Alliance of Subordination

Japan Press Weekly

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Alliance of Subordination
Japan-US alliance and SDF -- Part VI

Information sharing and heavy reliance on US forces

“Sharing information with the U.S. Navy, we had a strong feeling that we are crew members of the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet rather than members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF),” said a former executive officer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

By ranking allied nations in accordance with their contributions, the U.S. forces adjusts the amount of information to be shared with them. Among Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces, there is an atmosphere of working for the U.S. military’s recognition as a partner by showing for loyalty to the U.S. forces and by how much information they share with the U.S. forces.

Destroyers and P3C patrol aircraft of the JMSDF are integrated with the U.S. Seventh Fleet based at the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base (Kanagawa Pref.) through the Tactical Digital Information Link, in which the JMSDF and the U.S. Navy use the same secret code. The JMSDF places high priority on joint military exercises with the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet.

Unification of JSDF, US forces, and South Korean forces

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force also promotes the sharing of information with the U.S. Air Force and strengthens its integration with it.

Initially, the U.S. Air Force bore responsibility for Japan’s air defense. However, in order to reduce its burden, in 1958 it decided to shift scramble operations to the JASDF. Following this decision, the JASDF introduced the Base Air Defense Ground Environment System (BADGE) and began operations in 1969.

With that shift in operations, the U.S. Air Force completed its mission and had no reason to remain in Japan. However, it chose to stay in Japan and use the JASDF.

In reply to an Akahata inquiry, the Defense Ministry claimed that there is no relation between the U.S. air defense system and the BADGE. However, the 1966 version of the declassified Command History of the U.S. Forces in Japan states, “[T]he program to interface BADGE with US systems was called the WESTPACNORTH Information Utilization Program. It provided for the integration of the Japanese BADGE with the US Navy Tactical Data System, the Ryukyu Air Defense System, and the Korea Air Defense System into one defense environment.”

The U.S. military secretly established a system which unifies the air defense systems of Japan, the U.S. and South Korea which will be utilized in any situation even if it has nothing to do with Japan’s defense.

HQs located side-by-side

The Defense Ministry in July 2009 began operations of the new version of the BADGE, the Japan Aerospace Defense Ground Environment System (JADGE). “This system can be integrated with that of the U.S. forces” (Defense Ministry).

The system will further rely on U.S. military satellites to intercept ballistic missiles.

By the end of FY 2011, the JASDF Air Defense Command will be relocated to the U.S. Yokota Base and situated next to the U.S. Fifth Air Force Command.

As a result, the headquarters of the JSDF and the U.S. Forces in Japan for the first time will stand next door to each other. The JSDF at the top has begun to merge with the U.S. Forces Command in Japan.

(To be continued)