Japan’s ground troops to get transport ships amid concerns over China’s military build-up in Indo-Pacific

The vessels for the Ground Self-Defense Forces will be deployed in 2024 to supply ammunition, fuel and provisions to personnel stationed in the country’s outlying islands

Analysts say this makes them ideal for resupply operations should Tokyo need to send troops to the Diaoyu Islands, which are also claimed by mainland China and Taiwan

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A Chinese maritime surveillance vessel (right) passes near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in 2013. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 4:03pm, 15 Feb 2021Updated: 10:26pm, 15 Feb 2021

Japan has announced that it will build three transport ships designed to supply ammunition, fuel and provisions to troops stationed on its outlying islands, as part of its efforts to deal with China’s military build-up in the region.

The ships will be smaller than the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s existing resupply vessels, making them capable of operating in beachheads that lack port infrastructure. Analysts say this makes them ideal for resupply operations should Tokyo ever need to deploy troops to the Diaoyu Islands, the chain claimed by mainland China, Taiwan and Japan, which calls them the Senkaku Islands.

The budget for the three vessels will be included in the defence ministry’s requests for 2022, and they are expected to be deployed to southern Japan in 2024. The largest ship will be around 2,000 tonnes, while the smaller vessels will each be around 400 tonnes.

“This is all part of the continuing modernisation of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces and I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that what we are seeing here is a quiet revolution in the Japanese military,” said James Brown, a professor of international relations at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.

“Japan is expanding its capabilities in a wide range of defence areas, and while that does not mean it has any intention of breaking with the United States for its defence or becoming fully autonomous, it does mean Japan is taking on a greater burden of its own defence and that it is becoming a more capable ally.”

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It also ties in with Tokyo’s commitment to building defence ties with other regional powers, including Australia and India, over concern at Beijing’s increasingly assertive presence in the Indo-Pacific.

To underline Japan’s new-found resolve to play a more active role in the region’s security, Tokyo has already announced that it intends to transform the helicopter carrier Izumo into a full aircraft carrier capable of handling F-35 Lightning fighter jets. Plans are also under way to increase the range and other capabilities of anti-shipping missiles based in Japan’s southwestern islands.