Japan to launch first aircraft carriers since WWII

[M.AsfandYar]

Pardon me for being off-topic, but do you by any chance play War thunder game?

Offtopic:
Do you? If yes then PM or tag me in gamers thread.

 

[jhungary]

Actually it is Russia that has the largest number of enriched uranium. Where are you getting your facts from?

I think he meant uranium ore as in metallic crystal, not weapon grade enriched uranium, by definition, only 8 countries have Weapon Grade HEU production capability, 5 NPT countries (US, Russia, UK, France and China) + Pakistan + India + Israel, although currently people are trying to put North Korea in that list as well.

On the other hand, Russia processes very little Uranium mineral ore reserve, majority of Russian Weapon Grade HEU are actually from Kazakhstan during the Soviet Union era, which hold world second biggest Uranium reserve, world largest uranium reserve is in Australia, with estimated 1.7 millions tons. Kazakh have round 900k ton and Russia have somewhere about 300k tons reserve.

Plutonium reserve are usually a guarded secret, but general belief the biggest reserve is in Africa.

 

[Dante80]

Japan is in a weird position as far as nuclear capabilities are concerned. It is the definition of the condition called "Nuclear Latency" and considered a para-nuclear state, since it is a clear case of a country with complete technical prowess to develop a nuclear weapon quickly.

Japan is considered to have the materials, expertise and technical capacity to make a nuclear bomb at will. For reference, their HEU and RGP reserves are enough to produce thousands of nuclear warheads. More info as a starter here, if you are interested in the subject at hand.

 

[Akasa]

Japan is in a weird position as far as nuclear capabilities are concerned. It is the definition of the condition called "Nuclear Latency" and considered a para-nuclear state, since it is a clear case of a country with complete technical prowess to develop a nuclear weapon quickly.

Japan is considered to have the materials, expertise and technical capacity to make a nuclear bomb at will. For reference, their HEU and RGP reserves are enough to produce thousands of nuclear warheads. More info as a starter here, if you are interested in the subject at hand.

Same could be said of numerous advanced countries, including Canada. In fact Canada has among the world's largest ore reserves.

 

[Dante80]

Same could be said of numerous advanced countries, including Canada. In fact Canada has among the world's largest ore reserves.

Agreed, but Japan remains a special case, since they possess all the needed pre-requisites AND have the delivery system know-how at the same time. There is no other advanced country (Canada and Germany included) that can attain a nuclear capability as fast as Japan can. And it's not even close, if you take a look at the particulars involved.

 

[nahtanbob]

Same could be said of numerous advanced countries, including Canada. In fact Canada has among the world's largest ore reserves.

in japan case we are not talking about uranium ores. we are taking about weapon grade and near weapon grade plutonium

That's what happens when you destroy the traditions of honor and let yourself become slaves of outsiders.
When your culture is converted to a carbon copy of a foreign culture, you are nothing but a mere shadow of what you once were.
That includes Japan, Most north African states, and all of South Asia.

what do you think samurais achieved in world war 2 ? japanese were no match for Americans or the soviets.
you could actually fight a war before pontificating on matters like tradition and honor

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Agreed, but Japan remains a special case, since they possess all the needed pre-requisites AND have the delivery system know-how at the same time. There is no other advanced country (Canada and Germany included) that can attain a nuclear capability as fast as Japan can. And it's not even close, if you take a look at the particulars involved.

Commentary

The fundamentals that dictates the policies are: territorial cores (Northern Territories/southern Sakhalin/South Kurile Islands, Dok Island, Senkaku Island, etc), strategic ressources (rare earth, hydrocarbons, oceanic seabed metals, etc). Plentyful of frictions here, but worse, like during the collapse of the Mongol Empire, the splinters will start to fight against each others. Look at the Soviet Union after 1991, and even today! Can you tell us that the day the U.S. Dystopian Empire collapses, Japan will not be the first to use force to retake these core territories? The possession of the Epsilon rocket gives Japan an ICBM capability comparable to the Chinese DF-41, thus the military muscle to do so!

PLA DF-41 ICBM
Mass ~80t
Length ~21 metres
Diameter ~2.25 m
Operational range ~14,000–15,000 kilometres

Japan Epsilon rocket
Mass 91 t
Length 26 m
Diameter 2.5 m
Operational range ~14,000–15,000 kilometres

 

[Dante80]

Commentary

The fundamentals that dictates the policies are: territorial cores (Northern Territories/southern Sakhalin/South Kurile Islands, Dok Island, Senkaku Island, etc), strategic ressources (rare earth, hydrocarbons, oceanic seabed metals, etc). Plentyful of frictions here, but worse, like during the collapse of the Mongol Empire, the splinters will start to fight against each others. Look at the Soviet Union after 1991, and even today! Can you tell us that the day the U.S. Dystopian Empire collapses, Japan will not be the first to use force to retake these core territories? The possession of the Epsilon rocket gives Japan an ICBM capability comparable to the Chinese DF-41, thus the military muscle to do so!

I really don't know the answer to that. Japan is not the country that it was 80-90 years ago, that is for sure. Also, in today's globalized world, Japan is the biggest creditor nation, coupled with having two of the biggest industrial clusters in the world, partly geared towards the outside (Kanto and Kansai regions).

From a real politik perspective, as power and strategic significance continues to move towards the East rapidly, a global event like the economic implosion of the US - however probable or implausible- would probably be a catalyst in setting in place and on track factions that right now exist only on the fringe. Using history and nature as a guide, reality abhors gaps of power and projection. When said gaps emerge, it is a priori expected for something to fill them again, stat. Under this assumption, Japan could possibly have a big role in said filling.

Now, regarding the delivery vehicle. Japan has maintained a solid-fuel LV program since the 60's (see the ISAS Mu program, the Alliant-Thiocol angle on the N-I/II and the JAXA H-IIA, the JAXA Epsilon, the ToT part of the GX program, the NASDA J-I, etc etc), partly to keep this avenue alive and the TRL high, if needed.

It is no secret that a country that possesses a comprehensive space program and solid fueled LVs can rapidly develop ballistic delivery platforms. And Japan possesses that capability..in spades.

 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Commentary

The fundamentals that dictates the policies are: territorial cores (Northern Territories/southern Sakhalin/South Kurile Islands, Dok Island, Senkaku Island, etc), strategic ressources (rare earth, hydrocarbons, oceanic seabed metals, etc). Plentyful of frictions here, but worse, like during the collapse of the Mongol Empire, the splinters will start to fight against each others. Look at the Soviet Union after 1991, and even today! Can you tell us that the day the U.S. Dystopian Empire collapses, Japan will not be the first to use force to retake these core territories? The possession of the Epsilon rocket gives Japan an ICBM capability comparable to the Chinese DF-41, thus the military muscle to do so!

PLA DF-41 ICBM
Mass ~80t
Length ~21 metres
Diameter ~2.25 m
Operational range ~14,000–15,000 kilometres

Japan Epsilon rocket
Mass 91 t
Length 26 m
Diameter 2.5 m
Operational range ~14,000–15,000 kilometres

Please note that under the guise of "civilian research and demonstration platform", Japan has tested live and perfected with the tacit connivence of the U.S. its warhead reentry technologies:

• On January 15, 1995, launched by a M-3SII rocket from the Kagoshima Space Center, jointly developed by Japan and Germany, the EXPRESS's reentry vehicle or "capsule", that should have landed in Woomera, Australia, and that was not injected into the planned orbit due to a rocket malfunction.

Total Weight 765kg
-Service Module 360kg
-Re-entry Module 405kg

Heat Shield     Ablator
Attitude Control     3-Axis Control
Payload Power     Continuous 92W, Peak 400W

Spoiler: Links

https://ssl.jspacesystems.or.jp/en/project/past/express/images/express_01.jpg

https://ssl.jspacesystems.or.jp/en/project/past/express/index.html

▲ Japanese reentry vehicle launched on January 15, 1995.

Spoiler: Links

https://ssl.jspacesystems.or.jp/en/project/past/express/images/express_02.jpg

https://ssl.jspacesystems.or.jp/en/project/past/express/index.html

▲ Japanese reentry vehicle launched on January 15, 1995 and recovered in Ghana, Africa.

• On September 10, 2002, launched by a H-IIA rocket, the USERS reentry vehicle or "spacecraft", and that remained in orbit approximately 8.5 months, before de-orbiting and splashing down at 6:23 JST on May 29, 2003 at open sea east of Ogasawara Islands.

Total Weight 1696 kg (3,740 pounds)
Height 1.94m
Diameter 1.48m
Payload Power 700W
-13.5Ah×2
Data link 遥测： USB：2048bps
- 指令： USB：4000bps
Recovery system GPS无线电信标，ARGOS信号发射器

Spoiler: Links

http://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/rd/magazine/upload_images/n158ts012.jpg

http://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/rd/magazine/158/ne158ts01.html

▲ Reentry vehicle outline.

Spoiler: Links

http://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/newsroom/news/images/c30305_01.jpg

http://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/newsroom/news/detail/ba0305_02.html

▲ Kawasaki Heat Shield Technology used in the Reentry vehicle.

Spoiler: Links

http://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/rd/magazine/upload_images/n158ts011.jpg

http://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/rd/magazine/158/ne158ts01.html

▲ Reentry vehicle recovered in the Pacific Ocean around the Ogasawara Islands after its re-entry in May 2003.

Reference:
【原创文章】东瀛上空的流星——日本返回式卫星发展简介
http://www.spaceflightfans.cn/45180.html

 

[James David]

I think he meant uranium ore as in metallic crystal, not weapon grade enriched uranium, by definition, only 8 countries have Weapon Grade HEU production capability, 5 NPT countries (US, Russia, UK, France and China) + Pakistan + India + Israel, although currently people are trying to put North Korea in that list as well.

On the other hand, Russia processes very little Uranium mineral ore reserve, majority of Russian Weapon Grade HEU are actually from Kazakhstan during the Soviet Union era, which hold world second biggest Uranium reserve, world largest uranium reserve is in Australia, with estimated 1.7 millions tons. Kazakh have round 900k ton and Russia have somewhere about 300k tons reserve.

Plutonium reserve are usually a guarded secret, but general belief the biggest reserve is in Africa.

I read somewhere one of the biggest recoverable uranium deposits can be found DOWNUNDER?

 

[Dante80]

I read somewhere one of the biggest recoverable uranium deposits can be found DOWNUNDER?

Australia, the world’s biggest uranium reserve holder, was estimated to possess 1.66 million tonnes (Mt) of known recoverable uranium resources as of 2011, accounting for about 31% of the world total. The nation produced 7,488t of uranium in 2013, becoming the third biggest uranium producing country.

Australia began uranium mining in 1954 and currently has four active mines, including the world’s second and third biggest uranium producing mines, respectively Olympic Dam in the Northern Territory and the Ranger mine in Southern Australia. The other two mines Beverley and Honeymoon, both located in South Australia, commenced production in 2000 and 2011 respectively.

Honeymoon mine, operated by Uranium One, was however closed in November 2013 but will be maintained as owner Uranium One waits for an improvement in uranium prices.

Owned by BHP Billiton, Olympic Dam contains 358,530t of uranium reserves is the country’s biggest uranium mine followed by the yet to be developed Jabiluka uranium deposit, which is estimated to contain 67,700t of uranium reserves. Four Mile, Kintyre, Valhalla, Yeelirrie, and Wiluna are among the other major uranium deposits yet to be developed.