Recent commentary, including by Phil Radford here on The Strategist, has argued that Japan’s new Izumo (DDH22) ‘flat top destroyer’ is in fact the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s (MSDF) first, ‘mid-sized aircraft carrier’ since the Second …
Aircraft carriers have a habit of denying what they really are. In the 1970s, Britain’s new Invincible class carriers were officially christened ‘Through Deck Cruisers’, to reassure the nation’s bookkeepers that its Navy really had …
The normalisation of tension on the Korean Peninsula is settling onto its foundations, with South Korea pledging US$7.3 million of humanitarian aid to North Korea over the weekend. The move came one day before South …
Japan has released Defence Of Japan 2013, its annual defence white paper—ASPI’s Ben Schreer had a piece on it earlier in the week. The document shows increasing tension in Tokyo over security in North East Asia. The …
The Japanese government released its annual Defense White Paper (DWP) on Tuesday. In comparison with last year’s version it displays a harsher attitude towards China, indicating that Japan’s defence policy could shift further in coming …