The Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Kaga transits the South China Sea, Oct. 30, 2021. (Haydn N. Smith/U.S. Navy)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — One of Japan’s largest warships, modified to carry fifth-generation fighters, is expected in California later this year for a test run.
The helicopter destroyer JS Kaga, which resembles a small carrier, is scheduled Oct. 5 to Nov. 18 for flight tests with F-35B Lightning II multirole jets off San Diego, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force announced Sept. 10.
The stateside testing will employ F-35Bs from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23, Naval Air Systems Command’s largest flight-test squadron, according to a Maritime Self-Defense Force spokesman.
Some Japanese government spokespeople may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
Testing will include short-range take-off and landing and vertical landing, he told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Multiple tests are planned throughout the 45-day trial.
Further evaluations will determine if the fighters can be adequately secured while the Kaga is underway, whether the jets are moved smoothly into the hangar bay and if the maintenance space is adequate, the spokesman added.
About 20 Japanese airmen are expected to join the maritime force for introductory training with the F-35Bs.
Japan on March 29 completed a variety of upgrades to the Kaga to accommodate F-35Bs, including new heat-resistant paint on its flight deck, lights for nighttime operations and reshaping the flight deck’s bow.
The B variant is capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, ideal for Japan’s 814-foot helicopter destroyers. The U.S. Nimitz-class carriers, in comparison, are 1,092 feet long.
The Kaga’s overhaul came three years after a similar retrofit to its sister ship, the JS Izumo.
Both flattops require another round of modifications; the Izumo’s final step is scheduled to begin this fiscal year and the Kaga’s to begin after the Izumo is complete, a Maritime Self-Defense Force spokesman told Stars and Stripes in April.
The upgrades are one of the final chapters in Japan’s mission to acquire F-35B capability. The Defense Ministry views the ability to use the jets at sea as “necessary in order to be fully prepared to protect Japan’s seas and skies, including the vast Pacific Ocean, while ensuring safety of the self-defense forces personnel,” according to a 2022 white paper.
The Defense Ministry asked for about $795 million in 2020 to purchase six F-35Bs from the U.S. and about $29 million for upgrades to the Izumo.
The following year, the ministry sought another $474 million for four more F-35Bs and $61 million for upgrades to the carriers’ flight decks.
Japan has since purchased 42 F-35Bs, with the first six expected to be delivered at the Air Self-Defense Force’s Nyutabaru base in Miyazaki prefecture by the end of this fiscal year, the Japan Times reported April 9.
Japan’s fiscal year begins April 1 and ends March 31st.
