US forces are going to help Japan get its destroyer-turned-aircraft carrier ready to fly F-35 stealth fighters

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US forces are going to help Japan get its destroyer-turned-aircraft carrier ready to fly F-35 stealth fighters

Japan announced plans to test F-35B stealth fighters on its new destroyer-turned-aircraft carrier.

The testing, supported by the US Navy, will happen in October and November.

It’s the latest milestone in ongoing US-********* cooperation on F-35s and flattops.

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are going to be tested aboard Japan’s newly modified destroyer-turned-aircraft carrier with the US military’s

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.

It’s a notable moment, as it appears to be the first such test since the modifications wrapped earlier this year, and it’s the latest signal of continued US-********* coordination on the strengthening of Japan’s naval forces.

The developmental tests, which will take place from October 5 to November 18, were

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by Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force on Tuesday. The main objective is “to collect the data necessary for ship-based operation of F-35B on IZUMO-class vessels,” specifically short-take off and vertical landing of F-35B jets.

The JMSDF said that the testing would occur on the JS Kaga, Japan’s new light aircraft carrier, with support from US forces off the coast of San Diego.

The Kaga just recently

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from a helicopter carrier vessel to a flattop capable of

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, with Japan

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the completion of the upgrades back in April.

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Japan showed off the newly upgraded JS Kaga in April. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

Another helicopter carrier, the lead-in-class Izumo, is also being modified to carry F-35 jets. The ship previously hosted two US Marine Corps F-35Bs in October 2021 for flight operations. Once

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, Japan will have a naval capability it hasn’t had since World War II.

The Kaga looks similar to the US Navy’s big-deck amphibious ******** ships, which the US has previously explored using as so-called “

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,” smaller, lighter warships with flight decks that’re designed for F-35Bs.

One of the more recent examples of this concept is USS Bataan, an ******** ship that recently entered maintenance to undergo

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after departing from

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.

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F-35Bs are designed to takeoff and land vertically, a unique feature other models don’t have. *** Ministry of Defense photo

For Japan, the capability to carry its own F-35Bs — or the US’ — on its flattops could be useful amid tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly from a

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.

The US and Japan are increasingly engaging in close military cooperation directly related to deterring

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in the East and South China Seas.

There have been conversations about potential ********* involvement in the trilateral

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known as AUKUS. The US also regularly conducts ****** exercises with ********* forces and has worked with Japan on defense technology, such as missile defense interceptors.

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#forces #Japan #destroyerturnedaircraft #carrier #ready #fly #F35 #stealth #fighters

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