Japan’s plan to retrofit its 27,000-ton Izumo–class helicopter destroyers into aircraft carriers has Beijing worried. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the move could in effect change the warships’ use from self-defense to military expansion, rather than a simple boost to their combat capabilities.
The ministry also warned that if Tokyo was bent on military buildup, it could risk putting the recent thaw in relations between the two nations back on ice.
“Making an aggressive move like this may drive the country to repeat its militaristic history,” the nationalist Global Times also warned in its report. Ties between China and Japan had been restored after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Beijing in October.
The 248-meter Izumo–class helicopter destroyers are now the largest surface combatants of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force since World War II, bearing a strong resemblance to conventional aircraft carriers.
Its lead ship was launched at Yokohama in 2013 with stated key missions including anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance as well as the swift deployment of troops and materials for disaster relief.
Two of the vessels – the Izumo and Kaga – have already been in service with two under construction and two planned.
Destroyers of this class can carry a crew of 970 and a maximum of 28 helicopters with armaments including the Raytheon-made Phalanx close-in weapons system against anti-ship missiles and helicopters.
Japan will write the plan into its latest National Defense Program Guidelines at the end of the year, Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya announced at a press conference on Tuesday. The newly installed defense chief also said the retrofitted carriers would carry US-made F-35B stealth fighter jets capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings.
Japan will order 100 more F-35 fighter jets, including both the F-35A and the F-35B, from Lockheed Martin.
Under the war-renouncing Article 9 of its pacifist constitution, Japan cannot possess attack aircraft carriers, as it is only allowed to use force for self-defense.
Japanese military sources confirmed that the possibility of operating fixed-wing aircraft was incorporated into the design of the ships from the earliest stages of the Izumo program. The aircraft elevators and the deck paint were designed to handle aircraft like the F-35B, and it would be possible to add a ski-jump to the flight deck for the fighters’ operations.
Frank Yoe 1st of all it is not the UN that declared Japan could not have an army, it was Japan itself that declared that they renounce the rights to declaring war from Japan’s constitution (May 1, 1947). Japan WAS a barbaric and murderous race but focus on the word ‘WAS’. Japan nowadays is considered to have one of the most respected countries in the world.
If anything it is China that shows belligerence and apathy to the UN’s ways. RE: UNCLOS and UN arbitral tribunal regarding the South China Sea.
Enb Libra. Don’t worry your little head in your fat body about the Chinese. You and yashad are the ugly ones. Yashad does not even dare show his face. You and he are perfects wankers. You can only shout and spit in Asia Times while your sisters and mothers are in saidi and Qatar and Kuwait cleaning toilets and sleeping with their masters. Keep writing while your sister is lying on her backside. You are brainless.
Show me where China invaded Philippines. You have issues? Go speak to government.
Show me where China invaded Philippines. You have issues? Go speak to government.
Gimena China did not call Japan anything. The WW2 said Japan may not have an army and that’s their constitution because Japan was a barbaric and murderous and cowardly race. You have trouble with that? Take it up with the UN
Gimena China did not call Japan anything. The WW2 said Japan may not have an army and that’s their constitution because Japan was a barbaric and murderous and cowardly race. You have trouble with that? Take it up with the UN
The moment I found out they are pinos I stop replying to any of them. But with all due respect, not all pinos are bad onl these two called enb and yashad, full of shit in their life.
The moment I found out they are pinos I stop replying to any of them. But with all due respect, not all pinos are bad onl these two called enb and yashad, full of shit in their life.
Frank Yoe I suggest them start a war with china and end the talking . They are still talking, I already concluded that they live with keyboard.
Frank Yoe I suggest them start a war with china and end the talking . They are still talking, I already concluded that they live with keyboard.
Frank Yoe buddy, they need to win again becuase fillipinos always loose.
Frank Yoe buddy, they need to win again becuase fillipinos always loose.
Joshua Rene Matamorosa yeah yeah china is afraid of you . You win you win.
Joshua Rene Matamorosa yeah yeah china is afraid of you . You win you win.
Asia Times is a cesspit where racist and philipinos come to vomit. And yashad rizvi come because no where else will let him in.
Asia Times is a cesspit where racist and philipinos come to vomit. And yashad rizvi come because no where else will let him in.
Enb Libra… The only thing I can see In You is a big mouth in a fat body. Go out and play with the children.
MarioDanilo Del Mar Ballesteros it is philipinos who have nothing to say or do. You only have hate. What has any philipino done?
MarioDanilo Del Mar Ballesteros it is philipinos who have nothing to say or do. You only have hate. What has any philipino done?
Joshua Rene Matamorosa. What is your beef? Why don’t you mind your own business? So you speak for Japan? Japan is just the first barbaric beheaded and bayonette thrusting murderers of children and women and wounded soldiers. And what are you? Just a poor have nothing philipino. Go do something useful for your country. You love Japan? Go to Japan and fibs how they think of you.