In a post-World War II precedent-setting move (under the country\u2019s expanded military doctrine) , the Japanese Navy has reportedly deployed a helicopter carrier (and authorized it to use weapons, if necessary) , to escort and protect a US supply vessel.<\/b>
\nIn a post-World War II precedent-setting move (under the country\u2019s expanded military doctrine) , the Japanese Navy has reportedly deployed a helicopter carrier (and authorized it to use weapons, if necessary) , to escort and protect a US supply vessel.
Defense Minister Tomomi Inada ordered the Izumo Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier to protect a US Navy supply ship, which is heading towards the Pacific to resupply the American armada sent by Donald Trump to keep North Korean nuclear ambitions at bay, sources\u00a0 told \u00a0Kyodo news.
The Japanese helicopter carrier is set to depart Yokosuka port in Kanagawa Prefecture to Monday to escort the US Navy supply ship from waters off the Boso Peninsula, near Tokyo, to the area off Shikoku, one of the four main islands of Japan. Japanese media reports that the US ship could be delivering supplies to the aircraft carrier \u2013 the USS Carl Vinson striking group, that is now conducting a joint exercise with South Korea\u2019s navy in the Sea of Japan. To ensure success of their escort mission, the Japanese seamen have been authorized the\u00a0\u201cminimum necessary use of weapons, \u201d\u00a0to deter any attacks amid North Korean threats to sink US ships, the Japan Times\u00a0 reports.
As RT notes, Monday’s Izumo deployment will set a new milestone for the Japanese Navy which has not escorted any military vessels, outside of troop exercises, since the adoption of a pacifist constitution following Japan’s defeat in World War II. In 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party passed legislation to allow the country\u2019s military to participate in foreign conflicts, overturning its previous policy of fighting only in self-defense. Since the Japanese constitution only allowed Japanese armed forces to act in self-defense, the legislation reinterpreted the relevant passages to allow the military to operate with overseas allies in \u201ccollective self-defense.\u201d
The latest Kyodo News survey showed the Japanese are divided over whether or not to amend the Article 9 of the Constitution, which outlaws war as a means to settle international disputes. According to the figures, 49 percent of some 3,000 mail-in respondents said Article 9 must be revised while 47 percent oppose the change. Some 75 percent of respondents who support the pacifist constitution claimed that Article 9 allowed the country to stay out of world conflicts since World War II.<\/p>\n