Editorial: Japan's New Helicopter Carrier - Bad News for Chinese Subs?

By Franz-Stefan Gady

Japan now has all the building blocks to field a powerful carrier strike group.

This week, Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force commissioned the JS Izumo (DDH-183), a helicopter destroyer, in a ceremony at the JMSDF Yokosuka naval base in Yokohama.

The new carrier’s principal task, although touted as a multi-purpose vessel, will be anti-submarine warfare and command-and-control operations to protect Japanese territories in the East China Sea.

“This heightens our ability to deal with Chinese submarines that have become more difficult to detect,” one Japanese official noted. According to other  JMSDF officials, the ship will also be used for humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) operations.

With a 27,000 tons displacement when fully loaded (some sources state 24,000 tons), the 248 m-long  Izumo-class helicopter carrier is the largest surface combatant in the Japanese fleet to date, and substantially bigger than its predecessor, the Hyūga-class, which yielded 19,000 tons. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat