F/A-18s from Carrier Air Wing 5 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, take part in field carrier-landing practice at Iwo Jima, Japan, May 17, 2019. (Stars and Stripes)
Naval aviators kicked off 13 days of carrier-landing practice Monday on Iwo Jima as the aircraft carrier USS George Washington prepares for its first deployment since returning to Japan in November.
Pilots of fixed-wing aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 5 — F-35C Lightning IIs, F-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers and E-2D Hawkeyes — must qualify for carrier landings on the remote island ahead of the carrier’s annual patrol, Naval Forces Japan announced Friday.
Training started Monday and continues through May 31, with sorties day and night, according to a news release.
In the past, senior pilots have flown at least six sorties — three during the day and three at night — with at least seven touch-and-go landings. Junior pilots typically undergo more extensive training and may complete a dozen or more touch-and-goes.
A spokesman for Naval Forces Japan, Cmdr. Paul Macapagal, declined to provide this year’s requirements.
“The training each pilot needs for qualification is based upon various factors including individual pilot training requirements to maintain readiness,” he said by email Monday.
Most of the training will take place on Iwo Jima, also known as Iwo To, where the wing has carried out its annual training since 1991. Other U.S. airfields in Japan, including Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, serve as alternative training sites in case of bad weather or other circumstances.
The island is not a permanent training site due to its remote location — about 750 miles southeast of Japan’s main island — and lack of alternative landing sites.
The Japanese government remains committed to finding an alternative training area for the carrier-landing practice, Naval Forces Japan said.
Japan’s Defense Ministry in January 2023 began work on a new training site on Mageshima, an island 20 miles south of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands.
Initially slated for completion in 2027 at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion, the project has been delayed three years by significant hurdles, according to Japanese defense officials.
Poor weather delayed supplies to the island, and material excavated on the island proved unsuitable for earthen filling, the Kumamoto Defense Branch Office told Stars and Stripes in September.
Additionally, the January 2024 earthquake on the Noto Peninsula disrupted supplies and manpower for the island.
The project is now expected to be completed in 2030 and cost upwards of $2.4 billion, a Defense Ministry spokesperson said by email Friday.
The spokesperson said a more precise cost estimate was not possible due to the project involving large-scale construction “on an isolated island located in the open sea with no social infrastructure at all.”
Some Japanese government officials may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
The base will include an 8,000-foot main runway, a 6,000-foot crosswind runway, a port and storage facilities, according to the ministry.
“As of May 2025, land-based construction work is being carried out on the construction of runways and airfield-related facilities, while offshore construction work is being carried out on berthing facilities,” the spokesperson wrote.
