Japan puts pair of new satellites into orbit

The rocket lifted off at 1:40 p.m. from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, and put the satellites into orbit, the agency said.

The radar satellite, designed for information-gathering, is capable of detecting objects on the ground at night and through cloud cover. The optical satellite is designed to demonstrate higher resolution shooting technology.

The optical satellite is reportedly able to distinguish objects on the ground as small as about 40 cm, like U.S. commercial satellites.

Japan now has one radar satellite and three optical satellites in operation. Japan is trying to expand its satellite network so that any specific point on the ground can be viewed at least once a day.

Japan began the intelligence satellite program after North Korea fired a long-range missile over Honshu in 1998.

Japan Mulls Military Equipment Near Disputed Isles

Japan may station military equipment on islands near an archipelago at the center of a dispute with China, officials said Jan. 16, after a number of airborne near-confrontations.

The defense ministry will ask for money in the next fiscal year to study the idea of putting mobile radars and communication systems on islands near the Japan-controlled Senkakus, which Beijing calls the Diaoyus, a defense spokesman said.

“The study is part of our plan to operate in southwestern islands with flexibility,” the spokesman said.

The comment came after reports said Japan is considering permanently stationing F-15 fighter jets on Shimoji, a small island near the Senkakus.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera denied that and said Jan. 15: “We are studying various options as to how to build a sound security system in our southwestern waters.”

The maritime dispute, which has simmered for years, heated up last year when the Japanese government nationalized some of the islands, triggering anger and demonstrations in China. Observers said the protests had some backing from communist authorities in Beijing, who use nationalism to bolster their claims to legitimacy.

Another program to enter prototype evaluation is Project JP2097 Phase 1B – the fielding of an improved Special Operations Vehicles (SOV). In April 2012 Supacat was selected to develop and deliver the prototype SOV. The vehicle can carry a range of weapons, communications and surveillance equipment meeting special operations specific and unique requirements. Following that win, the company has established a engineering design and analysis facility in Melbourne, manned by 18 engineers. It is the first facility Supacat has opened outside the UK. Supacat delivered the first prototype for testing in December 2012.

Japanese and Americans conducted military exercises Tuesday joint air, in a tense situation because of the territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo about a small archipelago in the East China Sea.

These exercises, which take place from Monday off the island of Shikoku, the fourth largest of the Japanese archipelago, involving six U.S. side FA-18 fighters and 90 soldiers and four fighters F-4 and a number indeterminate staff Japanese side.

They work one month after the landslide victory in the legislative elections of December 16 Conservative Shinzo Abe, who immediately closed the door to any negotiations with Beijing on the fate of the Senkaku Islands administered by Japan but claimed by China forcefully under the name Diaoyu.

Abe parallel affirmed its commitment to strengthening the strategic relationship with the United States, after three years of vacillation and friction with Washington during the reign of the center-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ 2009-2012)

Last Sunday, the Self-Defense Forces of Japan (SDF) for the first time conducted a highly revealing exercise climate: reclaiming an island occupied by an enemy force, with 300 men and twenty aircraft and helicopters .

Last October, Japan and the United States had given a similar exercise style simulating a landing on an island occupied apparently not to offend China.

The new government in Tokyo, led by Shinzo Abe, reputed to be a hawk on foreign policy, nothing seems determined to release in Beijing on this issue.

Chinese newspaper warns of military fray with Japan

The Chinese government-run Global Times has warned of a potential clash between the military arms of Japan and China as the tension increases between the two countries in their territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands. This came a day after Chinese jets entered into Japan’s air defense identification zone on the sea, north of the islands, prompting Japanese F-15 fighter jets to take off from their Naha base in Okinawa Prefecture and check the area.

The paper’s editorial said that the military clash is highly probable and that the citizens need to prepare for the worst. It proceeds to state that the Chinese people are waiting on their government to take concrete actions “against Japan’s provocations”, pertaining to Japan’s dispatch of jets over an area near the Senkaku Islands, which China refers to as Diaoyu.

Chinese administration official Liu Caigui was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency to have said that China will continue to be firm in its opposition of infringement committed by its neighboring countries as to

Japan will establish new defense programs by the end of 2013

The Japanese government has decided to suspend two defense programs to give free rein to the development of new programs by the end of 2013, reported local media on Monday evening.

The government will in the first place on a temporary defense program and develop new programs by the end of this year, reported the Japanese news agency Kyodo.

The two programs, namely the Program Guidelines and the National Defense Advocacy Program in the medium term, have been approved by the government led by the Democratic Party of Japan in December 2010, and their goal is to strengthen the defense capabilities of Japan in waters southwest.

Guidelines defense focused on defense policy based on long-term in Japan, while the medium-term program aims to increase the self-defense forces of the country (SDF).

In addition, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also approved a plan for the drafting of new defense programs.

Mr. Abe, who became Prime Minister of Japan on December 26, said in his political promises that rise to the level of the SDF National Army and lift the ban on the use by Japan right of collective defense .

Japan scrambles eight fighter jets to intercept Chinese plane near Diaoyus

Japan scrambled fighter jets on Saturday to head off a Chinese state-owned plane that flew near the disputed Diaoyu islands, which Japan calls the Senkakus, a Japanese Defence Ministry spokesman said.
Japanese jets were mobilised after a Chinese maritime aircraft ventured 120 kilometres north of islands at about noon, the spokesman said.
The Chinese Y-12 twin-turboprop later left the zone without entering Japanese airspace, he added.
It was the first time Japanese fighters had been scrambled this year to counter Chinese aircraft approaching the islands, the spokesman said.
Japan dispatched eight F-15 fighter jets to the area on December 13 after its coast guard spotted a Chinese marine surveillance plane near the isles, with its foreign ministry describing the flight as a "further dangerous act" that "escalates the situation". China protested a day later that Japanese military planes entered its airspace near the islands.
The dispute over control of the islands in the East China Sea has strained relations between Asia's two biggest economies and stoked fears of an arms build-up in the region. Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, vowed in his New Year message to "defend our land, airspace and territorial waters".