Japan mulls order for F-35 stealth jets on aircraft carrier

Japan plans to order about 100 US-designed F-35 stealth fighter jets with an option to take off and land vertically, which suggests Tokyo might be developing aircraft carriers for the first time since World War II. 

"With short take-off vertical landing capability you are now able to operate at sea. You are able to penetrate areas and reach ranges in a shorter distance which is an important capability," CNN reported.

The network said the capability could prompt Japan to transform some of its existing ships into aircraft carriers so that it can operate the fighters at sea.

Other media reports said the government will upgrade its two existing Izumo-class helicopter carriers so they can transport and launch fighter jets.

Japan's Defense Ministry would not confirm the deal, but said it would be looking to buy a "highly competent fighter jet" when its "midterm defense maintenance plan" comes up for approval by in December.

The Nikkei business paper was the first to report this week that Japan was poised to buy 100 F-35 stealth jets from the US at a cost of more than $8.8 billion.

The planned purchase comes a year after President Donald Trump urged Tokyo to buy more US-made military equipment. The reported order is in addition to 42 F-35 jets it has already bought from the US.

Earlier this week, Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said the government is seriously considering refitting at least one of its Izumo helicopter destroyers to accommodate jets.

By refitting its aircraft carriers, the Japanese government would be crossing a line in the country’s security policy that has been deemed uncrossable by previous governments.

This will require the government to include a passage in the revised National Defense Program Guidelines; a plan which is expected to be unveiled by the end of this year.

Japan’s possible acquisition of F-35 jets and effective warships prompted China to issue a stark warning to Tokyo to not go ahead with the plans.

Beijing said that Japan’s pursuit of a military buildup would “drive the country to repeat its militaristic history.”

Chin's English-language news website, Asia Times, cited Foreign Ministry as saying that “if Tokyo is committed to a military buildup, it can count on thawed bilateral relations getting iced once more.”

It was referring to a thaw in relations between Beijing and Tokyo since Prime Minster Abe paid a rare three-day visit to China in October.

Another Chinese English-language newspaper, Global Times, cited experts as saying, "Japan must not forget its infamous history of invading countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region during the WWII.”

"By having the F-35B on its carriers, Japan will be asked to play a bigger role in the US' global military strategy to the extent that Japan might be able to deploy its troops around the world," Chinese military analyst, Song Zhongping, told the daily.

According to former US Navy captain Carl Schuster, the F-35Bs on a Japanese warship "add a new dimension" and "a deterrent factor" to the security situation in the Pacific.

He said that a refitted Japanese aircraft carrier would likely only carry six to eight F-35Bs, compared to as many as two dozen jets that will be on Chinese carriers now in sea trials or production.

Schuster, however, said that Japan will not have the newly ordered F-35 jets until three or four years later, unless its orders are given priority over other buyers of the plane in the US.

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