Fighter aircraft have landed aboard Japan’s newest aircraft carrier for the first time.
A Lockheed Martin F-35B from the US Navy’s (USN’s) Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 successfully landed aboard the JS Kaga on 20 October off the coast of Southern California.
The flight was part of a joint effort by the USN and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) to certify the converted vessel for flight operations with short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) fixed-wing fighters.
“Data that testers gather during these sea trials will be analysed and eventually inform decisions to enhance the capabilities of the maritime self-defence force as well as contribute to improved interoperability between Japan and the US,” the Pentagon says.
Tokyo plans to acquire up to 42 of the STOVL-capable F-35B stealth jets, the first of which are scheduled for delivery in 2025.
The highly-specialised fighters are currently operated by the US Marine Corps (USMC), UK and the Italian navy. Singapore also has plans to acquire F-35Bs.
The Izumo-class vessel is Japan’s second aircraft carrier, although Tokyo and Washington officially describe both the Kaga and its sister ship JS Izumo as “multi-functional destroyers”. The Kaga arrived in the waters off San Diego, California in mid-September for a planned month of flight trials.
Captain Shusaku Takeuchi, commanding officer of the Kaga, describes the drills with his US counterparts as “essential for strengthening Japan’s defence capabilities”.
“This test does not merely enhance the capabilities of the maritime self-defence force,” he says. “It also improves the interoperability between Japan and the US, strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-US alliance.”
With 248m (814ft)-long flight decks and large internal hangars, the two vessels are the largest ships in the JMSDF fleet. Both flattop ships began service as helicopter carriers, but have been converted into what are essentially light aircraft carriers – equivalent to the USN’s America-class amphibious assault ships.
Those vessels, which provide rotary- and fixed-wing air support to USMC ground forces, also operate STOVL fighters, including F-35Bs and Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jets.
Modifications made to get the Japanese vessels ready for hosting fighters included expanding the surface area of the flight deck and painting the landing surface with heat-resistant materials to withstand the F-35B’s Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-600 vector-thrust engine.
Tokyo’s first modern aircraft carrier – the Izumo – completed flight certification trials in 2021, also with F-35Bs from the USMC. That milestone marked the first time in over 75 years that Japan’s military forces included an operational aircraft carrier.
