Japan's aircraft carrier fleet cannot carry fighters

Japan possesses a powerful fleet of aircraft carriers but cannot operate fighters and can only support helicopters.

JS Izumo is Japan's largest helicopter carrier.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) operates a force of "helicopter destroyers" that are massive in size and have long runways, but cannot operate fighter jets, according to National Interest.

Military expert Kyle Mizokami said that after World War II, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) was established with a full military structure, but only for the purpose of national defense. The JMSDF is a large and powerful naval force, but is not allowed to possess weapons capable of attack.

For decades, the mission of protecting Japan's sea lanes has prompted the JMSDF to build aircraft carriers as well asrestore naval air force.

In the late 1960s, the JMSDF began construction of two Haruna-class helicopter destroyers, with hangar and flight deck areas that spanned half the length of the ship. They served as mobile floating bases for helicopters to conduct anti-submarine warfare. This role continued with the two Shirane-class destroyers.

The Haruna and Shirane classes were not aircraft carriers, but they represented the JMSDF’s testing of naval aviation. These two classes became the basis for the Osumi-class landing ships, which displace 14,000 tons at full load, allowing the JMSDF to transport infantry to offshore islands. The Osumi class also had a full-length flight deck similar to a conventional aircraft carrier, though without a hangar.

JS Shirane is a prototype for a helicopter carrier solution.

In 2009, Japan made a significant step forward in its naval aviation development with the launch of the JS Hyuga and JS Ise helicopter destroyers. Each ship is 206 meters long, has a full displacement of 19,500 tons, carries four anti-submarine helicopters and is capable of supporting up to 11. The Hyuga class is larger than the British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible.

Four years later, Japan launched the JS Izumo, the country's largest warship since World War II. The Izumo class is classified by Tokyo as a helicopter destroyer, 248 meters long, with a full displacement of 27,000 tons, usually carrying 9 helicopters and can be increased to 14. The JS Izumo and the JS Kaga of the same class both play a pivotal role in the escort destroyer squadron, tasked with destroying enemy submarines.

The Japanese fleet of four helicopter destroyers all have full-length flight decks, equipped with aircraft elevators, tower-shaped superstructures and large hangars inside the hull. Their appearance is no different from real aircraft carriers.

The Hyuga and Izumo classes, however, cannot operate fighter jets. In theory, they could handle the F-35B super-fighter thanks to their vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities. But the Japanese ships lack ski-jumps to support takeoffs, and integrating this feature would require the ship to be in the yard for more than a year. In addition, only one of the two elevators is large enough to handle aircraft like the F-35B and MV-22 Osprey hybrid helicopter.

The Hyuga and Izumo-class aircraft carriers would also need to be significantly expanded to support a small number of F-35Bs. This would significantly reduce the hangar space, reducing the aircraft carrying capacity. Converting them into aircraft carriers would also be difficult, time-consuming and expensive.

Helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH-181).

However, Mizokami believes that the size of the Izumo class is too large for a dedicated helicopter destroyer. It is likely that Japan is gaining experience to prepare for building aircraft carriers carrying real fighters, to supplement the air defense network covering the Ryukyu and Senkaku islands, a task currently undertaken by the air base on Okinawa island.

Tokyo is currently unable to acquire real aircraft carriers. Japan’s total public debt is twice the size of its entire economy. Its defense budget has been growing slowly, at just 1% of GDP, suggesting Tokyo has not focused on building a powerful military.

Japan has the technical capacity to build aircraft carriers, as well as the ability to buy the world's best carrier-based fighters from the US, but it has no strategic motivation to build an aircraft carrier fleet, unless relations with China deteriorate rapidly to the point of risking war. However, this possibility is very unlikely at present and in the near future, expert Mizokami said.

According to VNE