+- IOPList.Org (https://www.ioplist.org)
+-- Forum: Off Topic (https://www.ioplist.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=25)
+--- Forum: World News (https://www.ioplist.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=27)
+--- Thread: U.S. deploys more advanced aircraft carrier to boost ties with Japan (/showthread.php?tid=850)
U.S. deploys more advanced aircraft carrier to boost ties with Japan - IceWizard - 10-01-2015
Thu Oct 1, 2015 | 6:33 AM EDT
By Tim Kelly
YOKOSUKA, Japan (Reuters) -
One of the U.S. Navy's most advanced aircraft carriers docked in Japan on Thursday at the start of a deployment that will strengthen the capability of the Seventh Fleet in Asia and boost ties between the United States and its closest regional ally.
With a crew of 5,000 sailors and a compliment
of around 80 aircraft, USS Ronald Reagan is
equipped with the latest targeting and defense
radars, integrated weapons systems and
command and communications technology.
The USS Ronald Reagan's deployment marks
an upgrade, as the USS George Washington,
the carrier it has replaced in Japan, had less
advanced systems and technology.
"Just like a new car we have the latest and
greatest, we have GPS, we have the back up
mirror so we can see what is behind us,"
Captain Chris Bolt, the carrier's commander,
told a separate press briefing on the dock at
Yokosuka naval base. "We have some tremendous command and control capabilities."
In a tilt towards Asia, the United States is
rebalancing its forces, deploying 60 percent of
its navy to the region, including its most
advanced vessels.
Last month, in a retreat from 70 years of state
pacifism, Japanese lawmakers approved
legislation that would enable Japan's military to
fight overseas for the first time since World War Two.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pursuing a
doctrine of collective self defense with allies
meant to give his nation a bigger role in
regional security in order to counterbalance the military power of an increasingly assertive
China.
The changes enacted last month are expected
to lead to enhanced cooperation between the
Japanese and U.S navies.
"We have many, many exercises that we do, we are very inter-operable because of our
equipment and our training. So, we think that
these new measures will deepen that, will
strengthen that, and will make us better
together," Ray Mabus, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, told a press briefing in Yokohama.
(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)