Japan Wants USMC F35B's

[tomahawk6]

Japan wants the Marine Corps F35B to operate from the largest ships in the Japanese Navy.

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/23/marines-considering-flying-u-s-f-35bs-off-of-japans-largest-warships

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I suspect we see more of this in the future, as some countries can afford the aircraft or the ship, but not both at the same time. Seems that cross decking of aircraft was not uncommon in the Pacific during WWII, so historical practices coming around again.

 

[MarkOttawa]

South Korea too:

Released on August 14, South Korea’s five year defense plan has some big implications for what the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) will look like in the future. As Xavier Vavasseur notes, the plan offered a glimpse of the overall direction of South Korea’s defense efforts, with special attention to the building plans of the ROKN.

The plan confirmed South Korea’s interest in a light aircraft carrier of roughly the same size as Japan’s JS Izumo. This ship will presumably operate F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, along with an array of helicopters and potentially unmanned vehicles. Joseph Trevithick has additional details [https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29137/south-korea-kicks-off-development-of-a-new-amphibious-ship-designed-to-carry-f-35bs] on the reasoning behind South Korea’s interest in a short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft carrier. Japan is certainly an important consideration, but North Korea’s vast artillery and conventional ballistic missile capabilities can put stationary airfields across the South at considerable risk...
https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/the-south-korean-navy-has-big-plans-ahead/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[a_majoor]

A bit more on both the Korean and Japanese desire for F-35B variants and small aircraft carriers:

https://strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20191107.aspx

Naval Air: South Korea Improvises

November 7, 2019: In October South Korea announced it was buying 20 more F-35 stealth fighters. There are already 40 on order and South Korea will have received 13 by the end of 2019. Those 60 F-35s will cost $9.7 billion and a decision still has to be made as to whether any of the second 20 will be the VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) F-35B version. The first 40 will all be the basic F-35A which just operates from land-based airfields. But South Korea has ships that F-35Bs could operate from.

By 2018 South Korea had two 14,500 ton Dokdo class large amphibious ships. These South Korea LPHs (Landing Platform Helicopter) are similar in appearance and operation to the larger American amphibious ships. The LPH flight deck can handle helicopters, as well as vertical takeoff jets like the F-35B. The Koreans deny that the ship will be used with these jets, but the capability is there. The LPH normally carries 720 combat troops and their heavy equipment. Dokdos also carry fifteen aircraft; two V-22 vertical takeoff transports and 13 helicopters. Marado, the second Dokdo, has a redesigned flight deck that can handle two V-22s at once instead of just one. In addition to a more powerful 3-D surveillance radar for tracking aircraft, Marado has to Phalanx anti-missile system.

South Korea is also planning to build one or more 30,000 ton ships that look like the Japanese DDH (destroyer helicopter carrier) and could handle a dozen F-35Bs. Neighboring Japan has already ordered some F-35Bs so that it can experiment with some of these aircraft aboard the existing Japanese DDHs. Since 2017 Japan has had two 27,000 ton “destroyers” (DDH type ships) that look exactly like an aircraft carrier. These Izumo class ships can carry up to 28 helicopters or up to ten vertical takeoff aircraft. The carriers are armed only with two 20mm Phalanx anti-missile cannon and launchers with sixteen ESSM missiles for anti-missile defense. The DDH have powerful engines capable of destroyer-like speeds of over fifty-four kilometers an hour. Izumo has considerable cargo capacity, which is intended for moving disaster relief supplies quickly to where they are needed. Apparently, some of these cargo spaces can be converted to carry additional weapons and equipment needed to support F-35B fighter-bombers. Izumo could carry and operate at least ten F-35Bs once modifications are made to the flight deck to deal with the extremely high temperatures the F-35B generates when taking off or landing vertically (like a helicopter). When the first DDH entered service in 2015 Japan made no mention of buying F-35Bs or modifying the LPH flight decks to handle the very high temperatures. The Izumos already have an elevator (to the hanger deck under the flight deck) powerful enough to carry an F-35B fighter.

Another factor that makes operating F-35Bs from an LPH or DDH possible is the availability of smart bombs and small air-to-ground guided missiles for warplanes. A LPH or DDH was not designed to haul a lot of munitions for aircraft but, the amount of smart bombs and missiles needed to make five or ten F-35Bs effective would not be large. These ships already carry a lot of fuel for helicopters and have space for maintenance gear to support many helicopters. South Korean and Japanese naval planners noted this when they suggested using LPHs and DDHs as platforms for F-35Bs.

The rest of the article is on the link

The key benefit for both Korea and Japan is to prevent their air power from being caught on the ground by surprise strikes by missiles or SoF forces. Keeping an effective force at sea where it is harder to target them and where the aircraft can appear in unexpected times and places is a huge benefit when dealing with China or the DPRK.

 

[CBH99]

A bit more on both the Korean and Japanese desire for F-35B variants and small aircraft carriers:

https://strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20191107.aspx

The rest of the article is on the link


Gee, almost seems like Japan had the F-35B in mind right from the start    Smart move though, introducing ships like these while manipulating the wording to stay within the constitution.