Japan protests after N Korea fires short-range missiles

[GOLGO 13]

5. I'll not be surprised to see Japan eventually have French sized nuclear weaponry

Japanese Soryu class of submarines are already well regarded fearsome weapons. They're so much appreciated that I'm reading that the Australians are looking at either getting some of these JP. subs or perhaps doing an entire fleet swap out. China is traditionally poor in anti-submarine development/tactics.

The problem with the subs is that Japan needs a LOT more than the eight she has/had. My info is hopefully outdated.

Japanese F15J fighters are fairly close to US F15 Eagles and they have already proven their value with over 400 intercepts last year against guess who? Chinese & Russians (& others) straying into her territory. Whoops.

The problem with these fighters is that it's a 30 yr old plane so she has to be constantly upgraded with current electronic countermeasures, etc. Japan reportedly only does about a dozen plane upgrades a year. One of those things that could bite you in the ass later on. Still it's a good plane on par with whatever the Chinese could throw up at them right now. Again she doesn't have a lot of fighters (200 estimate) in case China decides to get frisky.

So yes, she does have armaments that can pack a punch. I just wish they would do away with Article 9 and spend more than 1% GDP to get better toys in case China feels like playing roshambo with her.