TOKYO REPORT: Japan to Shape "Dynamic Defense Force"

Tokyo, March 7 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is set to flesh out details of the National Defense Program Guidelines it adopted late last year.
The guidelines feature the new concept of "dynamic defense force," which replaces the "basic defense force" concept introduced in 1976 when Japan adopted its first defense buildup program.
Basic defense force meant having the minimum capability to defend Japan as an independent state against the threat of the Soviet Union. This led to the placement of Self-Defense Forces troops across Japan, including the deployment of a tank regiment and other core troops in Hokkaido, northernmost Japan.
By contrast, the dynamic defense force concept is aimed at enabling SDF troops to move flexibly and promptly address security concerns such as terrorist and guerilla attacks.
The new concept puts emphasis on the defense of the Nansei Islands in the southwestern Japan prefectures of Kagoshima and Okinawa, in part to check China's increasing naval activities in waters surrounding Japan.
Late last year, the Defense Ministry set up an in-house committee under the senior vice minister of defense to promote structural reform of Japan's defense capability.
Jun Azumi, the senior vice minister at that time, said the committee would eliminate the adverse effects of a "turf mind-set" at the Ground, Maritime and Air SDFs and realize the integrated operation of the three forces for dynamic defense.
The committee is due to sort out points of contention later this month and adopt a set of reform proposals in June.
In addition, the ministry will launch a joint drill of the three forces in fiscal 2011 for the defense of Nansei Islands under the scenario of warding off enemy battleships by deploying the surface-to-ship missile regiment of the GSDF and other troops.
With a budget of 100 million yen set aside for fiscal 2011, which starts in April, the drill is planned to take place on islands in the area this autumn.
Among operations planned for the joint drill, a transport vessel of the MSDF will be mobilized to carry troops of the GSDF missile regiment stationed in the city of Kumamoto, while F-2 fighter jets of the ASDF will attack an enemy special task force at sea.