Will Japan Become an Aircraft Superpower Again?

By Zachary Keck

Japan is eyeing a return to the aircraft carrier business, according to a report from Reuters.

This week,Reuters reported [3], citing three unnamed government officials, that Japan is actively considering refitting its massive Izumo-class helicopter destroyers to carry American stealth fighters. Specifically, the Izumo-class destroyers—of which Japan has two ships—would be able to carry the F-35B [4], which has a vertical take-off and landing capability. Other newspapers have since [5]confirmed the report, citing their own sources within the Japanese government.

Following the Reuters report, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera issued something of a denial, although hardly a full-throated one. “Regarding our defense posture, we are constantly conducting various examinations. But no concrete examination is under way on the introduction of F-35B or remodeling of Izumo-class destroyers,” Onodera said [6], local media reported. He added, however, that “there is a need to always be considering various alternatives.”

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This lukewarm denial notwithstanding, the notion of Japan transforming one or both of the ships into an aircraft carrier is hardly outlandish. As the Reuters article notes, they were built with a hanger that can handle aircraft. And, when the first ship was unveiled in 2013, many observers called it an “aircraft carrier in disguise.” It is not difficult to see why. The ship is roughly 250 meters (820 feet) long and displaces 24,000 tons. As I noted back [10] in 2013, the helicopter “destroyers” are “about 50 percent bigger (in terms of displacement) than Japan’s current largest ship, the Hyuga–class helicopter destroyer.” Others have pointed [11] out that the ships are actually larger than Spain and Italy’s short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft carriers.