--Back in Defense after 50years--

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (海上自衛隊 ,Kaijō Jieitai), or JMSDF, is the maritime branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II.
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The JMSDF is a large fleet, largely consisting of destroyers, and has significant blue-water operating capabilities. The force is based strictly on defensive armament, largely lacking the offensive weapons typically handled by naval forces of equivalent size. Currently, its main tasks are to maintain control of the nation's sea lanes and to patrol territorial waters. It has also stepped up its participation in UN-led peacekeeping operations (PKOs) and Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIOs).
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The JMSDF has an official strength of 46,000 personnel (currently around 45,800 personnel), operating 119 major warships, including twenty submarines, fifty-three destroyers and frigates, twenty-nine mine warfare ships, nine patrol craft and nine amphibious ships (total displacement of approx. 432,000 tons). It also has 179 fixed-wing aircraft and 135 helicopters. Most of these aircraft are used in antisubmarine and mine warfare operations.
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The ship prefix for JMSDF ships is JDS (Japanese Defense Ship) for all ships commissioned before 2008. Ships commissioned on or after 2008 will use the prefix JS (Japanese Ship) to reflect the upgrading of the Japanese Defense Agency to the Ministry of Defense.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JMSDF