to counter a fast-evolving Chinese threat.
It will surprise noone to read that’s Japan’s Defense of Japan 2023 text specifically identifies the growing threat from China, as Japan’s Minister of Defense Hamada Yazukazu is quoted in the report saying
“China is rapidly enhancing its military capability qualitatively and quantitatively, including nuclear and missile forces, while continuing and amplifying its unilateral changes to the status quo by force and such attempts in the East China Sea and the South China Sea,” Yazukazu says in the document.
Japan’s Counterstrike Weapons
The report from the Japanese Ministry of Defense also specifies the acquisition of several stand-off weapons such as an upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missile and Tomahawk missile as evidence of its fast-evolving counterstrike capability.
“The capabilities which, in the case of missile attacks by an opponent, enable Japan to mount effective counterstrikes against the opponent to prevent further attacks while defending against incoming missiles by means of the missile defense network. This discourages the opponent from attacking and deters armed attack itself,” Japan’s Defense of Japan 2023 states.
In what could be described as a specific effort to support target acquisition and targeting for these weapons through advanced command and control and intelligence-gather technologies. As part of this, Japan’s cites growing Chinese threats such as the People’s Liberation Army use of AI and advanced surveillance technologies to threaten Japan.
Japan’s Defense of Japan 2023 report not only calls for a large-scale increase in surveillance technology and intelligence gathering but also cites the importance of Japan’s rapid development and acquisition of “counterstrike capabilities.”
The paper calls for the “reinforcement of command and control and intelligence-related functions for quick and accurate decision-making.”
Japanese progress and modernization efforts in the realm of intelligence, according to the report, include “collecting, processing, and analyzing military communication radio waves, electronic weapons and other radio waves transmitted in the airspace over Japan.” The report goes on to specify that this kind of improved and expanded analysis will also include data from satellites, warning and surveillance aircraft as well as warships.
China’s use of AI is aslo referred to in the Japanese Defense of Japan 2022 report as “intelligentized warfare,” meaning weapons systems, surveillance assets and data processing speeds and capabilities are all being massively improved.
“Chinese military trends, combined with insufficient transparency about China’s defense policies and military affairs, have become a matter of grave concern to the region including Japan and the international community, and these trends have been intensifying in recent years, “ the report says.
AI-enabled “intelligentized warfare” can naturally impact a wide sphere of weapons systems and technology programs, particularly in China where there is not a civilian-military divide in any respect when it comes to budgets and the exchange of technology. For instance, satellite data can be processed and transmitted more quickly, warships, rockets and even nuclear weapons can receive and organize upgraded targeting information potentially enabling weapons to change course in flight.
Essentially, a key question is the extent to which Chinese AI is in any way rivaling recent US breakthroughs within the realm of shortening “sensor-to-shooter” time, advancing course-correcting ammunition, enabling multi-domain attack connectivity and high-speed, AI-empowered information processing. While the Chinese emphasis upon these things is well known and documented, it seems the key question is just how far along the PLA is when it comes to shortening a combat “decision-making” cycle.
Certainly the growing configuration of the People’s Liberation Army – Navy, its nuclear arsenal which now includes ground-based built silos and a rapid emergence of 5th-generation aircraft such as the J-31 and J-20. Yet alongside these concerns, there are several other pertinent areas specified in the Japanese report such as China’s growing use of AI and an acceleration of what the Japanese report calls China’s “Civil-Military Fusion” which “accelerates two-way transfer of military and civilian resources.”
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and the Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
