Japan`s First Military Support for War Against Terrorism

Three Japanese SDF war ships will depart for the Indian Ocean on November 9 to support U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and the War on Terrorism. This is the first time that the SDF has dispatched troops overseas in a military operation since the end of World War II.

The three vessels that left the Sasebo harbor in Nagasaki at 7 am include the Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel Kurama and Kirisamae, and supply vessel Hanama. The ships are sent ahead of the main MSDF dispatch and will conduct research and investigation operations.

The Kurama (5200t) has one third radar capacity of the Aegis vessel and loads up to four helicopters. The Kirisamae is smaller than the Kurama but has the same level of capacity while the Hanama is equipped with leading-edge technology that assesses fuel supply status through its computer system and provides the supplies to the defense vessels.

The vessels which contain 700 troops will pass through the port of Karachi in Singapore and are expected to reach U.S. bases in Diego Island in the Indian Ocean in the next two weeks. The vessels will be dispatched for a period of two months. The Japanese government will finalize plans for military aid to the U.S. at the Cabinet meeting on November 16 and supply aid to the U.S. and British military by the end of the month, dispatching three additional MSDF ships. The Japanese government is specifically trying to dispatch the Aegis vessel which is equipped with the highest capacity radar system. It is making final negotiations with the majority party.

The Japanese government insists that ``in order to effectively aid U.S. forces, we need to dispatch the Aegis with its leading-edge intelligence gathering capacity.`` The majority party, however, is raising strong objections, saying, ``Gathering intelligence through the Aegis and handing it over to the U.S. amounts to the same thing as using armed forces.``