/Polegd.info/ Japan buys Tomahawk cruise missiles for its navy. This factor will change the balance of power in the region for a long time, and our country’s military planning must take it into account. However, it was with Japan that our country fought the most wars in the 20th century.
The long-awaited thing has happened – Japan is buying Tomahawk cruise missiles for its navy. A corresponding notification was sent to the US Congress by the US Defense and Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
Japan will pay 2.35 billion US dollars and in 2026-2027 will receive 400 cruise missiles and 14 ship-based weapons control systems TTWCS (Tomahawk Weapons Control System). The missiles will be of two modifications – Block IV and Block V, 200 each.
The characteristics of the missiles are as follows: Block IV has, in addition to increased flight range, and the ability to redirect directly in flight. The missile can also barrage /wander/ in a designated area, waiting for a strike command. She reports through a satellite communication system on the combat damage received, which is important for evaluating the effectiveness of his strike. Block V, in addition to the above, has a better data transmission system, higher noise immunity of the satellite navigation system and a number of other improvements.
The announced parameters of the deal immediately reveal the answer to an important question – which ships of the Navy of the Japan Self-Defense Force will be able to launch missile strikes along the coast. These missiles are fired from Mk.41 universal vertical launchers, which are also used to launch anti-aircraft and anti-submarine missiles.
All Japanese missile destroyers of relatively new types have such cells. So the Japanese would be able to afford to arm all 14 of their most powerful ships for massive strike missions. The total number of missile cells on these ships is 936.
In the standard version, approximately 60% of the Mk.41 installation load is anti-aircraft missiles, a few anti-submarine missiles, the remaining three to four dozen missiles are cruise missiles. Thus, Japan ranks third in the world in the ability to strike with cruise missiles from the sea (after the United States and China).
The two large missile ships that Japan plans to build this decade (the Aegis-Equipped Ships Program, ASEV – AEGIS-Equipped Ships) are definitely not included in this number, as their delivery is expected later , in 2028 and 2029.
Given the risks of delays in financing and construction, it is impossible to accurately predict the date of installation of control systems of the Tomahawk missile weapon complex on them.
Also, the appearance of these ships has not yet been fully determined. Most likely, either these ships will remain, as intended, as purely anti-missile platforms, or there will be an additional purchase of cruise missiles from the US for these two units.
To understand what 14 large ships capable of operating in the world’s oceans and 380-400 (adjusted to the consumption of missiles for practice firing) cruise missiles are, let’s give the following example. The entire total missile salvo of the Kalibr family of cruise missiles of the surface fleet of the Russian Navy is a maximum of 192 missiles (calculated by missile cells). In the near future, this number will increase by 16 cells (two small missile ships, one of the 22800 project and another – of the 21631).
In the Pacific theater of operations, we can deploy 24 such missiles on surface ships. There is a prospect of doubling their number by 2025 due to four small project 22800 missile ships (eight missiles each) being built at the Amur Shipyard. If by this year they manage to restore the Provorny corvette and transfer it to the Pacific Ocean, then there will already be 54 missiles in the salvo of the surface forces of the Pacific Fleet.
Of course, these comparisons do not fully reflect the real operational-tactical capabilities of fleets, nor at all the capabilities of states to launch missile strikes. Russia has long-range aviation that can attack anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, and some adversaries can be attacked by land-based Iskander missile systems. However, as an illustration of the scale of Japan’s actual rearmament, such a comparison is in principle appropriate.
Naturally, to say that all 14 Japanese destroyers of the Maya, Atago, Kongo, Asahi and Akizuki class will be loaded with shock missiles (up to 40% of the cells in the launchers on board) and will fire all their missiles in a short time, is incorrect. But the fact is that in 2027, Japan will have the technical ability to deliver a devastating missile strike at a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers in a straight line.
Again for understanding. The Japanese can easily reach the airbase of our long-range aviation “Ukrainka” in the Amur Region from the eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and from the middle of the Sea of Japan and from the Tsugaru (Sangara) Strait, and from the east coast of Hokkaido. But Russia has dozens of Tu-95 bombers at this base.
The Japanese have enough missiles for a simultaneous attack not only on Ukrainka, but also on all bases of the tactical aviation of the Russian Air Force and the naval aviation of the Navy in Primorye and Kamchatka. Or instead cause critical damage to the energy sector, for example in Primorye.
In addition, the Japanese are working on equipping their tactical aircraft with long-range air-to-ground guided missiles. Hundreds of Tomahawks fired from ships can be supplemented by hundreds of missiles fired from fighter jets, only with a shorter range.
All this, of course, does not mean that the Japanese will do such things to us. After all, Russia has nuclear weapons. There is a threshold of damage caused, after which it will apply in all foreign policy circumstances, and none of our opponents can ignore that threat.
But Japan’s post-2027 opportunities cannot be overlooked either. They’re guaranteed to buy rockets. The deal to sell them remains only to be approved by the US Congress, and there is no doubt that this approval will be obtained.
The factor of Japanese cruise missiles will change the balance of power in the region for a long time, and our country’s military planning must be done taking this factor into account.
After all, it was with Japan that our country fought the most wars in the 20th century, and it was Japan that had and still has territorial claims against us. That is why they should take Japanese preparations as seriously as possible.
Translation: ES
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