Japan is on its way to operating a fixed-wing aircraft carrier for
the first time since the end of World War II.
F-35B stealth jets from the U.S. Marine Corps have embarked on the modified helicopter carrier Izumo.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense has released a number of photos and videos of the event,
which took place in the waters south of Shikoku.
Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear Adm. Shukaku Komuta said in a statement,
"This trial has proved that the JS Izumo has the capability to support
takeoffs and landings of STOVL aircraft at sea, which will allow us to provide
an additional option for air defense in the Pacific Ocean in the near future"
The exercise will help to evaluate the modifications that have been made to the Izumo so
far, as part of its transition from a helicopter carrier to a full-fledged aircraft carrier.
Viewers may note that Japan is in the process of acquiring its own F-35Bs.
Integration of the F-35B with Izumo class warships
is being seen as a way to counter an increasingly hostile China.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how Japan will soon have two new aircraft carriers
armed with F-35Bs? Let's get started.
This video is sponsored by the free-to-play military vehicle combat game War Thunder. We
talk a lot about military vehicles on this channel, but what about trying them out for
yourself? In War Thunder, you can chose from more than 1200 playable vehicles from the 1930s
to the 1990s and go to battle on more than 80 theaters of war. You can fly aircraft,
helicopters, drive tanks and command ships of all types and sizes, which have all been carefully
recreated from their real-world counterparts. It's available as a free download on PC,
PlayStation4 and Xbox One with cross-platform support, so grab your friends and give it a try!
All viewers of Defense Updates that register using the link in the description below will
also get a free premium tank or aircraft or ship and three days of premium account time as a bonus.
For most of the years after World war II, the defensive nature of Japan’s constitution
ruled out the possibility of operating a true aircraft carrier.
Article 9 of the Japanese constitution dictates that Tokyo will
“forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation … land, sea,
and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained”.
Under its strictly defense-oriented policy, Japan has maintained that it cannot possess
“attack aircraft carriers,” saying the vessels can be deemed offensive weapons
that exceed the minimum capacity Japan needs for self-defense in light of the Constitution.
But ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government
had altered the nation’s post World War II security policy through new security laws
that largely expand the range of activities permissible by Japan's Self-Defense Forces.
When Japan’s Defense Ministry started mulling on buying F-35B for use on its Izumo class warship,
it marked a significant shift in security doctrine.
Izumo class is official a helicopter carrier-class,
meant to carry rotary blade crafts of different types.
The class currently has two vessels- Izumo and Kaga.
Izumo class displaces 27000 tons when fully loaded.
The ships have a speed of 34 mph or 56 km/h. These can carry up to
970 personnel including crew and troops. Each ship carries up to 28 aircraft. This can
include Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) helicopters, or Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters.
But many experts had indicated even before the commissioning of the first Izumi-class
vessel that the class has the capability to work as a traditional aircraft carrier.
Some of the modifications that have been implemented
include the application of heat-resistant deck coating to cope with F-35B’s super hot exhaust.
Once the basics are taken care of, the warship will then undergo more upgrades
so that it can to better support F-35Bs over sustained periods.
When work is completed on the Izumo,
the sister ship Kaga is expected to undergo the same modifications.
The F-35B is the U.S. Marines variant of the F-35 multi-role fighter made by Lockheed Martin Corp.
It matches the deck "footprint" of the Harrier.
F-35Bs can operate from existing Izumo class warships
once modifications are made to the bow, deck and other areas.
This work is being scheduled to match with Japan’s plans to
induct its own F-35Bs in the next few years. Tokyo has announced plans to purchase a total
of 147 Joint Strike Fighters, of which 42 will be Short take-off and vertical landing aircraft
(STOVL) F-35Bs, and the remainder conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A variants.
F 35s bring a lot of advantages over Japan’s current fleet of F15s.
It is stealthy, has much better sensors and has a far advanced Electronic Counter Measure suit.
Apart from the air to air weapons package, Japan is expected to arm the F 35s
with stand-off weapons capable of undertaking anti-ship as well as land-attack missions.
Unlike fixed land-based runways, Izumo and Kaga will provide mission flexibility and
would be able to hold Chinese targets at risk from different vantage points.
With this move, Japan would retain its position as one of the
best-equipped militaries in the region as well as in the world.
Plan to retrofit Izumo class warships had already triggered a backlash from China which
views it as contradicting Japan’s so-called “exclusively defense-oriented policy”
under the pacifist Constitution. Though the real reason for the outrage is
that with this development Japan will be in a better position to counter the Chinese military.
On several occasions, China has said that in recent years
Japan had exaggerated the “China threat” as an excuse to expand its military.
But nobody buys the Chinese argument and Japan is doing well to get this transformation underway.
Japan's deputy prime minister recently said the country
needed to defend Taiwan with the United States clearly indicating that China is a real threat.