Images, Video at source
Posted on 09/29/2014 1:10:49 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Japan’s largest warship since World War II has left for its first set of sea trials last week ahead of entering the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF)fleet next year.
JS Izumo (DDH-183) departed Tokyo Bay on Sept. 23, as seen as in a video on YouTube, for the first round of what will be about six months of sea trials ahead of the ship’s commissioning next year, a JMSDF official told Jane’s Defence Weekly on Monday.
The 24,000-ton helicopter carrier is the first of two planned ships. Izumo will enter the JMSDF force next year. DDH-184 will enter the fleet in 2017, according to the Naval Institute’s Combat Fleet’s of the World.
The development pair of ships have fomented regional controversy since the formal start of the program, in part because of their strong resemblance to aircraft carriers
“It is an aircraft carrier, and Japan just called it a helicopter destroyer to downplay its aggressive nature,” Zhang Junshe with the People’s Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute told China Daily last year.
To Japan’s neighbors, even the name Izumo is a loaded word.
“The original Izumo, an armored cruiser that participated in the Battle of Tsushima, was purchased with reparations from the first Sino-Japanese War,” wrote USNI News contributor Kyle Mizokami last year. “There is little doubt all parties, particularly the Chinese, are aware of the lineage.”
Though billed by Japan as primarily an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) platform, its character is more in line with the U.S. Navy’s America-class of amphibious warships.
Izumo is large enough to field 14 helicopters and has the capacity to carry 400 troops. Japan could also field V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft from the ship. Ospreys are used by U.S. Marines to deploy troops from the sea and were successfully test onboard Japan’s Hyuga-class DDHs in 2013.
It’s conceivable the helicopter carrier could also accommodate the short takeoff/ vertical landing (STOVL) variants of the F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) but Japan has said publically it has no intentions of fielding JSFs from the ships.
But — like the aviation centric America — the ship is not equipped with a well deck to deploy troops via landing craft.
Following World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy was largely sunk and its pacifist constitution only allowed for military force in a direct threat to the country.
However in the last year, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has led a push to expand the scope of Japan’s military cooperation and its ability to develop its military export industry.
Images, Video at source
That looks bigger than 24,000GT.
Everyone get a light colored shirt and a bag across their shoulders.
“It is an aircraft carrier, and Japan just called it a helicopter destroyer to downplay its aggressive nature,” Zhang Junshe with the People’s Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute told China Daily last year.
Good. I hope the People’s Liberation Army Navy (whatever that is) defecates sharp, pointy bricks.
Oh, we're back to that again...
One of the most significant I had with financing China for the last couple of decades, was that it would cause a military escalation in the region.
India, Japan, and others are now having to upgrade their military and become world class players again. This didn’t have to happen.
That doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that things change over time. Allies go divergent directions. Before you know it, you don’t have the strong network you once did. And instead of just having China to deal with, you could have China, Japan, and India to deal with.
Thus, facilitating one nation like China, causes three nations to become potential threats.
There are probably upwards of twenty down-sides to doing what we have done with China. The list continues to grow.
It's made of recycled beer cans, Honda Civics and old Nintendo cartridges...........
And a little rising-sun flag on the bow as a hat-tip to the “good old days”.
Space Cruiser Yamato! Under the command of Captain Avatar. Those were the days.
If she makes China nervous, I’m all for her.
While I agree with you, a country with a competent and consistent diplomacy could ride this out.
Unfortunately, American history proves usually offer very little in either competency or consistency.
Well, old man Honda would take US drop tanks and make piston rings, etc., from the sheet metal.
Free raw materials from the heavens.
And the Israelites got manna...
The Japanese classify these and their predecessor class as Helicopter Destroyers not aircraft carriers because the Japanese Post-War Constitution prohibits Japan from operating “offensive” weapons and traditional aircraft carriers are considered offensive weapons.
Godzilla will eat it up!.........
JS now, huh? I admit to a certain nostalgia for IJN.
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