What is more noteworthy is that as one of the few Warships in Japan with "cyber-centric warfare" capabilities, the Kaga has a powerful nerve center - the advanced tactical system (ATECS) known as the "Japanese version of the Aegis". It uses the new generation of UYQ-70 displays in the United States, which fully realizes digital management and can effectively improve the combat capabilities of single ships, including air defense, anti-submarine and surface combat capabilities. In addition, the "Kaga" is also equipped with the US Navy's standard 11th and 16th tactical data links and the Japanese Self-Defense Force C4ISR system terminals, which can facilitate information exchange with the US Navy and Japan's superior combat command and conduct joint operations. Former Chief of Staff of the Sea of Japan and one of the original planners of the Kaga, Yukio Fujita, who strongly emphasized the ship's non-military use, published an article in the Japanese journal Military Research describing how the kaga's internal hangar design was humanized, "the hangar volume area of more than 150 meters can accommodate up to 1,000 refugees in large-scale disaster relief missions, playing the role of an ark at sea". As everyone knows, these disaster relief functions are by no means the strengths of the "Kaga", and its biggest use is to serve as an information command center and a maritime aviation anti-submarine platform.
According to Japan's "World Ships" magazine, in the next 20 years, the "Kaga" and its equivalent ship "Izumo", as the flagship of the Japanese Naval Self-Convoy Group, together with the "Atago" class air defense destroyer and the 19DD universal destroyer, constitute the "three kongs" of the future Japanese surface fleet. As a flagship, the Kaga can not only command the entire convoy group, but also serve as a joint operations command center of the Japanese army, navy and air force, so that the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force can better play the role of strategic deterrence, crisis management and coordinated operations in the joint operations of the three services. With an all-access flight deck and a large space inside the ship, kaga also has new tasks added by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force after the Cold War, such as dealing with suspicious ships and participating in international peacekeeping operations.
It poses a challenge to the Chinese Navy
Japan's "World Ships" magazine once discussed the possible future actions of 22DDH in a special issue, and it believes that the main operational use of 22DDH is similar to that of the Hyuga class, that is, carrying a sufficient number of helicopters to engage in anti-submarine and three-dimensional force projection. However, the 22DDH clearly shows signs of transition to conventional light aircraft carriers, and if the F-35B and MV-22 can really be on board, it is bound to effectively improve Japan's ability to send troops overseas, especially when the Sea of Japan responds to the so-called "southwest region when there is a problem" to help greatly. The journal stressed that by 2020, the Asian neighbors, especially the Chinese Navy, will have several times the number of modern conventional power submarines than Japan, supplemented by a considerable number of attack nuclear submarines and even aircraft carriers, relying solely on the Japanese Kaizō "Hyuga" and "Ise" may only be able to fight back, and the "Izumo" and "Kaga" with a customized air capability and amphibious assault capabilities may be able to make up for some gaps slightly.
But "World Ships" also mentions that after all four helicopter destroyers (DDHs) including the Kaga are in place, the Sea of Japan may not be able to form a "quasi-aircraft carrier strike group" that can be dispatched. Most prominently, after World War II, the size of the Japanese naval base was greatly reduced, the area was strictly controlled, and there was an extreme shortage of large warship berthing facilities in haizi, which was a key problem that had to be solved for the Japanese government, which was eager to expand the strength of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. For example, the current Nikko helicopter destroyer entered service in March 2009, but the supporting Yokosuka Eimi Terminal was not completed until April 2010, while the construction of the "four DDH systems" in 2012 was still smooth, but the cost of the relevant shore-based support facilities could not be put in place, which raised a fatal question: "When the last Kaga was commissioned, did Japan's four 'quasi-aircraft carriers' have a place to stop?" ”
At present, there are only five main bases in Kaizō, Yokosuka, Kurega, Sasebo and Maizuru. Among them, Ōmi did not have the ability to berth large warships in the past, and now after reconstruction, it can berth "Takabo" class destroyers, and in the future it can only be used as warships with a displacement of less than 10,000 tons; Yokosuka has a hidemi wharf, and it is not a problem to berth the "Kaga"; Kure Port is currently the home port of the "Hyuga" class second ship "Ise", and its dock trestle can only berth the "Hyuga" class, and if the "Kaga" is to take this as its home port, it must be greatly lengthened and transformed the existing trestle Sasebo's Ritsushin Wharf can berth the "Kaga", but its channel is easy to silt up, and the passage of large ships is more limited; the Maizuru base is the most problematic, mainly because the port water depth is not enough, to berth large warships with a deep draft such as DDH, it is necessary to carry out large-scale dredging projects such as the pier trestle. And this kind of work is costly and takes a long time. In fact, There are very few military ports available for the Kaga to dock and replenish, which is very unfavorable for its daily training and combat applications. In addition, after a long voyage of warships such as the "Kaga", the steel ship body is magnetic due to the action of the earth's magnetic field, susceptible to the attack of magnetic mines, the need to demagnetize the hull, the current lack of helicopter destroyers such a large tonnage of battleship demagnetization equipment, which makes the "Izumo" class more vulnerable to mines in combat.
As the saying goes, "it is easy to buy a car and it is difficult to raise a car", it is not difficult to build 4 "quasi-aircraft carriers" with Japan's economic strength, but in order to ensure that they can exert their maximum combat effectiveness, Haizi needs to carry out large-scale dock trestle transformation of multiple bases, equipped with high-power power supply systems, large-scale oil storage and transportation systems, equipped with multiple high-thrust tugboats, and build large-scale degaussing stations. The cost of these projects, equipment, and daily maintenance is even more expensive than building and maintaining a battleship, and they are all urgent and must be put first. However, due to Japan's economic downturn, the Japanese government has little room to increase military spending, which makes Haizi have to compress some other projects, which will have a very adverse impact on its improvement of combat effectiveness.