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Old 01-06-2010, 09:04 PM
RN7 RN7 is offline
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Its true that Japan post-1945 has been a peaceful nation. However despite its constitution many factors would make it a prime target for a Soviet nuclear and conventional attack.

Firstly Japan is a military ally of the United States, in fact its military relationship with America could be said to be on a par with Britain if you exclude nuclear technology. Japanese defense policy has been based on maintaining the 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security with the United States, under which Japan assumed responsibility for its own internal security and the United States agreed to join in Japan's defense in the event that Japan or its territories were attacked.

Secondly Japan has a large and sophisticated defence industry. Japan builds most of its own vehicles, aircraft and ships, and they are to large degree Japanese designed. Of the defence equipment it does import, America is by far the biggest source. Japan has the industrial base to license build any imported weapon from the F-15 to artillery guns, and in fact the current Japanese F-2 fighter is basically a heavily upgraded F-16C.

Thirdly Japan is a major industrial power and by far the most technologically advanced country in Asia. At the time of the Twilight War Japan was second only to the United States and Soviet Union in manufacturing and industrial production across a whole range of industries, and was a world leader in automobiles, metallurgy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electronics. It also had the largest ship building industry in the world and a highly capable aerospace sector. It was also second only to the United States and the Soviet Union in electricity production, and its nuclear power industry was as big as the Soviet Union in output.

Fourthly Japan's is a major military power in its own right. It has one of the largest and best equipped navies in Asia, and its air force is the best air defence force in Asia, although for political reasons its lags in attack capabilities. The Japanese Ground Self Defence Force had 13 Divisions (1 Armoured, 12 Infantry) and 4 Independent Brigades (1 Airborne, 1 Artillery, 2 Mixed), and was at least as well equipped as any Asian rival.

Fifthly it is no secret that Japan has the capability to build nuclear weapons if it wanted. Japan started looking into nuclear weapons development following China's successfull atom-bomb test in 1964, and one of the main reasons why China's nuclear arsenal hasn't expanded much over the past few decades is probably due to fear of provoking a regional nuclear arms race with Japan, and also why there is a lot of fuss in Asia about North Korean missile tests and nuclear development. Japan also has its own successfull space program which uses Japanese designed rockets to launch satellites into orbit. The M-3S-II which was first launched in 1985 is considered to be capable of a surface-to-surface range of 4,000 km with a 500 kg payload. The newer M-V rocket which started devlopment in 1989 and was first launched in 1997 is more than twice the weight of the M-3S-II. It is capable of placing an 1,800 kg cargo into low earth orbit or injecting a 300-400-kg payload into space for planetary surveys, and is considered capable of intercontinental ranges if converted into a ballistic missile. Both the M-3S-II and M-V have been compared with American ICBMs, and if converted to ballistic missiles the M-V would likely give Japan an ICBM roughly equivalent to the MX Peacekeeper, although it would be not easy for Japan to convert to military applications for anumber of reasons.

Finally by looking at the deployments of US forces in Japan it is easy to see why Japan would be targeted by Soviet nuclear forces.

Current and recent US military forces in Japan

US Army Japan/I Corp (Forward) (Camp Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture)
• 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Okinawa)
• 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defence Artillery Regiment (Kadena AB, Okinawa)
• 78th Aviation Battalion
• 35th Combat Support Battalion
• 88th Military Police Detachment
• 441st Military Intelligence Battalion
• 83rd Ordinance Battalion (Kure, with detachments at Hiro, Kawakami, Chibana)
9th Mission Support Command (Camp Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture)
• 78th Signal Battalion
• 836th Transportation Battalion (Yokohama)
10th Area Support Group (Torri Station, Okinawa)
• 2nd Joint Special Operations Aviation Component
• 58th Signal Battalion (Fort Buckner, Okinawa)
• 505th Quartermaster Battalion
• 835th Transportation Battalion (Naha Point, Okinawa)

* Recent Army deployments to Japan

300th Area Support Group
429th Quartermaster Battalion


US Air Force
Fifth Air Force (Yokota AB, Tokyo)
18th Wing (Kadena AB, Okinawa)
• 18th Operations Support Squadron
• 44th Fighter Squadron (F-15C/D)
• 67th Fighter Squadron (F-15C/D)
• 909th Air Refueling Squadron (KC-135R)
• 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron (E-3B/C)
• 33d Rescue Squadron (HH-60G)
35th Fighter Wing (Misawa AB, Aomori Prefecture)
• 35th Operations Support Squadron
• 13th Fighter Squadron (F-16CJ/DJ)
• 14th Fighter Squadron (F-16CJ/DJ)
• 610th Air Control Flight
374th Airlift Wing (Yokota AB, Tokyo)
• 374th Operations Support Squadron
• 36th Airlift Squadron (C-130H)
• 459th Airlift Squadron (UH-1N, C-12)
Detachment, 94th Fighter Squadron (Kadena AB, Okinawa) (F-22)

* Recent Air Force deployments to Japan

12th Fighter Squadron (Kadena AB, Okinawa) (F-15C/D)


US Marines
III Marine Expeditionary Force (Camp Courtney, Okinawa)
• 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit
• 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade
3rd Marine Division (Camp Courtney, Okinawa)
• 3rd Marine Regiment
• 4th Marine Regiment
• 12th Marine Regiment (Camp Hansen, Okinawa)
3rd Marine Logistics Group (Camp Courtney, Okinawa)
1st Marine Air Wing (Kadena AB, Okinawa)
Marine Air Group 12 (Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture) (F-18)
Marine Air Group 36 (Futenma, Okinawa) (CH-46, CH-53, KC-130R)
Marine Air Control Group 18 (Futenma, Okinawa)

US Navy
7th Fleet (Yokosuka)
Submarine Group 7 (Yokosuka)
Expeditionary Strike group 7 (Okinawa)
• Amphibious Squadron 11 (Sasebo)
• Mine Countermeasure Division 11 (Sasebo)
HSL-14 (NAS Atsugi) (SH-60)
CVN 63 George Washington
• Carrier Air Wing 5
• George Washington Strike Group

* Recent Navy deployments to Japan

CV 63 Kitty Hawk
CV 41 Midway
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