TOKYO -- In line with a policy to forward-deploy newer and more advanced ships near the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. Navy has added another Flight IIA version of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer to its fleet in Yokosuka, Japan.
The USS Shoup arrived at its new location on Monday, moving from its home port of San Diego. It joins Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy's largest surface combatant squadron, and together with eight other destroyers will protect the Yokosuka-based aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Independently, it can also conduct anti-air, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, and will perform freedom-of-navigation operations -- passages through international waters to oppose the excessive maritime claims of certain countries -- in the Indo-Pacific, including through the Taiwan Strait.
The Shoup will replace an older version of the Arleigh-Burke class in Yokosuka, likely the USS Barry or Benfold, but the ship and timing have not been announced. Until then, there will be 14 U.S. ships forward-deployed to Yokosuka, the largest overseas U.S. naval installation in the world.
The Flight IIA is the third generation of the Arleigh-Burke class and is distinct from previous editions in that it is equipped with two helicopter hangars designed to house the Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk, the Navy's primary anti-submarine warfare asset for open ocean and littoral zones.
A helicopter can track and destroy an enemy submarine by dropping sonobuoys and launching homing torpedoes. The helicopter can respond faster and get much closer to the target than reconnaissance aircraft can.
Submerged vessels generally have difficulty detecting the actions of a patrolling aircraft, and helicopters are known to strike fear in submariners.
Since last year, the Navy has been replacing the destroyers in Yokosuka with the newer hangar-equipped versions. Now five Flight IIA ships are in Yokosuka: the USS Howard, the USS Dewey, the USS Ralph Johnson, the USS Rafael Peralta and the Shoup.
"Maintaining the most advanced ships and a forward-deployed naval force capability supports the United States' commitment to the defense of Japan and the security, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region," the 7th Fleet said in a news release. "This allows the most rapid response times possible for maritime and joint forces, and brings our most capable ships with the greatest amount of striking power and operational capability to bear in the timeliest manner."
Yokosuka-based destroyers had traditionally focused on ballistic missile defense, primarily with the North Korean threat in mind. That focus is rapidly shifting to countering China's advanced fighters and submarines.
In its annual China Military Power Report submitted to Congress in November, the Pentagon noted that the People's Liberation Army Navy has placed a high priority on modernizing its submarine force, working to integrate new technologies and expand its shipyards.
It said that China will likely develop a new Shang-class guided-missile nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSGN) by the mid-2020s, which "will enhance the PLAN's anti-surface warfare capability and could provide a clandestine land-attack option if equipped with land-attack cruise missiles."
The addition of such land-attack capabilities would provide the Chinese navy with flexible long-range strike options that would allow it to hold land targets at risk beyond the Indo-Pacific region, the Pentagon said.
The Yokosuka-based USS Barry and USS Milius have received the Navy's Anti-Submarine Warfare Bloodhound Award for the Pacific Fleet in recent years.
The Yokosuka naval base -- or Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, as it is officially called -- sits on 2.3 sq. kilometers of land at the entrance to Tokyo Bay.
It previously served as a major shipyard and headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Navy. A cave that served as the Imperial Navy's operations center, with a huge floor-to-ceiling map on which soldiers in the past would climb a ladder to attach magnetic ships and show admirals where the fleet stood, is today the headquarters of DESRON 15.
The U.S. Navy still uses the dry docks used by the Imperial Navy, dating as far back as 1871. When Emperor Meiji visited the dock, he placed a commemorative gold coin in a secret location behind one of the bricks -- which has not been found to this day.
The U.S. naval base is located next to the headquarters of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces. Conducting joint exercises throughout the year, the maritime units of the U.S. military and the SDF are considered the closest components of the alliance.
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