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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Mystery sub sparks Japan alert | |
| 2004-11-10 | |
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said the submarine was spotted by a reconnaissance plane near the Sakishima island chain off Okinawa. He said the submarine had now left Japan's waters, but that it was being followed by a reconnaissance plane and a destroyer in the hope it would surface and show its flag. Japanese officials refused to speculate on the submarine's nationality. But Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted defence officials as saying it was a Chinese nuclear-powered sub.
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| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 Stratfor reported the following today in an article: The submarine was spotted in the early morning by a Japanese P3C patrol, and Defense Force officials held their first meeting on the intrusion at 6:50 a.m. local time. By 8:10 a.m., a crisis management task force had been set up at the prime minister's office, and a little more than half an hour later, at 8:45 a.m., Ono ordered the dispatch of defense force assets to the area. By that time, however, the submarine already had left Japanese waters, and Tokyo tracked its movement with additional air assets. It was not until 3 p.m. that a meeting of the directors general of several Japanese agencies finally convened, long after the submarine was gone. Although the bureaucracy failed to keep pace with the developing situation, the deployment of JMSDF assets was in itself a shift for Tokyo. In dispatching the navy, Ono invoked Article 82 of the Self-Defense Law, which allows, with approval of the prime minister, the deployment of defense force vessels to deal with a maritime security issue the coast guard is deemed incapable of effectively handling. The last time (and also the first time) the order was issued was in March 1999, during the pursuit of two suspected North Korean spy ships operating near the Noto Peninsula and Sado Island. That case also marked the first time the Japanese coast guard had fired warning shots at a suspicious vessel since 1954. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-11-10 6:12:18 PM |
| #5 3 gets ya 5 its a nuke and the IJN is all over it with Gods own P3s. And yes it's submerged. So? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-10 6:07:07 PM |
| #4 Not "more likely a diesel" from surfacing pattern, unless a WWII diesel with no snorkel. Propulsion type does not affect that aspect of sub ops. |
| Posted by: Chap 2004-11-10 4:01:15 PM |
| #3 Just for ID purposes: Song Class Yuan Class |
| Posted by: .com 2004-11-10 1:09:39 PM |
| #2 Defense officials confirmed that two Chinese military vessels – a submarine rescue vessel and a towing vessel – were spotted between Friday and Monday in waters 200 miles southeast of Japan's Tanegashima island. Officials, however, refused to comment on a possible link between the two incidents. Guess the Chinese are planning ahead, shows a lot of confidence in their sub. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-11-10 1:00:39 PM |
| #1 'More likely a diesel-electric boat, nuke subs don't run on the surface.' unless they actually wanted to be seen , a nuke sub off the coast of Japan would have the Japs flustered badly and show serious flaws in their defences against a pre-emptive strike Also , i hear down the grapevine the chinese have made a new Yuan-class attack submarine , maybe they just testing it out and flexing some muscle , tensions are running pretty high down there atm . |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-11-10 9:37:01 AM |
