JS ''Izumo'' (DDH-183) is a

helicopter carrier A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters, and has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like of the Royal Navy ( ...

which, as of 2022, is being converted into a light

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

. Officially classified as a multi-purpose operation destroyer, she is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

in the of the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

(JMSDF). She is the second warship to be named for

Izumo Province was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent an ...

, with the previous ship being the

armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

(1898). The ruling Liberal Democratic Party announced in May 2018 that it favours converting ''Izumo'' to operate fixed-wing aircraft. The conversion was confirmed in December 2018 when Japan announced the change of its defense guidelines. Upon the completion of the process, ''Izumo'' will be the first Japanese naval vessel to operate fixed-wing aircraft since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Design and construction

The construction of the first ship of the ''Izumo'' class began in 2011 at an IHI Marine United shipyard in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, with funding totalling 113.9 billion yen ($1.5 billion) being set aside in the fiscal 2010 budget for this purpose. The destroyers of this class were initially intended to replace the two ships of the , which were originally scheduled to begin decommissioning in FY2014. ''Izumo'', the largest Japanese naval vessel since

, was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 27 January 2012 and launched on 6 August 2013. The ship began sea trials on 29 September 2014. The ship was commissioned on 25 March 2015. The ship is as large as a Japanese carrier of Second World War-era. ''Izumo'' is called a destroyer because the Japanese constitution forbids the acquisition of offensive weapons, but the vessel allows Japan to project military power well beyond its territorial waters.

Characteristics

Aircraft carried

USMC F-35B conducting a vertical landing aboard the JS Izumo

The ship can carry up to 28 aircraft, or 14 larger aircraft. Only seven ASW helicopters and two

SAR SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...

helicopters are planned for the initial aircraft complement. For other operations, 400 troops and 50 3.5-ton trucks (or equivalent equipment) can also be carried. The flight deck has five helicopter landing spots that allow simultaneous landings and take-offs. In 2010, Forecast International reported that some design features were intended to support fixed-wing aircraft such as the

Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

and

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

; although neither the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

nor the JMSDF have mentioned the possibility of introducing

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinc ...

. The ship has neither a "ski-jump" nor a

catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored p ...

, typical features for launching fixed-wing aircraft. If ''Izumo''-class ships were to operate fixed-wing aircraft, they would be limited to STOVL (short take-off, vertical landing) aircraft. Japan has purchased the conventional version of the Lightning II (the F-35A) but may buy the STOVL version (the F-35B) which could be operated from a modified ''Izumo''-class ship. In December 2018, it was announced that the Japanese government would change its defense guidelines and purchase about 40 F-35B fighters to operate them from both ''Izumo'' and her sister ship .

Air defense

The ship is equipped with two

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Gene ...

and two

SeaRAM The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Mexican, UAE, and U.S. Navies. It was origin ...

for her defense.

Operational history

Commissioned at Yokosuka port in Japan in March 2015, ''Izumo'' became operational in time to take part in a major August 2015 disaster drill conducted in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, alongside the

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

's large patrol vessel ''Izu''. The two vessels acted as casualty receiving and triage stations during the exercise. In May 2017 ''Izumo'' was deployed to escort , a US supply vessel, to the area off

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

. ''Richard E. Byrd''s mission was to refuel another US warship that was defending against North Korean missiles. This was the first time a Japanese vessel was deployed to escort a US ship since security legislation was enacted in March 2016. A small protest took place at Yokosuka after ''Izumo''s departure, under the belief that the deployment of an aircraft carrier was a violation of Japan's defense-only policy. The destroyer also joined the mission. In 2020, ''Izumo'' began the conversion to operate F-35B fighter aircraft. Conversion works were to proceed in two stages, with the first to strengthen the heat resistance of the deck and install power supply equipment to enable the departure and arrival of the F-35B. The renovation work to change the bow shape to a quadrangle for the safe operation of the F-35B and the maintenance of the interior compartments are scheduled to be carried out in the second stage, starting from the end of 2024. No plans exist to install a catapult or a sloping runway. In September 2021, JS ''Izumo'' joined British aircraft carrier HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' and other vessels for exercises in the Pacific. In early October of that year,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

F-35B The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

fighters operated off the ''Izumo'' for the first time. On 31 May 2022, the JMSDF announced that the ''Izumo'', the ''Takanami''-class destroyer JS ''Takanami'' (DD-110) and the ''Murasame''-class destroyer JS ''Kirisame'' (DD104) will be deployed to RIMPAC 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Izumo (DDH-183) Izumo-class helicopter destroyers Helicopter carriers 2013 ships Ships built by IHI Corporation