One of Japan’s largest warships – JS Kaga (DDH-184) – returned to its homeport of Kure on Sunday following a three-month deployment to the United States to conduct F-35B trials, this week.
On Monday, the JMSDF posted on social media channel X that Kaga had returned to Kure Naval Base on Sunday following a three-month deployment to the United States to conduct trials of the F-35B.
The trials are in preparation for the eventual operation of F-35Bs from the decks of Kaga and sister ship JS Izumo (DDH-183). The trials were carried out from Oct. 19 – Nov. 6 off the coast of California with the F-35B aircraft conducting the trials on Kaga being U.S. test aircraft assigned to the “Salty Dogs” Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 with the test pilots coming from the F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force. The unit is responsible for testing all seagoing F-35 variants with personnel from the U.S Navy and Marine Corps, U.K. Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Lockheed Martin, British Aerospace, Northrop Grumman and U.S. government civilian personnel.
Following the trials, Kaga conducted a replenishment at sea with dry cargo ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE-11) on Nov. 18. The JMSDF ship was sighted by ship spotters entering Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Nov. 26 prior to continuing its voyage home.
Although the JMSDF has a fleet air arm, the 42 F-35Bs that Japan has ordered will be part of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force which will operate a total of 105 F-35As alongside the Bs once deliveries are completed. During a press conference on Dec. 13, Japan Defense Minister Gen Nakatani stated that six F-35Bs are to be deployed to Nyutabaru Air Base during the FY2024 timeframe (Japan’s fiscal year spans from Apr. 1 to Mar. 31) and that prior to the deployment of the aircraft, a temporary F-35B squadron will be established. Nakatani stated that the specific date of the delivery of the six aircraft is currently being confirmed with the U.S.
In a Wednesday release, NORAD stated that it had detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska ADIZ on Tuesday, “The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”, read the release.
The release also stated that an ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.
NORAD last reported on Russian aircraft operating in the Alaska ADIZ on Sept. 23. The NORAD release did not stated the Russian aircraft types detected on Tuesday but the Russian Ministry of Defence (MOD) on Tuesday issued a release stating that Two-95MS long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces Long-Range Aviation escorted by Su-35S and Su-30SM carried out a 15 hour flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of Bering and Chukchi seas along the west coast of Alaska.
The Russian MOD release added that pilots of the Long-Range Aviation regularly conduct flights over neutral waters of the Arctic, Northern Atlantic, Pacific oceans, Black and Baltic seas, “All flights of the Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are carried out in strict compliance with international rules on the use of airspace over international waters.”, read the release.
In other developments, Japan tracked a Russian submarine passing through the Tsushima Strait and two People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships passing between Okinawa and Miyako Island over the week.
On Monday Japan’s Joint Staff Office (JSO) issued a release stating that Russian Navy Kilo class submarine RFS Ufa (B-588) and rescue tug Alatau were sighted on Saturday at 5 a.m. sailing northeast in an area 62 miles southwest of Tsushima and subsequently sailed northeast through the Tsushima Strait to enter the Sea of Japan. The release noted that the submarine and tug had earlier sailed northeast in the waters between Yonaguni Island and Iriomote Island on Dec. 3 to enter the East China Sea. JMSDF destroyer JS Onami (DD-111), fast attack craft JS Otaka (PG-826) a JMSDF P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) based at JMSDF Kanoya Air Base on the main island of Kyushu shadowed the Russian ships according to the release.
Ufa is making its way to join the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet, having being commissioned in November 2022 with the submarine planned to be assigned to the Russian Pacific Fleet. Following a shakedown period and crew training in the Baltic Sea, Ufa sailed to the Mediterranean and arrived in December 2023 where it carried out operations in support of Russian forces in Syria, and subsequently departed the region in late September-early October to take up its assignment to the Russian Pacific Fleet. After entering the East China Sea on Dec. 3, Ufa and Alatau sailed to Qingdao, China, to carry out a port visit from Dec. 9 – 12.
The JSO also issued a release on Monday stating that on Sunday at 1 p.m., PLAN destroyer CNS Jinan (152) and frigate CNS Changzhou (549) were sighted sailing south in an area 74 miles northeast of Miyako Island and subsequently sailed south in the waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa to enter the Philippine Sea. The release stated that JMSDF fleet oiler JS Towada (AOE-422) and a JMSDF P-3C Orion MPA of Fleet Air Wing 5 based at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, shadowed the PLAN ships.
On Thursday, the JSO issued a release stating that Jinan and Changzhou had been sighted at noon that day sailing north in an area 55 miles northeast of Miyako Island and subsequently sailed north in the waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa to return to the East China Sea. A JMSDF P-3C Orion MPA of Fleet Air Wing 5 shadowed the PLAN ships, according to the release.
