34-781: The Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle ( 16式機動戦闘車 , Hitoroku shiki kidō sentōsha ) is a wheeled armored fighting vehicle of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). The Type 16 MCV equips designated combat units. Due to its light weight and small size, it is designed for easy deployment (by aircraft if needed) allowing rapid movement on narrow roads and in built-up areas in response to various contingencies. Despite its small size and light armor, it can successfully attack much larger armored fighting vehicles as well as personnel, using its large caliber gun. MCVs are expected to be highly functional, but can also be loaded on Kawasaki C-2 transport aircraft. JMSDF
68-811: A compromise in the face of U.S. calls to build up an army of 350,000, the National Police Reserve was re-titled the National Safety Force and expanded to 110,000. In 1954, Prime Minister Yoshida impelled the Diet to accept the Defence Agency Establishment and the Self-Defence Force Laws, which explicitly authorized the forces to "defend Japan against direct and indirect aggression, and when necessary to maintain public order." On July 1, 1954,
102-502: A sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." "In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized." It is believed that the Special Diet Session leader Hitoshi Ashida added the clause "In order to accomplish
136-613: A week or less. During the 1970s, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force possessed a dubious ability to hold off a Soviet invasion of Hokkaido . Zbigniew Brzezinski observed in 1972 that it seemed optimized to fight "a Soviet invasion conducted on American patterns of a quarter of a century ago." Three years later in 1975, Osamu Kaihara, the former secretary of the National Defence Council, was reported in U.S. News & World Report that
170-476: Is dedicated to securing transport vessels for maritime transport independently, and will be carried on these vessels and transported to the Okinawa Islands . The main gun is manually loaded as a cost-saving measure. Some critics have expressed doubts about its effectiveness due to this strain on the crew in hot conditions, as the vehicle does not have air conditioning . In 2009, resistance testing of
204-841: The Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade are trained to counter invaders from occupying Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea. British troops of the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) exercised together for the first time with Japanese GSDF soldiers in Oyama , Shizuoka prefecture on 2 October 2018. The purpose was to improve their strategic partnership and security cooperation. Speaking about tensions regarding North Korea , Lieutenant General Patrick Sanders said that Japan "won't have to fight alone." The JGSDF and
238-818: The Indian Army conducted their first joint military exercise in the Indian state of Mizoram from 27 October to 18 November 2018. It primarily consisted of anti-terror drills and improving bilateral cooperation with 60 Japanese and Indian officers. In March 2019, the Ministry of Defense established its first regional cyber protection unit in the Western Army of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) to safeguard defense communications from cyber attacks, such as for personnel deployed on remote islands with no established secure lines. The Japanese government approved
272-536: The JMSDF and JASDF as well as a U.S. Army landing ship. These were the largest GSDF exercises since after the Cold War in 1993. The exercises are based on 2019 National Defense Program Guidelines to strengthen defense capabilities. Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi said it is to effectively respond to various situations. In 1989, basic training for lower-secondary and upper-secondary academy graduates began in
306-768: The Japan Defense Agency activated the Special Operations Group with the mandate under the JGSDF as its Counter-terrorist unit . In 2015, the Japanese Diet passed a law that allowed for the reinterpretation of Article 9 of the constitution. JSDF personnel train with the American forces in amphibious assault units designed to take outlying islands. Japan activated its first marine unit since World War II on April 7, 2018. The marines of
340-749: The Japanese Army , is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces . Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct the Japan Self-Defense Forces away from their Cold War focus on the Soviet Union to a new focus on China , especially in respect of the dispute over the Senkaku Islands . The JGSDF operates under
374-702: The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan , United States forces stationed in Japan were to deal with external aggression against Japan while Japanese forces, both ground and maritime, would deal with internal threats and natural disasters. Only after the outbreak of the Korean War did MacArthur authorise Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida to establish a 75,000 strong National Police Reserve . The next expansion came in 1952, when as
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#1732780858391408-543: The Yakima Training Center in the United States . The JGSDF has two reserve components: the rapid-reaction reserve component (即応予備自衛官制度) and the main reserve component (一般予備自衛官制度). Members of the rapid-reaction component train 30 days a year. Members of the main reserve train five days a year. As of December 2007, there were 8,425 members of the rapid-reaction reserve component and 22,404 members of
442-526: The light-weight combat vehicle (LCV) which was also designed with defense of the outer islands in mind. On March 15, 2023, ATLA announced that 250 MCVs will be brought into JGSDF service. [REDACTED] Japan This is the list of orders with each fiscal year: ( ¥ billion) "Manoeuvre combat vehicle" Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( Japanese : 陸上自衛隊 , Hepburn : Rikujō Jieitai ) , JGSDF ( 陸自 , Rikuji ) , also referred to as
476-720: The Allied Powers (SCAP). Both were replaced by the United States Armed Forces occupation force, which assumed responsibility for the external defense of Japan. Douglas MacArthur insisted that Japan have no military that could be used to settle international disputes or even for its own self defense. Accordingly, during the development of the Japan Constitution in 1946, Article 9 was added stating "the Japanese people forever renounce war as
510-583: The JGSDF planned for 2016. 99 MCVs were originally planned to be introduced by the end of FY 2018. The name of the vehicle was changed to maneuver combat vehicle during the second half of 2011. For FY 2016, the MOD has requested funding for 36 examples of the MCV, to enter service with elements of the 8th Division at Kumamoto , and the 14th Brigade at Zentsūji . Both formations are currently planned for conversion to rapid reaction forces (though these plans, as with
544-622: The JGSDF. Like the maritime and air forces , the JGSDF ran a youth cadet program offering technical training to lower-secondary school graduates below military age in return for a promise of enlistment. Because of population density and urbanization on the Japanese islands, only limited areas are available for large-scale training, and, even in these areas, noise restrictions are extensive. The JGSDF has adapted to these conditions by conducting command post exercises, map manoeuvres, investing in simulators and other training programs, as well as conducting live fire exercises overseas at locations such as
578-561: The LCV called for a 6x6 design, but that concept was scrapped in favor of an 8x8 design for the MCV. Other concepts that would be omitted from the Type 16 include the in-wheel engines, transport inside of the C-130, and indirect fire capability of the main cannon. The IED/ anti-tank mine resistance became an optional plate for the undercarriage that Type 16 crews can special order for their vehicle. After
612-822: The National Security Board was reorganized as the Defense Agency, and the National Security Force was reorganized afterwards as the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( Army ), the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ( Navy ) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force ( Air Force ), with General Keizō Hayashi appointed as the first Chairman of Joint Staff Council—professional head of the three branches. The enabling legislation for this
646-561: The SDF would have been totally ineffective in any Soviet attack, as the Ground SDF could only fight as an army for three to four days. While the force is now an efficient army of around 150,000, its apparent importance had, until recently, seemingly declined with the end of the Cold War , and attempts to reorient the forces as a whole to new post Cold War missions have been tangled in a series of internal political disputes. On March 27, 2004,
680-450: The aim of the preceding paragraph" in the middle of Article 9. The intent of this phrasing was to allow for the creation of military forces in Japan which would be for the defense of Japan, and not for settling international disputes. Then Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida accepted this wording and was able to convince the US to allow Japan to operate " self defense " forces. Under the terms of
714-620: The command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya , Shinjuku , Tokyo . The present chief of staff is General Yasunori Morishita. The JGSDF numbered 150,700 soldiers in 2023. Soon after the end of the Pacific War in 1945 with Japan accepting the Potsdam Declaration , the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy were dismantled by the orders of Supreme Commander for
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#1732780858391748-497: The concept was confirmed to be viable, work began on creating a new vehicle that would incorporate what was learned from the LCV project. The Technical Research & Development Institute of Japan's Ministry of Defense had made several prototype vehicles since 2008. They unveiled their fourth of what were initially called "mobile combat vehicle" prototypes on 9 October 2013. JGSDF service Acceptance tests were scheduled to begin in 2014 or 2015, with initial operational deployment by
782-680: The first ever JSDF dispatch to a peacekeeping operation that is not led by the United Nations in 2019. JGSDF officers monitored the cease-fire between Israel and Egypt at the Multinational Force and Observers command in the Sinai peninsula from 19 April until 30 November 2019. From September to the end of November 2021, the GSDF conducted nationwide drills with all units including 100,000 personnel, 20,000 vehicles, 120 aircraft and
816-520: The former Imperial Japanese Army save for the march music tradition (Review March was the official march of the IJA and today's JGSDF). However the tradition of bugle call playing, a tradition left by the Imperial Army, has remained till the present. Each JGDSF formation has had a bugle platoon or company led by a Bugle Major. The Imperial Japanese Army flag with symmetrical 16 rays and a 2:3 ratio
850-739: The main reserve component. JGSDF currently has 9 active duty divisions (1 armored, 8 infantry) The JGSDF currently has eight combat brigades: JGSDF divisions and brigades are combined arms units with infantry, armored, and artillery units, combat support units and logistical support units. They are regionally independent and permanent entities. The divisions' strength varies from 6,000 to 9,000 personnel. The brigades are smaller with 3,000 to 4,000 personnel. The JGSDF currently has nine combat support brigades: The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force dropped nearly all traditions associated with
884-402: The original plans for the MCV, were as of mid-2015 under review and subject to possible major revision. The intention is for the MCV to act as both as a rapid reaction asset against conventional incursions on the outer islands and as a counter-insurgency vehicle against asymmetrical attacks in urban areas of Japan by enemy special forces, intelligence operatives, or their proxies . The MCV
918-540: The shielding against HEAT rounds was conducted using the Carl Gustav M2 ; and against regular kinetic ammunition the frontal shield was developed to resist shots from 20 mm to 30 mm autocannons while the side armor was deemed sufficient to resist 14.5 mm heavy machine gun fire. The first concept for a Japanese wheeled chassis mounting a 105 mm cannon appeared with the "Future Combat Vehicle" [ ja ] (将来装輪戦闘車両) program in 2003. The program
952-639: The training brigade and lasted approximately three months. Specialized enlisted and non-commissioned officer (NCO) candidate courses were available in branch schools and qualified NCOs could enter an eight-to-twelve-week officer candidate program. Senior NCOs and graduates of an eighty-week NCO pilot course were eligible to enter officer candidate schools, as were graduates of the National Defense Academy at Yokosuka and graduates of all four-year universities. Advanced technical, flight, medical and command and staff officer courses were also run by
986-415: The viability of multiple concepts that would possibly be integrated into the maneuver combat vehicle development. These include IED and mine resistance, individual motors inside of the wheels, air transportability inside of a C-2 and Lockeed C-130 Hercules , passive hydro-pneumatic suspension to reduce recoil and a double action low recoil cannon that could provide indirect and direct fire. Initial designs for
1020-467: Was abolished in 1945. The Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) use a significantly different variation of the Rising Sun Flag with red, white and gold colors. It has 8-rays and an 8:9 ratio. The edges of the rays are asymmetrical since they form angles at 19, 21, 26 and 24 degrees. It also has indentations for the yellow (golden) irregular triangles along
1054-484: Was centered around a universal wheeled chassis mounting a variety of weaponry including a 40 mm CTA cannon, 120 mm mortar system, 155 mm howitzer, and a 105 mm cannon. The Future Combat Vehicle program was cancelled due to development expenses, but the concept for a 105 mm cannon would be expanded upon in the Light Combat Vehicle Program. The LCV program was a technology demonstration to explore
Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-399: Was part of a new armored vehicle strategy that prioritized light air-transportable firepower. Originally the number of main battle tanks was to be reduced from 760 to 390, with most remaining tanks to be concentrated on the main Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Kyushu . Some 200–300 MCVs were to be procured and these would be airlifted to islands when and where they were needed. The idea
1122-569: Was that the smaller, lighter, and faster MCV could be redeployed quicker than tanks to better defend the outlying islands. This represented a shift in Japanese armored vehicle structure from one designed to repel a Soviet invasion from the north to a more mobile force aimed at possibly defending against a Chinese invasion of the southern island chain. The MCV was intended to help re-equip existing divisions and brigades reorganised into mobile (rapid reaction) divisions/brigades, as well as equip new dedicated rapid reaction regiments alongside (eventually)
1156-556: Was the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Act [Act No. 165 of 1954]. That year the actual strength of the Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defence Forces reached 146,285, armed mainly with U.S. World War II vintage equipment. At least up until the 1970s, the Ground SDF was not built up to the point required to defeat an invasion attempt from the north – informed officials estimated that while ammunition provisions were officially said to be enough to last for two months, in actuality it would be used up in
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