Japan Plans to Deploy Surveillance Radar on Pacific Island

The Japanese government plans to deploy a mobile warning and control radar system of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) on Kita-Daitojima Island, a remote Pacific island in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

The plan came after the Defense Buildup Program, approved by Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s Cabinet in December 2022, advocated the deployment of mobile warning and control radars on the islands on Japan’s Pacific side to strengthen the air defense posture in the airspace around Japan, including the vast airspace over the Pacific.

So far, the JASDF has installed fixed radar sites in 28 locations across the country, but it still doesn’t have any fixed radars on the islands on the Pacific coast, meaning there are gaps in Japan’s air defense capabilities.

Thus, the Ministry of Defense emphasized that by properly deploying mobile warning and control radars, which are devices that can locate the positions of foreign aircraft and ships, on islands on the Pacific coast, the JASDF will be able to maintain a flawless warning and surveillance posture.

In particular, Kita-Daitojima Island is a strategically important island located about 360 kilometers east of the main Okinawa island. It sits halfway between the so-called first island chain, which stretches from Okinawa through Taiwan to the Philippines, and the second island chain, which connects Japan’s Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam.

China, which is actively expanding its maritime presence, has set as its first goal the establishment of naval control to prevent the U.S. military from entering the first island chain in the event of a Taiwan emergency. Furthermore, it is said to be drawing up a strategy to deny the U.S. military operational activities along the second island chain. This is known as China’s anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy.

China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was confirmed to have sailed in the Pacific Ocean between these two island chains for the first time in December 2016, and its second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, did so in April 2023. It is believed that China has conducted repeated takeoff and landing training for aircraft from the carriers. However, the JASDF still does not have any fixed warning and control radar in the Japanese islands of the Pacific Ocean.

“As stated in the Defense Buildup Program, strengthening the surveillance and monitoring posture on the Pacific side has become an urgent task in light of the expanding and intensifying activities of neighboring countries,” Japan’s Defense Minister Kihara Minoru said at a press conference on June 28.

“Kita-Daitojima is in an important location for the Japanese government’s constant monitoring around the country,” Kihara stressed.

According to the Defense Ministry, the government will acquire about 11 hectares of village-owned land on the north and south sides of the island for the radar deployment. About 30 JASDF personnel will be stationed on the island.

The ministry said that construction of the facility is expected to begin as early as fiscal year 2025, with completion expected after fiscal year 2028.

The local assembly of Kita-Daito Village, which administers the island, has been trying to invite SDF members to Kita-Daitojima, with the expectation that they will help to prepare for natural disasters, such as typhoons, as well as improve the island’s medical care structure, in addition to promote economic development.

In December 2021, the Kita-Daito Village assembly passed a resolution to invite the SDF to the village. In the same month, it requested the Defense Ministry to deploy an SDF unit.

As of April 2022, the population of Kita-Daito Village was only 547, making it the second least populous municipality in Okinawa Prefecture and the 15th least populous municipality in Japan, according to the village’s homepage.

Thus, the deployment of JASDF personnel is not only a response to the threat of China, but also part of local measures to combat depopulation and create economic growth.