Posted on 08/06/2013 5:26:58 AM PDT by Freeport
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier.
The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense - particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions - and to bolster the nation's ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Though the ship - dubbed "Izumo" - has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
That is a container ship with a hurricane bow.
....and it gets 52 miles per gallon!............
Well, it IS a carrier.......a helicopter carrier.....but they might have some VTOL jets as well.............
A former Japanese Prime Minister, Suzuki IIRC, after he had left office, was once overheard saying that if Japan decides on Monday that it needed nukes, by Friday they would have them................
Probably the Emperor’s flag............
jeez, I dunno - seeing the Rising Sun makes me a little nervous myself
Good one .... (Chuckle)
Or...
...and you can charge the batteries thru a USB cable!..........
A heavily-loaded one might find one helpful.
Other pictures show it to be similar to Iwo Jima class of LPH’s, which were slightly smaller than the Essex class carriers converted to LPH’s (Boxer, Princeton and Valley Forge). The Iwo Jima class were slower, carried fewer troops and had lower carrying capacity for helicopters than the Essex-class conversions.
And to the NSA trolls, FU.
bttt
It’s Japanese. The bombs are smaller.......and more efficient........
Japan has always amazed me, in less than 100 years it went from a feudal agrarian system, to an industrial world power with limited natural resources. Today we still have countries who are considered 3rd world with far more resources and they remain as they were 100+ years ago.
wow. I was under the mistaken impression they didn’t fly that flag unless at war. Possibly for Godzilla attacks too; wasn’t sure...
A destroyer? I guess they can call it anything they like. It’s their boat. And it likely can destroy stuff.
I read once that if Germany wanted nukes they could build an atomic weapon is about a week, an H-bomb would take from four to six weeks. i am sure Japan would be be about the same—if they wished. The time to worry is when they go back to calling the Maritime self defense force, the Imperal Navy.
Now that's a big boy.
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