In March, the Self-Defense Forces deployed a vehicle-mounted Network Electronic Warfare System (NEWS) at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Signal School in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. This was the first SDF electronic warfare weapon to possess such cutting-edge capabilities; it can collect and jam radio waves, microwaves, infra-red rays and other electromagnetic waves. Specifically, it is designed to identify the frequency an enemy force is using and jam their communications, and to render unmanned aerial vehicles inoperable.
On July 23, Defense Minister Taro Kono visited the school to observe the NEWS. "It has been pointed out that China and Russia are strengthening the actual capabilities needed to conduct military electronic warfare, so they can jam other nations' units and destroy infrastructure," Kono later said in a briefing to personnel stationed there.
Following this, Kono said to reporters, "We are in an age where Japan also needs to possess excellent capabilities in the electronic warfare field."
Next spring, the SDF will establish a new electronic warfare unit at the GSDF's Camp Kengun in Kumamoto city. About 80 personnel will be attached to the unit, where the NEWS will be deployed for actual use for the first time. The unit will work closely with the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade based at Camp Ainoura in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, as it stands on the front line in defending Japan's islands.
-- Alarm bells in Syria
The Russian military's strategy in Syria rammed home the importance of electronic warfare.
In 2015, the Russian vehicle-mounted Krasukha-4 electronic warfare system jammed the surveillance radar of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization AWACS plane, an airborne control center for air defense. During this time, Russian fighter jets attacked forces opposing the Syrian government. The Krasukha-4 system reportedly can launch such attacks in a range up to 300 kilometers. NATO military forces reportedly could not figure out what was happening.
Like Russia, China also is pouring resources into developing and deploying electronic warfare capabilities. Chinese Y-9 surveillance aircraft frequently fly over the East China Sea and continually collect information about the SDF. In January 2017, one Y-9, six H-6 bombers and one Y-8 early-warning plane flew from the East China Sea, passed through the Tsushima Strait and went near the waters off the Chugoku and Kinki regions.
A drone reportedly packed with electronic warfare equipment was displayed at a Chinese military parade that same year. Chinese J-15 fighters feature electronic warfare devices, and Beijing is installing electronic jamming equipment on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
-- Interception skills
Since the Cold War era, the SDF's ability to intercept enemy communications has been widely acknowledged. Japan's interception of communications between Soviet fighter jets and a ground base when a Korean Air plane was shot down in 1983 is still talked about even today. "We can still collect information from areas deep in the interior of the Asian continent," a senior Defense Ministry official said proudly.
However, Japan lags far behind in the development and deployment of new electronic warfare abilities.
The ministry is working feverishly to claw back this lost ground. Japan is acquiring F-35A fighters with electronic warfare systems and adding electronic warfare capabilities to its existing F-15s. In addition, Japan is developing a "standoff jammer aircraft" that emits radio waves to disrupt enemy communications.
-- 'Game changers'
Weapons that emit a massive amount of electromagnetic energy that does not affect buildings or people but leaves electronic equipment useless are being tipped as "game changers" that could completely change how wars are fought.
The most powerful of these are electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons. In 2017, North Korea mentioned the possibility of using a nuclear weapon as an EMP weapon.
An EMP attack unleashed by a nuclear explosion at high altitude would have tremendous destructive power, and all electronic devices would be completely wrecked. "The Kanto Plain would be sent back to the primitive ages" if it suffered such an attack, a former senior GSDF officer said. China reportedly is building nuclear warheads specifically for EMP attacks.
The SDF is researching and developing EMP weapons that do not use nuclear bombs. It also is developing high-power microwave (HPM) weapons that destroy the electronic components of selected targets such as missiles. The U.S. military deployed HPM weapons in 2019. This year, the U.S. government reportedly approached the Japanese government and quietly asked for technological cooperation in the electromagnetic domain.
In September 2018, a senior officer attached to the MSDF Command and Staff College's Institute for Future Warfare Studies in Tokyo published an online column detailing his predictions for how combat would look in the years ahead.
"Powerful HPM missiles will be fired at swarms of drones and incoming missiles, incapacitating them in an instant," the officer wrote. "Using HPM missiles in the air above an invading fleet or a militia ship convoy would turn those vessels into nothing but steel boxes."
There is a growing feeling within the SDF that use of such weapons should be expanded. "Electronic warfare doesn't involve weapons that kill people, so it suits Japan," one SDF official said.
PHOTO CAPTION
Courtesy of Ground Self-Defense Force
A Ground Self-Defense Force vehicle-mounted Network Electronic Warfare System, or NEWS.
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