Japan Unveils Largest Warship Since World War II

[Ryan Ruck]

Japan Unveils Largest Warship Since World War II

August 6, 2013

Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier.

The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense - particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions - and to bolster the nation's ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Though the ship - dubbed "Izumo" - has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China.

The tensions over the islands, along with China's heavy spending on defense and military modernization, have heightened calls in Japan for beefed-up naval and air forces. China recently began operating an aircraft carrier that it refurbished after purchasing from Russia, and is reportedly moving forward with the construction of another that is domestically built.

Japan, China and Taiwan all claim the islands.

Though technically a destroyer, some experts believe the new Japanese ship could potentially be used in the future to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically. That would be a departure for Japan, which has one of the best equipped and best trained naval forces in the Pacific but which has not sought to build aircraft carriers of its own because of constitutional restrictions that limit its military forces to a defensive role.

Japan says it has no plans to use the ship in that manner.

The Izumo does not have catapults for launching fighters, nor does it have a "ski-jump" ramp on its flight deck for fixed-wing aircraft launches.

[vector7]

Companion Thread: Japan Begins Building its Own Stealth Fighters and More



Japan launched its biggest warship - Destroyer "Izumo"

20:02 08/10/2013.




It cost $ 1.2 billion, and weighs 19,500 TONS
I can carry 14 HELICOPTER

"Izumo"

China's Ministry of Defence warned: "We are concerned about the constant Japanese military expansion. Japan should learn from our own history and to maintain its policy of self-defense and promise to peaceful development "

JAPAN has unveiled in Yokohama's "invention" - their biggest warship since World War II.

It cost $ 1.2 billion, and weighs 19,500 tons and can carry 14 helicopters.

It is classified as a destroyer, but the design is more reminiscent of an aircraft carrier. However, the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that "Izumo" will be used as the support.

New, powerful ship of Japan - Tokyo unveiled the official at the time of tense relations with China because of a territorial dispute over the uninhabited group of Ostrava in the East China Sea.

Japanese military leaders do not hide: that the task of the new destroyers would be "adequately respond to various situations in the waters surrounding Japan."

China's Ministry of Defence warned: "We are concerned about the constant Japanese military expansion. Our Japanese neighbors and the international community should be very careful with this trend. Japan should learn from our own history and to maintain its policy of self-defense and promise to peaceful development. "

[Ryan Ruck]

Japanese Navy Gets Biggest Flat-Top Since WWII-Era Aircraft Carriers

March 25, 2015

Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force on Wednesday took delivery of the biggest Japanese warship since World War Two, the Izumo, a helicopter carrier as big as the Imperial Navy aircraft carriers that battled the United States in the Pacific.

The Izumo with a crew of 470 sailors is a highly visible example of how Japan is expanding the capability of its military to operate overseas and enters service as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks lawmaker approval to loosen the restraints of Japan's pacifist post-war constitution.

The 248 meter (813 feet) long Izumo resembles U.S. Marine Corp amphibious assault carriers in size and design but it is designated as a helicopter destroyer, a label that allows Japan to keep within the bounds of a constitutional ban on owning the means to wage war. Aircraft carriers, because of their ability to project force, are considered offensive weapons.

"The vessel can serve in a wide range of roles including peace keeping operations, international disaster relief and aid," Gen Nakatani, Japan's Minister of Defense said standing beside the vessel after a handover ceremony at the Japan United Marine shipyard in Yokohama.

"It also helps improve our ability to combat submarines.

Abe's moves to ease Japan's pacifist constitution and its build up in defense capabilities is unnerving neighbor China.

Japan is also adding longer-range patrol aircraft and military cargo planes to its defense capability, and buying Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, amphibious assault vehicles and Boeing's Osprey troop carrier, which can operate from the Izumo.

The Izumo does not have a catapult necessary to launch fixed-wing fighters, but a planned vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) variant of the F-35 could fly from the Izumo's flight deck.

Based at Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, also the home port of the U.S. Seventh Fleets carrier battle group, the Izumo will join two smaller helicopters carriers already in service, that are also classed as destroyers.

[Ryan Ruck]

China Upset At Japan’s Plan To Buy F-35B Stealth Fighter ‘Jump Jets’ For Its Helicopter Carriers

CHINA has warned another nation not to convert its warships into F-35 stealth fighter carriers — or it will revive the dark days of WWII.

December 27, 2017

JAPAN can’t have aircraft carriers. And just to be sure, it officially declared several of its latest warships must be called “helicopter destroyers” — even though to all intents and purposes they look like aircraft carriers.

They just don’t carry fixed-wing aircraft. Yet.

They carry helicopters.

It’s been a tenuous splitting of hairs ever since the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force introduced its new 25,000 ton flat-topped Izumo-class aviation ships to service in recent years.

Now Japan is reportedly considering abandoning the pretence.

It is reportedly considering the purchase of US jump-jet F-35B stealth fighters, and the modification of its Izumo-class ships to operate them.

And that could spark an international crisis.

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 ...”

Historically, this has been interpreted as allowing Japan military forces of a purely defensive character.

But a full-blown aircraft carrier is a mobile military base.

They are inherently offensive by nature.

CHINA ALARMED

Beijing has today warned Japan to “act prudently” after reports of Japan’s possible intention to buy the F-35B variant of the controversial stealth strike fighter.

It’s designed to operate off aircraft carriers. Particularly small ones.

Its mission is to support marines and soldiers establish a ‘beach head’ on hostile soil.

China’s diplomatic corps last night issued a statement that Tokyo should maintain peace “through action”.

Spokeswoman Hua Chunying overnight warned any such move to upgrade the Izumo helicopter carrier would draw the attention of its neighbours for “historical reasons”.

Japan infamously used its World War II carrier fleet to launch the surprise strike against Pearl Harbor which sank most of the United States Navy’s battleship fleet.

“We urge Japan to do more that may help enhance mutual trust and promote regional peace and stability,” Beijing’s spokeswoman said.

Earlier this year China launched its second aircraft carrier, and its first — Liaoning — embarked on several intensive war-game exercises.

ASIAN ARMS RACE

Beijing’s recent bold expansion into the South China Sea through the construction of illegal artificial islands in order to establish well equipped and heavily defended fortresses has dramatically raised tensions throughout Asia and the Pacific.

But it has also ramped-up its rhetoric over the disputed Senkaku island chain in the East China Sea, over which both it and Tokyo claim ownership.

Fishing fleets backed up by Chinese coast guard and naval vessels have repeatedly entered the waters around the islands in recent years, and more recently several flights by combat aircraft have passed nearby.

Tokyo has responded by repositioning naval patrol vessels, missile defence systems and fighter aircraft squadrons to the area — including the major joint-US military base island of Okinawa.

It has also been steadily rebuilding its defence forces.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this year approved a record $US46 billion defence budget for 2018. He justified it as a response to North Korea’s belligerent behaviour and China’s “growing military presence”.

IZUMO CARRIERS

At the centre of the growing diplomatic storm are Japan’s two new Izumo-class ships.

Whatever they’re chosen to be called, they’re currently capable of operating about 14 helicopters tasked with hunting down submarines.

Izumo and Kaga are the biggest ships Japan has built since World War II, measuring some 248m long and 38m wide. At 25,000 tons, its size is similar to that of the recently decommissioned British Invincible class of short takeoff and vertical landing (jump jet) carriers. It’s bigger than those operated by Spain and Italy.

Like Australia’s new Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships, Izumo can also carry troops — some 400 marines — and about 50 light vehicles. It does not carry landing craft to deploy them, however, instead relying upon embarking specialist heavy helicopters for the job.

Neither Izumo or Kaga have catapults — or a ski jump along the line of Australia’s Canberra class — intended to help fling fixed-wing aircraft like the F-35B into the air.

But both have large, clear decks capable — though they may need strengthening and heat-shielding to land, hold and launch ‘jump jets’. Additional modifications to provide such aircraft with the technical support they need are not likely to be dramatic.

A new air group combining the F-35B and V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey would certainly give these ships a real — if limited — strike capability.