More than 1,400 SDF troops are expected to help in relief effort. The Asahi Shimbun

Defense chief Yoshinori Ono on Wednesday ordered the dispatch of Air Self-Defense Force personnel to tsunami-stricken areas of Southeast Asia to deliver relief supplies.

A C-130 transport plane carrying about 40 ASDF members was expected to leave Komaki base in Aichi Prefecture this morning for Utapao Air Base in Thailand to join U.S. troops already active in relief efforts.

The plane will likely be used to deliver supplies from Thailand to northern parts of Sumatra in Indonesia.

The agency is also working to order the formal dispatch of more than 200 members of the Ground SDF and three Maritime SDF vessels by the weekend, sources said.

Eventually, more than 1,400 troops will likely be dispatched, the largest number ever sent overseas, sources said.

It would also mark the first time Japan has dispatched members of all three branches of the SDF at the same time to provide emergency relief.

``There are as many as 13,000 U.S. troops in the disaster-hit areas,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters Wednesday. ``It's likely there will be cases when a considerable number of SDF personnel must go and participate in relief activities.''

Hosoda's remarks seemed to suggest that the dispatch of so many U.S. troops was behind Tokyo's decision to send the sizeable SDF force.

Meanwhile, GSDF troops, using helicopters to airlift relief supplies, are expected to provide medical care to help suppress epidemics in Sumatra.

Three MSDF vessels carrying about 600 personnel will also likely be dispatched to northern Sumatra, mainly to aid in transportation.

Already, three MSDF vessels, on their way home last month from the Indian Ocean, were redirected to the Phuket area to search for bodies. The vessels had been supporting multinational anti-terrorism efforts in and near Afghanistan.

The ships were carrying 590 MSDF personnel.

The projected dispatch of nearly 900 troops would bring to more than 1,400 the total number of SDF members involved in the relief effort.(IHT/Asahi: January 6,2005)