by Kris Osborn, Warrior President
The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces have surged into a high-speed, mobile, 5th-generation warfare capability through the rapid development of new “mini-aircraft carriers” armed with F-35Bs.
Photographs of the new mini-carriers were released by the JMSDF last year, showing a picture of a redesigned or refitted helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ship. Called the “JS Kaga,” the newly configured amphib-carrier is designed to transport F-35s, troops, helicopters and other power-projecting and attack-enabling assets. The vessel operates with a maximum displacement 27,000 tons with a full load and an 814-ft flight deck, a ship vastly smaller than US Navy carriers which displace more than 100,000 tons.
The JS Kaga and its counterpart the JZ Izumo, rather, operates more like an F-35B-carrying US Navy America or Wasp-class Amphibious Assault Ships, vessels which can carry as many as 20 F-35Bs on any given deployment.
This configuration makes sense for a number of key reasons, particularly given Japan’s multi-billion dollar F-35B buy which has been progressing quickly in recent years. Yet another part of this equation is that Japan is massively revving up its defense budget, in large measure because its defense papers specify a serious and fast-growing Chinese threat. In August of 2023, the Japanese Ministry of Defense requested a massive $52.9 billion defense budget, the largest in its history.
Flying operational F-35Bs from Japanese ships is something that has been developing for several years, as the US Marine Corps conducted a joint US-Japanese multinational exercise wherein Marine Corps F-35Bs landed on Japanese warships. This clearly seems to have been a precursor to what is happening now with Japan’s growing fleet of “mini-carriers.”
Deploying smaller “mini-carriers” such as this makes great strategic and tactical sense for Japan, as smaller platforms able to deliver F-35Bs are of course smaller and more difficult to hit targets for Chinese anti-ship missiles. They are also likely faster and more maneuverable than massive US Navy carriers and could likely operate in close coordination with forward operating US Navy amphibs to project 5th-generation air power in any potential conflict.
Japan Mini-Carrier Advantage
This is quite significant, because the US and its Pacific allies operate with a decisive 5th-generation advantage in the air. China operates the J-20, but that is a land-launched platform incapable of projection power from the ocean; the J-20 may also be more vulnerable to F-35s and F-22s depending upon the range and fidelity of its sensors and the range and accuracy of its weapons systems. Regardless, the US and its allies are increasingly in a position to operate a large force of F-35s in position to counter or contain China from the air. This kind of tactical thinking is likely a large reason why the Japanese MOD is both acquiring F-35s and building “mini-carriers.”
Countering China
Japan’s growing military budget and large-scale military expansion and weapons developers is, in large measure, related to growing threats from China. Japan’s MOD has also made substantial progress in recent years with collaborative weapons developments with the United States on systems such as Aegis radar, the SM-3 Block IIA and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block 2. Japan’s concern about China has therefore been accelerating in recent years to a large extent, as evidenced by the Japanese MOD’s “Defense of Japan 2022.”
The Japanese document, as explained in an interesting analysis published in Warrior in January of 2023, specifically cites a number of key increasing threat areas related to both Russia and China. The text of the report cites China’s growing use of AI and networked warfare, provocations regarding the Senkaku islands, growing cooperation with Russia and strengthening civil-military fusion.
“Chinese military trends, combined with insufficient transparency about China’s defense policies and military affairs, have become a matter of grave concern to the region including Japan and the international community, and these trends have been intensifying in recent years, “ the report says, as quoted in the Warrior report.
China’s use of AI is referred to in the Japanese report as “intelligentized warfare,” meaning weapons systems, surveillance assets and data processing speeds and capabilities are all being massively improved.
China’s pursuit of “intelligentized warfare” is identified in the Japanese report and also cited often in Pentagon reports on the growing China threat. The concept is, in large measure, to replicate or copy multi-domain, joint-service seamless networking and data sharing across the force. This effort appears quite similar to the Pentagon’s now implementing Joint All Domain Command and Control effort (JADC2)
The 2023 Warrior analysis describes “Intelligentized warfare” as something which can impact a wide sphere of weapons systems and technology programs, particularly in China where there is not a civilian-military divide in any respect when it comes to budgets and the exchange of technology. For instance, satellite data can be processed and transmitted more quickly, warships, rockets and even nuclear weapons can receive and organize upgraded targeting information potentially enabling weapons to change course in flight.
It may not be entirely clear just how far along the PLA is with these efforts, yet the clear Chinese intent is documented extensively in both US and Japanese defense publications. Should China be evolved in this capacity, it would place the PLA on closer footing with the US military regarding multi-domain target-data sharing, joint operations and sensor-to-shooter time improvements across a combat domain.
Japan & F-35B
Given this threat scenario, it makes sense that the Japanese JMSDF would be rapidly acquiring F-35Bs, as they operate with a secure, high-speed data-link called Multi-Function Advanced Data Link (MADL) able to network across all countries operating F-35s. This enables a multi-national, large-scale, semi-circle like formation of F-35s involving the US Navy, South Korea and even Australia and Singapore further south. The additional bases being added in the Philippines might also provide an opportunity for the US and its allies to add F-35s there and “fill-in” a gap in the semi-circle between Japan and Australia and Singapore.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
