Squire wrote:What sort of defensive capabilities does Japan have? It is kinda amazing that North Korea is firing missiles over the country and Japan is basically doing nothing in response.
I think it is more that if they flinch, then next launch might take the short trip to Japan. Given that they have experience being attacked with nuclear weapons, they do not want to open that avenue. Beyond that, their defense structure is pretty unusual as their position has really base on their past aggression steering they away from anything that would seem like a return to imperialism. $46B goes into the Japan Self-Defense Forces with a total size of 300K (1/6 of which is a reserve force).
For comparison, the US force size is about 5 times larger on active duty, with ~600K additional reservists available and the IRR beyond that (I think).
@slugsrbad post points out the the Japanese love helicopters. It is like 1:1 winged:rotor. Their force projection is chopper carriers. Really, it points to the defensive reality of its forces.
