TOKYO -- Under the watchful eyes of defense officials and industry insiders, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries unveiled in mid-October the newest, largest and costliest addition yet to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' submarine fleet: the 84-meter Taigei, meaning "Great Whale."
The ceremony at a Kobe shipyard was attended by Mitsubishi Heavy President Seiji Izumisawa as well as Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi -- a scene that evoked the group's longtime philosophy that "Mitsubishi is for the country."
