Admiral Ryo Sakai, Chief of staff of the JMSDF, said at a press conference on July 4 that the service will cooperate with the Italian Navy in the operation of the F-35B aircraft, with an eye on the Italian Navy’s F-35Bs taking off and landing on the JMSDF Izumo-class helicopter carriers JS Izumo (DDH 183) and JS Kaga (DDH 184) in the future.
“We can exchange information with the Italian Navy about the operation of F-35 fighters.”
Admiral Ryo Sakai, Chief of Staff of JMSDF
His remarks came after he met with Chief of Italian Navy Admiral Enrico Credendino, who was visiting Japan for the Italian offshore patrol vessel ITS Francesco Morosini (P431) ’s visit to Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on June 26.
They agreed to work together to make the two naval services’ relationship “as strong as Romeo and Juliet” at their second meeting this year, according to the JMSDF.
The JMSDF is currently proceeding with modifications of JS Izumo and JS Kaga to convert them from helicopter destroyers (DDH) to light aircraft carriers (CVL), enabling them to operate F-35B fighter jets. The modifications are underway in two main stages to coincide with the vessels’ periodic refit and overhaul programs, which take place every five years.
The Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) expects the modifications of Izumo to be completed by the end of the fiscal year (FY) 2026 and Kaga by the end of FY2027. It plans to procure a total of 42 F-35Bs, which are scheduled to be deployed from FY2024, along with 105 F-35As that began to be deployed to Misawa Air Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) in northern Japan in FY2017.
In an epoch-making event, in October 2021, two US Marine Corps (USMC) F-35Bs conducted for the first time take-offs and landings from Izumo, which is still being converted into a full-fledged aircraft carrier. Thus, should the Italian F-35B conduct take-offs and landings from Japan’s Izumo-class, it will be the second time following the U.S. military.
Meanwhile, the first Italian Navy F-35B fighter aircraft was deployed onboard the Italian Navy’s Cavour aircraft carrier, the flagship of the Italian Navy, in July 2021. Italy is set to field 30 F-35Bs, evenly split between the Air Force and the Navy. It has been reported by local media that ITS Cavour is set to sail to the Asia Pacific sometime in late 2023 or early 2024.
Meanwhile the JMSDF announced it has conducted a bilateral exercise with the Italian Navy in order to strengthen cooperation to realize a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”. JS Hamana conducted tactical maneuvers with Italian Navy PPA ITS Francesco Morosini.
