The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) will conduct joint exercises with the Royal Navy.
Last week, the Royal Navy flagship aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales departed Darwin, Australia, and is now steaming for Japan, where it will carry out joint air operations with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). Both the Royal Navy and the JMSDF operate the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35B, the short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.
It was just two years ago that a JMSDF delegation traveled to Norfolk, Virginia, to observe the British warship, which was conducting fighter trials with the multirole stealth fighter. The Development Test 3 was carried out to extend the operating limits of the aircraft, while further increasing the sortie rates and its payloads.
HMS Prince of Wales is leading Carrier Strike Group 2025 (CSG25), only the second Royal Navy carrier deployment to the Indo-Pacific this century. Codenamed “Operation Highmast,” it is an international effort supported by warships from Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, and New Zealand. As the conventionally-powered carrier heads to Japan to carry out the air operations with a Japanese task group, some of the other warships from the strike group will head to South Korea for a scheduled port visit.
Britain and Japan Will Participate in Cross-Deck Landing Exercises
Although the Royal Navy has not announced what type of air operations will be carried out with the JMSDF, there is speculation that F-35Bs from HMS Prince of Wales will conduct cross-deck landings with the JS Kaga. This Izumo-class multirole helicopter destroyer is now being converted into a de facto aircraft carrier able to operate fixed-wing STOVL aircraft.
JS Izumo and JS Kaga are the first aircraft carriers operated by Japan since the Second World War. While Japan has operated the F-35A Lightning II, the conventional takeoff and landing model of the JSF, since 2017, it has so far received only four of the STOVL F-35B models. Last year, JS Kaga was dispatched to the West Coast of the United States, where it carried out air operations with the United States Marine Corps.
The JMSDF had also observed F-35B operations last year on the Italian Navy flagship ITS Cavour (550), during its historic first Indo-Pacific deployment.
The Royal Navy Is Missing Three of Its F-35s
Three of the F-35s from HMS Prince of Wales will not be available for the training exercise with the JMSDF. However, they have been dispatched to take part in the drills in South Korea instead.
The flagship carrier departed from Portsmouth, England, in April with 18 F-35Bs embarked with Royal Air Force 617 Squadron, the “Dambusters,” and Royal Navy 809 Naval Air Squadron. HMS Prince of Wales arrived in Darwin last month with only 17 of the aircraft, as one was undergoing repairs in India after a mishap in June. Although it spent a month at an international airport in southern India, the F-35B is now safely back on the carrier.
In addition, a USMC F-35B from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 (VMFA-242), the “Bats,” stationed on the United States Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6), carried out a “Hot Pit” refueling last month from the deck of the Royal Navy carrier in advance of the US-Australian-led Exercise Talisman Sabre.
HMS Prince of Wales further carried out dual carrier operations with the US Navy’s George Washington Carrier Strike Group as part of Talisman Sabre, including cross-deck operations of the USMC’s MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. However, no F-35s from either carrier could carry out such exercises, as the USS George Washington (CVN-73) operates the F-35C, the CATOBAR (catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery) carrier-based variant of the JSF. The F-35C cannot land on the UK’s carrier due to its lack of catapults and arrestor wires.
CVN-73, LHA-6, and the HMS Prince of Wales are currently operating in the Philippine Sea as part of the ongoing Pacific Arsenal joint exercises. The Prince of Wales, joined by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33) and the Royal Norwegian Navy frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311), is expected to arrive in Japan later this month and will carry out operations until at least early September.
Once in Japan, the three warships will join the Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond (F239), the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ville De Quebec (FFH332), the Royal Navy fleet oiler RFA Tidespring (A135), and the Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Méndez Núñez (F-104). According to USNI News, these warships “arrived in Japan ahead of the CSG” after detaching ahead of Exercise Talisman Sabre. The Spanish warship took part in combined exercises with JS Kaga and the frigate JS Teruzuki earlier this week, according to the UK Carrier Strike Group.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a thirty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
