Details of New Japanese ‘Helicopter Destroyer’

Defense Talk ^ | 6/21/2010 | Defense Talk

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Rumors that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's third "aircraft carrying destroyer" would mark a major improvement in size and capability over the Hyuga class ships now entering service have been confirmed.

The new 22DDH will be 248 meters long and 39 meters in beam, and displace more than 24,000 tons. This makes her almost 50 percent larger than the Hyuga class and places an unbearable semantic strain on the use of the term "destroyer" to describe these ships. To put the size of the ship into context, she is comparable with a World War II Essex-class fleet carrier.

Illustrations of the 22DDH show her to be a full-fledged helicopter carrier with no real destroyer characteristics. The superstructure is very similar to that of the Hyuga class with the difference that the 01 deck is extended forward, probably to accommodate a vertical launch silo for air defense missiles. The point defenses of the new ships are more than doubled, with three Phalanx Mk 15 mountings and two RAM launchers replacing the pair of Phalanx mounts on the older ship. Significantly, while one of the Phalanx mounts on the Hyuga is situated forward on the flight deck, and thus obstructs fixed-wing operations, the 22DDH has all of its mounts located on sponsons clear of the flight deck itself.

The flight deck layout on the 22DDH differs significantly from that of the Hyuga class. One of the lifts has been moved from the centerline to the deck-edge position. The added width of the flight deck has been used to shift the axis of air operations clear of the remaining centerline elevator. The number of munitions elevators feeding the flight deck has been increased from two to four.

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[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Ping

[Doofer]

Nice looking ship.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I think it is. They need to stop calling it a “destroyer” and call it as a aircraft carrier.

[Kevmo]

They might as well buy Harriers & have some fixed wing capability. The brits did a lot with them in the Falklands.

[ntmxx]

Nothing like getting Super Sized; very nice. Now if they mixed into it a nice missile platform system they might have a pretty versatile warship.

[Christian_Capitalist]

They might as well buy Harriers & have some fixed wing capability. The brits did a lot with them in the Falklands.

Actually, you might not have seen down at the bottom of the article, where it indicates that the Japanese are planning to supplement the Helos with V-22 Ospreys and VTOL F-35B Lightnings.

General purpose Helicopters, V-22 assault transports, and F-35 fighter-bombers... actually kindofa nifty little assault carrier they're building there.

[valkyry1]

Its all top secret and above.

[Thrownatbirth]

They probably call it a "destroyer" to get around international sea passage treaties and agreements that specifically exclude aircraft carriers.

The Soviets used to designate their Moskva helicopter carrier as a "cruiser" in order to get passage from the Black Sea to the Med. This was to avoid the Turkish ban on aircraft carriers from passage through the Bosporus Straits.

[Loud Mime]

The Falklands war was almost thirty years ago.

Having a few pinging anti-sub helos is a good bet against Chi/NKor subs.

[Slings and Arrows]

I wonder if that has something to do with Japan’s armed forces solely being “self-defense” forces; i.e., one might reason that carriers are offensive, but destroyers are defensive.

[Slings and Arrows]

GMTA

[Reeses]

The pugnacious Japanese are warming up again. From wiki: Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the National Constitution of Japan that prohibits an act of war by the state. The Constitution came into effect on May 3, 1947, immediately following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces war as a sovereign right and bans settlement of international disputes through the use of force. The article also states that, to accomplish these aims, armed forces with war potential will not be maintained, although Japan maintains de facto armed forces, referred to as the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

[Psalm 73]

Best thing about it - the Red Chinese are deathly afraid of the Japanese.
(Which, sadly, means it won't be long before Obama trashes that ally, too).

[magslinger]

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[ken5050]

The NEXT stand of the tin can navy...

[ryan71]

Pretty close to our America Class LHA-6. A nice little carrier if fitted with F-35’s.

http://www.jeffhead.com/usn21/LHAR.htm

[ichabod1]

They probably define it by function rather than by form. If it’s meant to carry helos to hunt submarines, why not call it a destroyer?

[ichabod1]

I propose a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere between US, the Japanese, the South Koreans, the Thais, and the Taiwanese. Anybody in?

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I think that the US is watching their development.