The Day When Japan Has A True Aircraft Carrier
AUGUST 21, 2013
(SEKAI NO KANSEN (JAPAN) 01 SEP 13) "¦ Hiraku Katsuyama
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The clear difference between China's very unreasonable claims and actions, as well as its propaganda and psychological warfare, regarding the Senkaku Islands and the Soviet Union's past ambitions is that China is very skillfully making it difficult for the United States to act.
Accordingly, if Chins should undertake military action in regards to the Senkaku Islands, Japan should be prepared to respond by its own force independently. What cannot be in error at such a time is Japan's military control strategy. Recent discussion on the defense of outlying islands has become quite clamorous, but the actual defense of these islands will hinge on whether Japan can secure and maintain air and naval supremacy in the areas around the islands. As the lessons from the Pacific War showed, Japan's military was unsuccessful in defending any of the remote islands when it lost air superiority and naval supremacy.
In order to defend the Senkaku Islands, which means deterring and preventing military action by an adversary against them, Japan must bolster its naval and air power and enhance their operational efficiency. It should be kept firmly in mind that it is likely that Chinese military action against the Senkakus would probably extend from Okinawa to the remote Yaeyama Island chain and Miyako Island. For China, the military significance of controlling these islands and the waters around them would be much greater than possessing the Senkaku Islands.
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Possibilities for the 22DDH Light Aircraft Carrier
It is still assuming a lot that Japan will acquire a fifth-generation V/STOL fighter plane (from here, generally understood to mean the F-35B), but I will discuss the developmental possibilities for the 22DDH helicopter carrier with this assumption.
1. Putting the F-35B Into Operation Without Remodeling [the 22DDH]
The 22DDH would be able to serve as a takeoff and landing, as well as a holding, vessel for the F-35B. As for the number of planes, in addition to pilot rescue helicopters and a V/STOL AEW aircraft, and considering the placement of the aircraft moorings and the necessary work space, it is thought a 22DDH could hold ten or so F-35Bs.
The problem is the payload for the planes on board. In the case of aircraft operations with the 22DDH, compared with a large aircraft carrier or a light aircraft carrier equipped with a ski jump ramp and landing equipment (arresting gear), the 22DDH would be fairly constrained as far as its combat radius and the number of missiles it could carry. However, since these constraints could be mitigated by advancing close to the area of operations so that the planes could be utilized, even though the number of planes would be limited, if a high-performance fifth-generation fighter plane like the F-35B is part of the equation, the 22DDH could play a substantial and active role.
2. Equipping a Ski Jump Ramp
A 22DDH could be equipped with a simple-type ski jump ramp. One way would be to attach a truss-structure ski jump ramp near the bow of the vessel. Even though this would include reinforcing the ship's hull, attaching a ramp would require relatively little construction work, time, and cost.
However, in this case, to ensure an adequate length of the runway for takeoffs, the standby area for the next plane to takeoff will have to be limited, which would lengthen the intervals between takeoffs. Moreover, since a ski jump at the ship's bow will create air turbulence, the direction the vessel can take during landings will be constrained.
A truss-type ski jump ramp would be made on land in advance, requiring several months for the construction and attachment and costing under 100 million yen. (The construction period and costs are estimates taking into consideration the relationship with the ship's hull; further research needs to be done on matters, such as the adding of ballast, related to maintaining the ship's performance. The same holds for the option described below.)
One other option is to build a full-fledged ski jump ramp within the bow. In this case, the 22DDH would be able to carry out flight operations as a light aircraft carrier. However, if a ski jump ramp is built into the bow, the powerful bow sonar array, the "sales point" of the 22DDH, would face major problems.
The bow of the 22DDH's hull allows for the sleek hull shape, which reduces water resistance to facilitate speed, and ensures the performance of the bow sonar. A full-fledged ski jump ramp weighs several hundred tons (possible at most 500 tons), and if such a ramp is added to the bow, the bow trim will be greatly increased, requiring around (at least) 1,000 tons of ballast in the rear of the vessel. If the vessel is to be actually sailed on the high seas, a number of problems will arise concerning the reinforcement of the hull and ensuring of ship speed, and detailed study will have to be carried out to determine if this is a realistic option. Moreover, the construction period for a remodeling of this nature would require around half a year and the cost would run over several hundred million yen.
By widening the bow of the 22DDH's hull, the above-mentioned change in the trim can be constrained, and secondarily, more space will be created, improving the ship's functions as a light aircraft carrier, but the bow sonar's performance will be compromised, and some means will be necessary to ensure the required speed for the vessel. This remodeling would require around one year and a cost of over one billion yen.
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Conclusion
With their increasing size and cost, MSDF ships will be used for around 40 years after they are commissioned. Accordingly, we must realize that the military situation regarding Japan could greatly change during that period, and Japan should build vessels that allow the possibility of major remodelings during the period of their service. At 20,000 tons, the 22DDH is a large vessel, and various considerations are being factored in for its activities for MOOTW, and in light of the recent changes in the military situation affecting Japan, many quarters are expecting the possibility of its development into a light aircraft carrier after it is commissioned. In the request for budgeting for the 22DDH, great emphasis has been put on building large Hyuga-class helicopter carriers, but it will be quite regrettable if there is inadequate discussion on remodeling the 22DDH into light aircraft carriers in the future.
China's dream espoused by Xi Jinping is the worst nightmare for Japan. I strongly urge that in order to resolutely back up our diplomacy militarily, we must particularly build up our own naval and air power response capabilities to enable us to maintain and enhance the deterrence provided by the US-Japan alliance.
Hiraku Katsuyama is former admiral and Japan Maritime Self-Defense fleet commander.
if you ever feel like making some original contributions with logical points, reply to these posts. even i have better things todo than spoonfeed and dumbdown my arguments to bring them to your level. this should have been taught to you by your parents, teachers and society. oh wait, lol, silly me they themselves cant teach you something they dont know now, can they ? 
