Japan’s largest warship, Izumo-class carrier JS Kaga (DDH-184), is headed to California later this year to hold F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter developmental tests off San Diego, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) announced on Tuesday.
In other developments, U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo spoke with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Commander Gen. Wu Yanan this week, the first conversation between the two militaries’ key commands since China scrapped bilateral communications in 2022.
Kaga will conduct the F-35B development test from Oct. 5 to Nov. 18 to collect data for ship-based operation of short-take-off and vertical fighters on Japan’s two Izumos – JS Izumo (DDH-183) and Kaga.
The pair were originally built as helicopter carriers but are being converted to carry F-3Bs. Izumo completed its first-stage conversion in 2021, including upgrading its flight deck and landing equipment, repainting its deck lines and applying heat-resistant coating to the deck to enable it to withstand the heat generated by the F-35B’s exhausts. Kaga underwent a more extensive first-stage conversion that began in 2022 and was completed on Mar. 29 this year in which the bow flight deck was modified from a trapezoid to a rectangle shape similar to the U.S. Wasp- and America-class amphibious assault ships. The same improvements were carried out on Izumo.
The second-stage conversion for Izumo, likely to begin late this year or before April next year in line with the Fiscal Year 2024 target date (Japan’s fiscal year spans from Apr.1 to Mar. 31), will involve the rectangular deck conversion along with configuring the interior compartments and components for F-35B operations, including magazines for storing F-35B munitions. The exact configuration of the interior will be based on the results of Kaga’s trials, during which the JMSDF will experience actual movements of F-35Bs on Kaga’s new deck layout. As Izumo will initially undergo the deck conversion first, there will be enough time for the results of the Kaga trials to be analyzed and the optimum interior configuration to be determined for the interior modifications. Izumo is expected to complete its modifications by late FY 2026 with Kaga, then go in for work to reconfigure its interiors following Izumo’s return to the fleet.
The trials by Kaga are only the second shipboard trials carried out by the JMSDF with F-35Bs. In 2021, Izumo hosted two F-35Bs from the “Bats” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242 based at Marine Corps Station Iwakuni, Japan, on Oct. 3. The JMSDF did not specify whether the F-35Bs would come from a Marine Corps aviation squadron or the F-35 Integrated Test Force (PAX ITF) based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., which is responsible for testing all sea-going F-35 variants and comprised of personnel from the U.S Navy and Marine Corps, Royal Air Force, Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace, Northrop Grumman and U.S. government civilian personnel. Japan has 42 F-35Bs on order with six scheduled to be delivered by the end of FY 2024, with the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) to be the service operating them off the carriers.
Despite the limited trials, the JMSDF has been conducting engagement and gathering data from the experiences of F-35B carrier nations Italy, U.K. and the U.S., helped also by the Royal Navy carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) and Italian Navy carrier ITS Cavour (550) visits to Japan in 2021, during which JMSDF and JASDF officials were able to discuss F-35B operations and experiences with the personnel of the two carriers. A delegation of JMSDF and JASDF officers also embarked on Royal Navy carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09) in November last year when the carrier was carrying out F-35B trials off the U.S East Coast,with a Royal Navy release then stating Japan would carry out similar trials in the same waters in November 2024. It appears, however, that the JMSDF has decided to carry out the trials off the U.S. West Coast instead of undertaking a longer voyage to the East Coast.
Also on Tuesday, the JMSDF issued a release stating that a “special transport exercise” between the JMSDF and U.S. Navy involving JMSDF tank landing ship JS Shimokita (LST-4002) and amphibious assault carrier USS America (LHA-6) will be carried out from Thursday to Saturday off the main island of Shikoku to Suruga Bay on the main island of Honshu to improve the JMSDF’s tactical capabilities and interoperability between the two navies.
Indo-Pacific Command commander Adm. Samuel Paparo held a video conference on Monday (Tuesday China time) with PLA Southern Theater Commander Gen. Wu Yanan, the first between the two militaries’ key commands since China scrapped bilateral communications in 2022. A readout by INDOPACOM stated that the call was a deliverable from the bilateral meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, held Nov. 2023, at which both leaders agreed to resume high-level military-to-military communication between the Department of Defense and the PLA, and to hold conversations between the INDOPACOM commander and the PLA’s theater commanders.
“During the call, Paparo underscored the importance of sustained lines of communication between the U.S. military and the PLA, noting that such discussions between senior leaders serve to clarify intent and reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation,” according to the readout, which also stated that Paparo cited several recent PLA unsafe interactions with U.S. allies and reinforced the PLA’s obligation to comply with international laws and norms to ensure operational safety. The INDOPACOM commander also urged the PLA to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive and potentially escalatory tactics in the South China Sea and beyond.
The release stated that the commanders had a constructive and respectful exchange of views. “Paparo expressed hope that this discussion with his PLA counterpart would be the first of many such conversations and noted the necessity of continued dialogue on issues of concern with Gen. Wu, as well as with counterparts in other PLA theater commands,” concluded the release.
China cut off military-to-military meetings following then–House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022, with Paparo’s predecessor Adm. John Aquilino stating in March 2023 that China has not responded to any of INDOPACOM’s requests to establish direct communication channels between its commander and the commanders of China’s main military commands, despite Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and then-China’s Minister of National Defense Gen. Wei Fenghe agreeing in November 2022 that operational commanders should keep lines of communication open.
However, since the November meeting between the two Presidents, the two militaries resumed a previously suspended military meeting in January. In addition, Austin had a conference call with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in April followed by a meeting at International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue 2024 on May 31.
China’s Ministry of Defense issued a short release on the commanders’ call. “According to the consensus reached by the heads of state of China and the United States at San Francisco summit, General Wu Yanan, Commander of the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command, had a video call with Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Samuel J. Paparo this morning, during which the two sides exchanged in-depth views on issues of common concern,” read the entire release.
