Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's anti-submarine and mine clearance capabilities (part 1)

Source: Vancouver’s fish

To ask what Japan was most afraid of at the end of World War II, the answer is probably not the familiar aircraft carriers, battleships, B-29 strategic bombers or even atomic bombs, but the most inconspicuous of the Allied arsenal. Submarine and mines. > On July 2, 1945, the moment a Japanese cargo ship was sunk by an American submarine, the US Pacific Fleet’s submarine force accounted for only 2% of the total force of the fleet, but it sank 1 battleship and 4 fleet aircraft carriers. Among the 201 Japanese warships and 1,113 merchant ships with a displacement of more than 500 tons, the loss of American submarines was 43. Unrestricted submarine warfare made Japan's maritime transportation limited to coastal routes. > The black line in the picture above is the Japanese shipping route that was cut off after July 1, 1945, and the red line is the remaining navigable route. Between Shanghai and Saigon, only the thin line that sails close to the coast is barely maintained. All channels were cut off. Starting on March 27, 1945, the US Army Air Force launched the "Operation Starvation-Operation Starvation" at the request of Nimitz. Commanded by Major General Li Mei, 160 aircraft of the 313th Bomber Wing passed by. The modified B-29 bomber conducts large-scale aerial offensive minelaying. The deployment method is to rely on radar to guide a single plane to disperse and drop mines at low altitude at night (52% of mines are deployed within 800 meters). After 46 attacks, 1,529 sorties, by the end of the offensive in August, a total of 12,135 mines were dropped in 26 minefields around Japan, using a mix of sound, magnetism, water pressure, triggering and other modes.

> The 313th Bomber Wing 9th Bomber Group X-53 mines during the day in the Japanese waters The command’s total number of flight sorties was 5.7%, and a total of 670 ships were sunk and injured with the loss of 15 B-29s. The total tonnage exceeded 1.25 million tons. The results obtained in the last five months of the war exceeded all other weapons. sum. Calculated on the basis of the enemy's losses caused by the unit cost of weapons, the strangulation effect of mine warfare on Japan's shipping capabilities even surpassed that of strategic bombing and submarine warfare, and became the most efficient weapon in the entire World War II. Almost all major ports and waterways in Japan have been repeatedly mined. Take Kobe Port as an example. The freight volume dropped from 320,000 tons in March to 44,000 tons in July, a drop of 85%; the Seto Inland Sea Throat-Kanmon Strait transportation The volume dropped by 98% compared with March, almost completely interrupted.

> Some of the mine-laying locations of "Operation Hunger", two large minefields of Love and Mike are set up on the east and west sides of the Guanmen Strait> The minefields of Love minefield, the larger point is 2000 pounds Mine, the point is 1000 pound mine, the data comes from the tactical mission report of the 313 regiment’s 47th mission No. 16 minefield on May 19, 1945.

among the 9.736 million tons of Japanese ships sunk by the US forces in World War II , 54.6% (5.32 million tons) were sunk by submarines, surpassing the sum of surface ships and aviation; the mines also achieved a record of 6.2% (609,000 tons), but the more important role was to turn Japan’s offshore waters into a ban. Navigation area. The old Japanese navy has always been adhering to the "battle-ship-centrism" and has taken the US submarine and mine wars lightly. As a result, the broken noose has become tighter and tighter. The total input of overseas materials has dropped from 47 million tons in 1941 to 1945. 6 million tons (a decrease of 88%), the supply of strategic materials such as oil, coal, iron ore, and grain has been cut off. Therefore, it was not the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that basically caused Japan to surrender, nor was it the Soviet Union’s march to the northeast, but the failure of the entire wartime economy after the loss of shipping capabilities. "Once I was bitten by a snake, I was afraid of well ropes for ten years." Japan, having experienced such painful pains, has vigorously developed anti-submarine and mine clearance capabilities since the post-war rebuilding of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. In the Cold War, Japan itself was at the forefront of confronting the Soviet Union. The United States has also vigorously supported the Sea of ​​Japan to develop these two capabilities, providing the most advanced equipment and technology. In the division of allied forces, the Seventh Fleet is responsible for air control and anti-ship operations, and anti-submarine And mine clearance operations are basically handed over to Japan for completion. Today, although the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is only ranked fourth in the world in terms of scale, and because of the restrictions of the Peace Constitution, it cannot have strategic offensives such as nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers.Weapons, but its anti-submarine warfare and maritime demining capabilities have always been among the top two in the world. The two parts are introduced separately below.

Haizi’s anti-submarine capability 【 P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft】 Among the modern anti-submarine warfare methods, the most efficient is undoubtedly aviation anti-submarine, especially large-scale shore-based anti-submarine aircraft, which has a long range and airborne time. Long-range, advanced airborne equipment, and large ammunition carrying capacity are powerful weapons for long-range and wide-area anti-submarine. Since 1984, the Sea of ​​Japan has been equipped with a large number of P-3C "Orion" anti-submarine patrol aircraft to replace the piston-propeller P-2J anti-submarine aircraft.

P-3 anti-submarine aircraft first flew on November 25, 1959. After three generations of improvements, the P-3C was still the world's most advanced large-scale anti-submarine aircraft in the mid-1980s. The captain is 35.6 meters long and has a wingspan of 30.4 meters. It is equipped with four Allison T56-A-14 turboprop engines, has a maximum take-off weight of 64.4 tons, a maximum speed of 761 km/h, a cruising speed of 610 km/h, and a maximum range of 9,000 km. , The combat radius is 4400 kilometers.

> The P-3C of the 1st Patrol Squadron of the US Army participated in the 2016 Pacific Rim exercise. The workstation has adopted multiple touch screens. The powerful anti-submarine capability of P-3C mainly comes from its advanced digital anti-submarine computer. And combat systems, with a variety of active and passive sonar buoys, tail magnetic probes, photoelectric sensor systems, infrared detection systems and AN/APS-137D(V)5 with both synthetic aperture and inverse synthetic aperture functions The multi-mode maritime radar system can efficiently detect and track submarines on the surface and underwater.

> The working process of P-3C throwing horizontal line array sonar buoy: the artificial state buoy is ejected from the launch tube at the tail of the aircraft, and the drag parachute is opened to stabilize the flight attitude, and when touching the water Throwing off the drag parachute instantly, at a preset depth, water pressure pierces a high-pressure gas cylinder, and the released gas decomposes the buoy into upper and lower parts, connected by a cable, and the upper part with a radio signal transmitter emerges from the water. After the lower part sinks to a preset depth, the hydrophone array and a high-precision magnetic compass are deployed. The hydrophone array is composed of 5 folding struts, and each strut is lined with 5 hydrophones. The specific frequency underwater acoustic signal is transmitted to the upper part through the cable, and the upper part modulates the signal and sends it back to the mother machine. The crew can triangulate the submarine's azimuth and depth by using the signals of multiple sonobuoys. P-3C is equipped with one on the front fuselage. It has a built-in bomb bay, up to 10 pylons can be installed under the wings, and 48 sonar buoy launch tubes are installed at the tail of the fuselage. Starting from P-3C Update II, "Whaling Fork" anti-ship missiles can be mounted, with anti-ship, ground and anti-submarine multi-task capabilities. The aircraft’s armaments include the Fire Serpent 70 aviation rocket, the "Whaling Fork" and the "Slam" extended-range anti-ship missile, the "Mavericks" surface-to-surface missile, Mk46 and Mk50 anti-submarine torpedoes, Mk60 mines, depth bombs, and self-defense The "Sidewinder" air-to-air missiles used can also be air-dropped to rescue equipment such as sea-to-air rescue kits, with a maximum bomb load of 9 tons, which is the same as the B-29 bomber.

Japan imported 5 fuselage parts from Lockheed, and the remaining 103 were produced by Kawasaki Heavy Industries with the import license, making Japan the second largest fixed wing in the world after the United States. Countries where anti-submarine aircraft are used. Moreover, Japan's P-3C is all concentrated in the country, and the density of actual deployed anti-submarine aircraft is much higher than that of the United States. > As the anti-submarine pressure of the Kanoya base quickly reduced after the Cold War, Japan also reduced the size of the P-3C fleet and converted some of its aircraft into EP-3 electronic reconnaissance aircraft, OP-3C camera reconnaissance aircraft and UP -3 Electronic warfare training support aircraft.

> The EP-C3, which landed at Iwakuni Base on April 15, 2019, had 3 more radomes on the back and 2 more on the belly. Since 1998, Haizi The aircraft type of the P-3C was changed from an anti-submarine patrol aircraft to a patrol aircraft. In addition to anti-submarine patrol aircraft, a large number of maritime patrol and surveillance tasks were added. As of the end of March 2019, Haizi still owned 55 P-3Cs and upgraded some of the aircraft, extending the lifespan of about 6 years.

【P-1 anti-submarine patrol aircraft】

P-3C has been in service in the sea for 36 years and is getting older and older, and its successor models are also early Put it on the agenda. At that time, there were two camps in the Self-Defense Force, the outsourcing faction and the national research faction. The outsourcing faction had planned to purchase Boeing's anti-submarine aircraft modified with the 757 body, and later turned to the joint development of P-8 "Poseidon" maritime patrol aircraft with the United States. > The P-8 of the US military stationed in Japan and the P-1 anti-submarine aircraft

made in Japan finally gained the upper hand. In November 2001, the planned "second-phase transport aircraft and second-phase fixed-wing aircraft" The "patrol aircraft" R&D contract was awarded to Kawasaki Heavy Industries. These are today's C-2 transport aircraft and P-1 patrol aircraft.

> C-2 and P-1's 01 prototype

2 share the outer wing, horizontal tail, cockpit components, flight control system, collision warning system, control system and other avionics equipment , The joint development part saved a total of approximately 25 billion yen in design costs.

P-1 has a length of 38 meters, a wingspan of 35.4 meters, a maximum take-off weight of 79.7 tons, a maximum speed of 996 km/h, a cruising speed of 833 km/h, a maximum range of 8000 km, and a combat radius 2500 kilometers, these data are between P-3C and P-8, and it is also an advanced level in modern anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

> The comparison chart of some active anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft, which does not include China’s latest high-tech aircraft

. The special thing is that the C-2 with a maximum take-off weight of 141 tons only uses 2 A GE CF6-80C2L1F engine (the same series as the 747, 767, A300, and A310 engines), a single thrust of 26 tons; while the P-1, which is almost half lighter, is installed for speed, endurance and high redundancy considerations Four XF7-10 turbofan engines specially developed by Ishikawajima Harima for this aircraft have a single-engine thrust of only 6.1 tons, which is less than 1/4 of the former. This also makes the P-1 the only model equipped with four turbofan engines among the newly developed anti-submarine aircraft in the world. Another four-engine jet anti-submarine aircraft is the British "fan hunter." > The ugly "fan hunter" of Skyrim, this aircraft has been upgraded from the standard MR.2 anti-submarine type to the R1 electronic reconnaissance type

Although the 4 engines have paid a considerable price in terms of weight and system complexity, P The design of -1 focuses on increasing the speed of reaching the target area. The cruising speed is 37% higher than that of the P-3C, which reduces the escape time of the target submarine; its cruising altitude reaches 13,000 meters, and the detection equipment covers a wider range in unit time. It can patrol larger sea areas, and the overall combat effectiveness is greatly improved compared to P-3C.

P-1 is the first aircraft in the world to use fiber-optic wire-transmitted flight control system. The flight control signal is not interfered by external electromagnetic pulses, and its weight is much larger than traditional cable-wired flight control. Ease. It is equipped with the HPS-106 X-band active phased array radar developed by Toshiba, which is the world's first practical GaN system airborne active phased array radar. The antennas are arranged on the nose and rectify. Inside the hood and on both sides of the cockpit, there are multiple modes such as surface search, air search, navigation and weather, synthetic aperture, inverse synthetic aperture, etc., which can draw high-precision 2D images to find small targets at long distances.

> The PS-106 radar on both sides of the nose scans the antenna array. The 4 knife-mounted antennas behind the nose landing gear compartment are the signal receiving antennas of the sonar buoy. The telescopic AN/AAS-44 forward-looking infrared search turret, which is the same as the SH-60K anti-submarine helicopter, can identify small periscope targets around the clock. In the spherical fairing above the cockpit is the ESM electronic interceptor antenna, which has a multi-functional combat capability exceeding P-3C.

There are a total of 30 sonar buoy release ports in the belly of the tail machine, and another 70 are stored in the machine. The sonar buoy hydrophones currently carried by the Japanese P-3C fleet are of vertical line array type, which has insufficient ability to locate sound sources; P-1 will be equipped with a new horizontal line arrayThe type of sonar buoy, which expands in an umbrella shape after entering the water, can determine the sound source location according to the time of detecting the sound. > Sonar buoy release port

> Inside the P-1 engine room, on the left front is a storage cabinet for sonobuoys, and nearby are 2 rotating sonobuoy transmitters

> Compared with the interior of the P-8 cabin, it can carry a total of 126 sonar buoys, 96 in the cabin are stored on the left and right sides, and there are a total of 3 rotating sonar buoy launchers P-1 with built-in bombs in the belly Cabin; the main wing can mount up to a total of 8 "whaling fork" or domestic ASM-1C anti-ship missiles; the tail is equipped with the same magnetic probe as the P-8,

> hang The P-1P-1, which carries 4 new anti-ship missiles for test flight, has a newly developed advanced mission/combat management system. It adopts a large color LCD display, and the consoles can exchange operating functions and backup each other. The integrated anti-submarine acoustic detection system on board has high system integration and signal processing capabilities, which can strengthen the detection range of low-noise submarines. The P-1 first flew on September 28, 2007, but encountered considerable technical difficulties during the development and production process, and even cracks in the fuselage. After continuous improvement, it was not delivered until 2013. As of the end of 2018, the total number of P-1s purchased was 33.

【SH-60J/K anti-submarine helicopter】 In addition to fixed-wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft, the Sea of ​​Japan also owns two advanced anti-submarine helicopters, SH-60J and SH-60K. SH-60J Based on the SH-60B body, it is equipped with an anti-submarine system similar to "Rampus-III", which is cross-linked with the combat system of the mothership through a data link, but it is also equipped like SH-60F Dipping sonar. In the U.S. Navy, SH-60B is equipped with cruisers and destroyers, and is responsible for anti-submarine search and attack on a sector of the outer circle. The main detection methods are magnetic detectors and sonar buoys; while SH-60F is carried on the aircraft carrier to perform inner circle anti-submarine , The main detection method of dipping sonar. There was no flat-deck quasi-aircraft carrier anti-submarine frigate in the Sea of ​​Japan. Therefore, the advantages of the two "Seahawks" were integrated. The concept was similar to the SH-60R in the second-generation "Seahawks", but the magnetic detector was retained. The 25-tube sonar buoy launcher on the left side of the fuselage. (See Haiying 3.0)

> On November 14, 2006, an SH-60J from the "Kurama" anti-submarine destroyer landed on the "Kitty Hawk" aircraft carrier

This The aircraft’s avionics systems are all made in Japan in accordance with Haiz’s requirements, including the HQS-103 dipping sonar, HPS-104 active phased array surface search radar and HLR-108ESM electronic interception system, which are better than the original “Seahawk” "It is also advanced, which forms the unique pattern of the SH-60B and SH-60F fuselage mixed with Japanese brain. The first two SH-60Js were assembled by Sikorsky, and the subsequent 101 were produced and improved by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan under the license, and entered the Japanese military service in 1991.

SH-60J has a take-off weight of 9.75 tons, a range of 584 kilometers, an anti-submarine warfare radius of about 150 kilometers, a maximum speed of 265 kilometers per hour, and can carry 2 MK-46/74/12 anti-submarine torpedoes and 1 74 type The 7.62mm hatch machine gun, "Hellfire" ground missiles and depth charges are quite powerful.

> Two SH-60Js, the left side still uses the old-style upper white and lower gray painting, and also has iconic black eye sockets, and the right side has been changed to full gray with wavy bottom The new paint SH-60K is an independent improvement of the J-type. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has designed a brand-new main rotor and deck assist system (which can take off and land under level 5 sea conditions), and is equipped with a new HQS-104 low-frequency active Dipping sonar, inverse synthetic aperture sea surface search radar, new magnetic detector and infrared detection device. The aircraft can carry two Type 97 anti-submarine torpedoes (range 15 kilometers, speed 50 knots) for anti-submarine search and attack within a radius of 200 kilometers, with a battery life of 4.2 hours. The cargo compartment has been extended by 30 cm, the height has been increased by 15 cm to accommodate more equipment, and the engine has been correspondinglyUpgrade to GET700-IHI-401C2.

Type K and Type J have the following differences in appearance:

The nose radome is lengthened, and the position of the sensor is rearranged.

Most K-types have two windows on the left side of the fuselage, enlarged The search field of view (there is only the front one in some parts)

The left weapon pylon moves forward to the rear side of the landing gear

adopts a new type of rear-swept propeller tip, which makes the aerodynamic load distribution of the propeller more even and weakens the propeller tip Compression benefits, improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the rotor

The right sliding door is changed to a 2-piece type, larger in size, and there are two windows

The position of the photoelectric turret moves forward from the right short wing to the nose radar In the lower right corner of the hood, the field of view is more open.

SH-60K has upgraded the on-board electronic equipment and has stronger information processing capabilities. It does not rely on the mothership to analyze sonar data independently, even if it is transmitted to the ship The target submarine can still be tracked when the signal is interrupted; at the same time, the exchange of tactical intelligence data with the mothership and wingman has been strengthened, and the overall anti-submarine capability of the entire fleet has been improved. Two prototypes were modified from SH-60J and entered service in 2005, producing a total of 74 aircraft. > The three SH-60K

[anti-submarine aircraft base] Haizi’s anti-submarine aviation force stationed at Tateyama Base are all part of the aviation group under the Self-Defense Fleet, including all ship-borne anti-submarine helicopters stationed on land. The anti-submarine helicopter squadron on the base was dispatched to the ship. The current deployment situation is: the first aviation group-Kagoshima Prefecture Kanoya base, equipped with P-3C, responsible for the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea in the southwest of the second aviation group-Aomori Hachinohe base, equipped with P-3C, responsible for the northern Japan Sea and The fourth aviation group to Hokkaido-Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture, equipped with P-1, the fifth aviation group to the Pacific-Naha base in Okinawa, equipped with P-3C, the 31st aviation group in charge of the route from the Southwest Islands to the South China Sea-Yamaguchi Prefecture Iwakuni Base, equipped with EP-3, OP-3 and other electronic/photographic reconnaissance aircraft

> The second aviation group P-3C04a7d took off from the snow runway of Hachinohe Base on February 5 this year#

Each of the first four aviation groups has an anti-submarine aircraft squadron and a maintenance logistics squadron, equipped with more than ten P-1 or P-3C, which can protect the Tsugaru Strait, Tsushima Strait, Osumi Strait, Miyako Strait and other strategies 24-hour non-stop air anti-submarine patrol in the throat. From this anti-potential configuration, it can also be seen that the current focus of Japan's aviation anti-submarine and sea patrol has been shifted from the North against the Soviet Union to the southwest. The responsibility areas of several aviation groups are basically related to the local teams in all directions and the four major escort groups. Coincidence facilitates coordinated sea and air operations. (Refer to: Analysis of the surface combat forces in the Sea of ​​Japan)

Haizi’s anti-submarine helicopters are administratively affiliated with the 21st Aviation Group at Tateyama Base on the east side of Tokyo Bay and Omura in western Kyushu The base's 22nd aviation group, but its subordinate aviation groups are stationed at Ominato, Maizuru, Komatsushima and other bases, and when the attached warships are dispatched, they will go to sea.

All the main ships of the Haizi Defence Fleet are equipped with helicopter decks and aviation facilities. Except for the 4 King Kong-class ships without a hangar, the remaining ships can carry more than one helicopter. Fully loaded with a displacement of 19,000 tons, the "Hyuga" class and the 26,000 tons of "Izumo" class helicopter carriers can carry up to 11 and 14 helicopters respectively, and an "eight-eight" fleet can carry up to 20 SH-60J/ K, the number of anti-submarine helicopters even exceeds that of the US aircraft carrier strike group-the latter two squadrons of 19 helicopters, 8 MH-60S are general-purpose transport models without anti-submarine capabilities. The advantage of the number of 20 aircrafts can ensure long-term uninterrupted coverage of the remote anti-submarine circle with a radius of 200 kilometers in more than 4 directions, and there are also maneuvering forces to cope with emergencies.

> On November 17, 2009, the US Seahawks participating in the US-Japan joint exercise flew around the "Hyuga"