Japanese Officials Admit That Their 'Helicopter Destroyers' Were Also Designed For Jets

Izumo-class helicopter destroyer (Wikipedia)

Tyler Rogoway, The Warzone/The Drive: Officials Admit Japan's 'Helicopter Destroyers' Were Also Designed For Jets

The Japanese government has consistently and vehemently denied that its hulking helicopter carriers were built with tactical jets in mind.

Japanese Ministry of Defense executives have outright admitted that despite the Japanese government's past denials that the Izumo class "helicopter destroyers" were not designed to accommodate fixed-wing short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) tactical jets, they actually were designed with exactly that in mind.

The Asahi Shimbun quoted Maritime Self Defense Force sources stating the following:

“It is only reasonable to design (the Izumo) with the prospect of possible changes of the circumstances in the decades ahead... We viewed that whether the Izumo should be actually refitted could be decided by the government.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: It clearly looks like a mini-aircraft carrier ... so no one should be surprised that STOVL tactical jets may be deployed. As to what are those jets .... reports are that the Japanese are going to purchase 20 - 40 F-35Bs for these "aircraft carriers".