In December 2023, Natsue Kondo became the first woman promoted to top leadership at any of the three branches of the Self-Defense Forces. More than a year remains the only female officer holding any of the top ranks. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/21/japan/marine-self-defense-force-female-vice-admiral/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #msdf #sdf #women039sissues
Japan sent a destroyer Akizuki through the Taiwan Strait in early February, in an apparent move to counter China's increasingly aggressive behavior in the East and South China Seas. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/03/japan/japan-msdf-taiwan-strait/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #taiwan #china #msdf #sdf #pla #defense #defenseministry
France’s first deployment of a carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific in 60 years has allowed its navy to deepen its understanding of the region and boost interoperability with partner nations. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/02/18/asia-pacific/france-navy-carrier-commander-interview/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #france #indopacific #francejapanrelations #msdf #defense #aircraftcarriers
The Maritime Self-Defense Force is upgrading its Izumo and Kaga destroyers into de facto aircraft carriers, equipping them to operate the F-35B stealth fighter. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/02/17/japan/izumo-kaga-aircraft-carriers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #msdf #kaga #izumo #defense #us #usjapanrelations #aircraftcarriers #asdf
The Maritime Self-Defense Force says it has begun the Pacific Steller joint exercise with the U.S. and French navies in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/02/14/japan/japan-us-france-joint-naval-exercise/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #usjapanrelations #francejapanrelations #defense #sdf #msdf
Firefighters and helicopters were combating a blaze in a forest on a Japanese island on Friday, with media reports saying it may have been started by nearby military exercises. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/01/17/japan/forest-fire-hiroshima-msdf/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #hiroshima #firefighters #wildfires #emissions #climatechange #msdf
Japan's Self-Defense Forces are gradually integrating drones into their units for use in the air, on land or at sea, taking lessons from the war in Ukraine on how such assets can act as force multipliers. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/01/05/japan/japan-sdf-drones-focus/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #sdf #msdf #asdf #gsdf #defense #drones #defenseministry #russiaukrainewar
Kawasaki Heavy Industries pooled ¥1.7 billion ($10.8 million) in slush funds over six years through fiscal 2023, and used some of it to wine and dine Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel, the Defense Ministry says. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2024/12/27/companies/kawasaki-heavy-slush-funds/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #kawasakiheavy #msdf #sdf #defenseministry #corporategovernance
The Defense Ministry has said that it will deploy U.S.-made drones for the warning and surveillance activities of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/11/16/japan/japan-msdf-sea-guardian-drone/ #japan #sdf #msdf #drones #defense #defenseministry #china
Four Russian navy vessels, including a nuclear-powered submarine, sailed through the Soya Strait between Hokkaido and Russia's Sakhalin on Monday, the Japanese Defense Ministry has said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/11/12/japan/russian-submarine-sail-soya-strait/ #japan #defenseministry #submarines #soyastrait #russia #msdf
South Korea, Japan, and the United States on Sunday conducted a joint air drill involving a heavy bomber, Seoul's military said, in response to North Korea's latest long-range missile test. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/11/03/japan/us-bomber-joins-air-drill/ #japan #southkorea #northkorea #us #asdf #msdf #icbm
The poor telecommunications situation that Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel currently face is expected to change for the better, as the MSDF plans to make Starlink available on its vessels. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/10/12/japan/msdf-better-internet/ #japan #msdf #internet #starlink
Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force overpaid some ¥81 million to outsourcing companies tasked with charging submarine batteries, because the batteries were not fully charged as they should have been, people familiar with an investigation have said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/10/08/japan/msdf-overpayment/ #japan #msdf #submarines #boardofaudit #defense
The Sazanami passed through the Taiwan Strait last month to become the first Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer to do so, drawing praise in Taiwan for what it saw as a shift in Japan's security policy. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/10/07/japan/politics/japan-security-taiwan-reactions/ #japan #politics #taiwanjapanrelations #taiwan #msdf #taiwanstrait
Naval and air forces from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and the U.S. held joint exercises in the disputed South China Sea on Saturday as the Chinese military conducted its own dueling drills in the waterway. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/28/asia-pacific/us-japan-partners-china-south-china-sea/ #asiapacific #us #australia #newzealand #philippines #china #southchinasea #pla #scarboroughshoal #disputedislands #defense #msdf
The Maritime Self-Defense Force said Tuesday it will conduct this autumn aircraft takeoff and landing tests on its helicopter-carrier Kaga in the United States using U.S. fighter jets. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/11/japan/msdf-us-fighter-jets-tests/ #japan #aircraftcarriers #kaga #izumo #msdf #usmilitary
The Japanese company making the U.S.-2 amphibious plane will continue its production of the search-and-rescue aircraft used by the Maritime Self-Defense Force, much to the relief of Defense Ministry officials. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/04/japan/msdf-amphibious-plane/ #japan #msdf #defenseministry #tech #oceans
The Defense Ministry plans to equip the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF)'s Aegis destroyer Chokai with a function to launch U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, according to sources. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/01/japan/aegis-destroyer-chokai-tomahawk/ #japan #aegis #defenseministry #budgets #msdf #missiles
Japan and Italy’s rapidly intensifying military engagement is already paying dividends as the partners boost interoperability and exchange operational information, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto says. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/08/26/japan/politics/italy-defense-minister-japan-interview/ #japan #politics #italyjapanrelations #italy #aircraftcarriers #defense #sdf #msdf
