Moreover, a CATOBAR carrier would have the option of flying the F-35C or any other carrier-launched aircraft that Japan could develop or acquire in the future. But the United States operated conventional supercarriers for a very long time, under more demanding global requirements than a Japanese carrier would face. If Japan decides to go the CATOBAR route, Shokaku and Zuikaku could become some of the world’s most formidable warships, outside of the Nimitz and Ford class supercarriers.Īlthough the ships would benefit from the range and power-generation capacity offered by nuclear propulsion, Japan lacks any experience with nuclear warships, even at the submarine level. It can license or acquire the necessary technology (presumably EMALS launch systems) from the United States, and it could utilize the decks of USN supercarriers to develop the cadre of pilots and aircrew it would need to populate such carriers. Instead, Japan could build Shokaku and Zuikaku as full CATOBAR carriers. Thus, Japan does not necessarily need to take the kind of slow, methodical approach to carrier development that China has taken. Pilots and crew will develop invaluable experience with landings, takeoffs, and shipboard maintenance that Japan has lacked since 1945.īut unlike China, Japan enjoys the benefit of extensive military and industrial relationships with countries that currently operate aircraft carriers, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Experience gained by operating the F-35B with the Izumos would feed directly into a “Queen Elizabeth” style ship. However, these ships could still operate an array of advanced unmanned aircraft, as well as any F-35B replacements developed by the United States. Unless Japan decided to develop its F-3 stealth fighter as a STOVL aircraft, the F-35B would be the only plausible shipborne fighter for the operational lifespan of Shokaku and Zuikaku. However, the dependence on the F-35B would limit Japan’s options down the road. With the F-35B, such a ship would immediately be competitive with, and indeed likely superior to, China’s Liaoning-class aircraft carriers. Something like the sixty-five-thousand-ton Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier is not at all beyond Japanese shipbuilding capabilities. Rather, Japan would want to develop and retain the expertise associated with the construction of large, modern aircraft carriers, a project that it has already begun with the Hyugas and Izumos. Japan is unlikely to order a large carrier from a foreign yard, and not just because very few countries can build such ships. The main questions are what such ships (which for the sake of convenience we will call “Shokaku” and “Zuikaku”) might look like. If it wants to supersede the Izumos with larger, more capable carriers then it can do so the only obstacles are political. Japan is an exceedingly wealthy country with a large, robust, and technologically sophisticated shipbuilding industry. Japan does not need to compete directly with China over the number of jets launched from flight decks, but China’s increasingly formidable naval aviation force seems to have had some influence on Japanese thinking. Nonetheless, China is now several years ahead of Japan, not only in terms of the availability of platforms, but also in the development of naval aviation experience. Long story short, the retrofit of the Izumos represents a real increase in capability for the JMSDF. J-31 stealth fighters may eventually fly from the decks of these ships. China’s future plans remain somewhat murky, but it is widely believed that the PLAN intends to build one or two ships to an advanced, conventional CATOBAR design, and then potentially move on to nuclear-propelled supercarriers. Between them, Liaoning and her as-yet-unnamed sister can carry some sixty J-15 “Flying Shark” fighters, in addition to helicopters and support aircraft. ![]() ![]() The sixty-thousand-ton Chinese carriers can carry more aircraft than the Izumos, but of older vintage than the F-35B. During the same period, China (Japan’s most likely strategic competitor) acquired and refurbished an old Soviet STOBAR carrier, and then built another STOBAR carrier to a modified design.
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