 "President Donald Trump,with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. AP")
Japan is considering acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, a day after US President Donald Trump greenlit their procurement for South Korea, following his meeting with President Lee Jae Myung.
China operates its nuclear submarines in the East and South China Seas, as well as the western Pacific, and with South Korea now having their possession, it has left Tokyo out of the loop.
Japan and South Korea currently operate only diesel-powered submarines and depend on the United States for nuclear submarine capabilities to balance the influence of China and Russia. While the exact operations of US submarines remain classified, they are widely believed to maintain a broad presence across the Pacific Ocean.
Is Japan missing out?
Nuclear submarines are more capable of long-distance operations than diesel ones, but are far more expensive too. Its cost had triggered a debate in South Korea on whether the country needs such an expensive naval defence system in the relatively confined waters around it.
They may be deployed across the Pacific Ocean and participate in joint missions with US forces. Among Pacific Rim nations, Australia is moving forward with plans to acquire its first nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom.
These shifts have implications for Japan’s defence strategy, as they raise the possibility that the US could increasingly entrust the security of the Pacific to its allies while concentrating more on defending its own territory.
‘Not ruling anything out’
With South Korea gaining its acquisition, Japan might be compelled to get its own nuclear submersible. In fact, Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has been open to the idea.
In a joint agreement, the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, announced plans to advance the development of submarines featuring “next-generation propulsion.”
At a press briefing, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi emphasised that “all options will be considered without ruling anything out.”
Compared to South Korea, Japan faces the challenge of defending a far larger maritime territory. The Defence Ministry has been working on a strategy to equip its conventional submarines with long-range missiles to gain the ability to target Chinese medium-range missile launch sites. However, some defence experts argue that nuclear-powered submarines would be better suited for this mission.