Former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani
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Japan needs the overwhelming capacity to retaliate against a possible North Korean attack as a way to deter the isolated nation from using nuclear weapons.
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RationalReader
Second strike capability is not the same as military parity. Britain & France have such capability through their SLBMs. That doesn’t make them military peers of Russia.
japan could do this relatively cheaply - buying subs and missiles from the US, France & Britain with domestic development only of the warhead.
dcog9065
I agree with this, Japan needs an overwhelming second strike capability of thermo nukes to make extinct any nation that attacks it. With NK, China, and Russia as neighbors, enough is enough. All 3 of them must know their civilization will end if they try anything.
Segador
"BintaroToday 08:24 am JST
I'm pretty sure Japan arming itself this way will only push North Korea to arm itself more.
It sure never worked during the cold war."
Well, USA managed to bankrupt the soviets in the 90s in a arms race. Maybe thats is the way with NK too.
Matt Hartwell
I agree that its a good idea to develop such a capability as a deterrent and it would need to sea based as you suggested. Going to need more than a couple subs with China ever advancing radar and sub detection capabilities. Japan already produces high quality subs, its just there not nuclear attack based. I wonder if it would be worthwhile for Japan to buy U.S secondhand Ohio class nuclear strike subs?
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russia-china-fear-americas-ohio-class-submarines-19120
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio-class_submarine
Given that the U.S is looking to replace them with the Columbia class?
GyGene
Well said, Matt and Rational. No matter how, I'm for Japan being able to defend itself. Preemptively even if necessary.
extanker
People want the US military out of Japan, but at the same time don't want Japan to be able to defend itself. Which is it?
Matt Hartwell
Pretty fantastical thinking given Japans current posture. Japan would need to sink of 100's of billions into its military to attempt to compete with China or Russia. Its never going to happen. That's why the U.S alliance exists.
Bintaro
I'm pretty sure Japan arming itself this way will only push North Korea to arm itself more.
It sure never worked during the cold war.
Daniel Naumoff
This is a retarded opinion that would only lead to conflict. The only proper thing to do is to bolster defensive systems on your own borders without ever considering offensive capability. Then again, who will oversee that those rockets are there solely for the defensive purposes...