Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Does Japan Need An Aircraft Carrier?



Defense One: Does Japan Need an Aircraft Carrier?

A floating air base would help defend far-flung islands under Chinese pressure, but at a cost.

In 1983, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone promised U.S. President Ronald Reagan that he would make Japan into an “unsinkable aircraft carrier.” The irony was, and remains, that Japan has not possessed an actual aircraft carrier in more than 70 years. But that may soon change. The Japanese government is debating retrofitting a class of destroyers to turn them into aircraft carriers. Beyond answering the expected questions of whether such ships would violate its constitution, Japan will need to decide whether the operational need offsets what is expected to be a significant resource strain.

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WNU Editor: The above Izumo Class Helicopter Destroyer (DDH 183) video looks impressive.

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