IR / PS Stacks UNIVERSITYOFCALIFORNIA, SANDIEGO 1 W67 3 1822 02951 6903 v . 353 TRATEGIC & DEFENCE STUDIES CENTRE WORKING PAPER NO .353 JAPANESE AIRBORNE SIGINT CAPABILITIES Desmond Ball and Euan Graham Working paper (Australian National University . Strategic and Defence Studies Centre ) IR /PS Stacks AUST UC San Diego Received on : 03 - 29 -01 SDSC Working Papers Series Editor : Helen Hookey Published and distributed by : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Australia Tel: 02 62438555 Fax : 02 62480816 UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA, SANDIEGO... 3 1822 029516903 LIBRARY INT 'L DESTIONS /PACIFIC STUDIES , UNIVE : TY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO LA JOLLA , CALIFORNIA 92093 WORKING PAPER NO .353 JAPANESE AIRBORNE SIGINT CAPABILITIES Desmond Ball and Euan Graham Canberra December 2000 National Library of Australia Cataloguing -in-Publication Entry Ball , Desmond , 1947 Japanese airborne SIGINT capabilities . Bibliography. ISBN 0 7315 5402 7 ISSN 0158 -3751 1. Electronic intelligence . 2.Military intelligence - Japan . I. Graham , Euan Somerled , 1968 - . II. Australian National . University. Strategic and Defence Studies Centre . III Title ( Series : Working paper Australian( National University . ; Strategic and Defence Studies Centre ) no . 353 ) . 355 . 3432 01 , © Desmond Ball and Euan Graham 2000 - 3 - 4 ABSTRACT , Unsettled by changes to its strategic environment since the Cold War , but reluctant to abandon its constitutional constraints Japan has moved in recent years to improve and centralise its intelligence - gathering capabilities across the board . The Defense Intelligence Headquarters established in , , Tokyo in early 1997 is now complete and Japan plans to field its own fleet by of reconnaissance satellites 2002 . Intelligence sharing with the United States was also reaffirmed as a key element of the 1997 Guidelines for Defense Cooperation . One of the less conspicuous but most remarkable features of Japan ' s intelligence drive has been the steady development of an airborne signals intelligence SIGINT( ) capability that now ranks second only to that of the United States in the Asia Pacific- region . The Japanese Air Self - Defense Force JASDF( ) and Japanese Maritime Self Defense- Force ( MSDF ) together maintain about 16 dedicated SIGINT , collection aircraft as well as half - a dozen- electronic warfare EW( ) training aircraft with some electronic intelligence ( ELINT ) capabilities . There are another 13 E - 2C Hawkeye and four E - 767 airborne early warning and control AEW( & C ) aircraft with substantial secondary ELINT electronic/ surveillance measure ESM( ) capabilities . And there are 17 RF - 4EJ reconnaissance aircraft which are equipped with a variety of ELINT / ESM systems . This Working Paper describes these aircraft and their capabilities , and discusses their SIGINT operations . , Unless otherwise stated publications of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre are presented without endorsement as contributions to the public record and debate . Authors are responsible for their own analysis and conclusions . JAPANESE AIRBORNE SIGINT CAPABILITIES Desmond Ball and Euan Graham * Introduction , Unsettled by changes to its strategic environment since the Cold War , but reluctant to abandon its constitutional constraints Japan has moved in recent years to improve and centralise its intelligence - gathering capabilities across the board . The Defense Intelligence Headquarters established in , , Tokyo in early 1997 is now complete and Japan plans to field its own fleet by of reconnaissance satellites 2002 . Intelligence sharing with the United States was also reaffirmed as a key element of the 1997 Guidelines for Defense Cooperation . One of the less conspicuous but most remarkable features of Japan ' s intelligence drive has been the steady development of an airborne signals intelligence SIGINT( ) capability that now ranks second only to the United States in the Asia - Pacific region . * * * , Japan has made an enormous investment sustained over several , decades in airborne SIGINT capabilities . It is one of about two dozen countries which maintain dedicated airborne SIGINT collection- systems . It , , , was also one of the first following the United States the United Kingdom , the Soviet Union and a couple of other European countries . By the late , 1950s the Japanese Air Self Defense- Force JASDF( ) and then the Japanese Maritime Self - Defense Force ( JMSDF ) had initiated acquisition programmes for airborne SIGINT capabilities . Japan now has the third largest- SIGINT , , aircraft fleet in the world after the United States and Russia but it is more active than the Russian fleet . The JASDF and JMSDF together maintain about 16 dedicated , SIGINT collection- aircraft as well as half a dozen electronic warfare EW( ) training aircraft with some ELINT capabilities . There are another 13 E - 2C Hawkeye and four E 767- airborne early warning and control AEW( & C ) aircraft with substantial secondary ELINT electronic/ surveillance measure * is a special professor Desmond Ball and Euan Graham is a PhD candidate in the Strategic , and Defence Studies Centre Australian National University . , This paper is a revised and expanded version of Desmond Ball and Euan Graham , , , pp ‘ Japanese SIGINT Takes Off Jane ' s Intelligence Review December 2000 . 26 - 31 . 2 Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (ESM ) capabilities . And there are 17 RF -4EJ reconnaissance aircraft which are equipped with a variety of ELINT / ESM systems . Airborne systems have greater operational flexibility than ground based systems and are able to monitor very high frequency (VHF) and microwave transmissions which are beyond the line -of-sight of ground stations . They are very well suited to Japan 's geostrategic circumstances . They are able to monitor low power- high frequency HF( ) and VHF radio , voice communications and especially the electronic order of battle EOB( ) of , neighbouring countries which cannot be heard from the Japanese islands . In , wartime they are less vulnerable than fixed facilities . , , However airborne systems are very expensive to maintain and operate , especially if regular ( for example daily ) flights are required . The acquisition costs are greater in the case of some aircraft than the costs of ground stations . by The EP - 3s acquired the JMSDF in the early 1990s cost about Y12 . 67 billion ( or US $ 95 . 5 million in 1992 dollars ) . ' The JMSDF ' S UP - 3D EW training support aircraft cost Y13 . 61 billion US( $ 155 million ) in 1995 . , E - The 767 AEW & C aircraft cost even more but they are equipped with many expensive systems such( as the distinctive rotodomes and associated radar systems ) not directly involved in SIGINT activities . The last batch of five E - 2Cs had a programme cost of Y9 . 23 billion each in 1990 ( or , US $ 62 . 4 million ) . The four E - 767s cost Y55 billion each or US $ 2 billion , for the programme ( including parts training and simulators ) . " The E - 767 purchase dominated the JASDF ' s budgets in the early 1990s . ' Airborne platforms are difficult to categorise functionally . They can be , used to collect strategic and tactical SIGINT both communications , intelligence COMINT( ) and ELINT and to contribute operationally in EW environments . JASDF Curtiss C 46D- Commando SIGINT Aircraft The JASDF began planning the acquisition of an airborne capability , for strategic and operational SIGINT soon after its establishment and decided in the late 1950s to acquire ‘ a number of Curtiss C 46D- Commando aircraft ( including JASDF 91 - 1140 ) modified for SIGINT EW/ operations . by These were operated the JASDF Electronic Warfare Training Unit at , , Iruma Air Base northwest of Tokyo in the 1960s and 1970s . up The rapid build - of the Japanese Air Self Defense- Force after 1955 56 reflected American concerns about the threat of air attack from the Soviet , Union and China and the need to protect US strategic bases in Japan . In its Working Paper No. 353 3 formative years , the United States was heavily involved in equipping the JASDF , training its pilots and planning down to the tactical level . ” The C - 46 Commando was a twin - engined tactical transport aircraft by produced in large numbers the Curtiss Wright- Corporation during the , Second World War and provided to the JASDF in the 1950s . It could carry a , , , kg payload of 9 287 and had a range of some 4 000 km . The C - 46Ds configured for the SIGINT role were fitted with nose and ventral antenna , fairings as well as inboard SIGINT processing and analysis systems . The ; JASDF also maintained two C 46As- for calibration purposes these also had / limited ELINT EW capabilities . ” JMSDF EP - 2J SIGINT Aircraft The JMSDF ' s 81 Air Training Support Squadron Kokutai( ) of the 31st , , , Flight Group based at Iwakuni Air Base near Hiroshima operated two EP , 2J SIGINT aircraft from the mid - 1970s until the early 1990s when they were by . “ - 3 EP replaced the much more capable aircraft The EP 2Js- were ELINT versions of the Kawasaki P - 2J twin turboprop- , anti submarine- aircraft which could carry more than ten tonnes of electronic , equipment had a cruising speed of about 200 knots 370( km / h ) at an altitude , , , , , of 3 050 metres ( 10 000 feet ) and a range of some 4 450 km ( 2 765 miles ) . " The EP - 2Js were equipped with indigenously produced HLR - 105 and HLR - 106 SIGINT equipment . " 2 These aircraft deployed to Hachinohe Air , , Base near Misawa in Aomori