# Japan Wants USMC F35B's



## tomahawk6 (23 Aug 2019)

Japan wants the Marine Corps F35B to operate from the largest ships in the Japanese Navy. 

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/23/marines-considering-flying-u-s-f-35bs-off-of-japans-largest-warships


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## Colin Parkinson (23 Aug 2019)

I suspect we see more of this in the future, as some countries can afford the aircraft or the ship, but not both at the same time. Seems that cross decking of aircraft was not uncommon in the Pacific during WWII, so historical practices coming around again.


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## MarkOttawa (23 Aug 2019)

South Korea too:



> Released on August 14, South Korea’s five year defense plan has some big implications for what the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) will look like in the future. As Xavier Vavasseur notes, the plan offered a glimpse of the overall direction of South Korea’s defense efforts, with special attention to the building plans of the ROKN.
> 
> The plan confirmed South Korea’s interest in a light aircraft carrier of roughly the same size as Japan’s JS Izumo. This ship will presumably operate F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, along with an array of helicopters and potentially unmanned vehicles. Joseph Trevithick has additional details [https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29137/south-korea-kicks-off-development-of-a-new-amphibious-ship-designed-to-carry-f-35bs] on the reasoning behind South Korea’s interest in a short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft carrier. Japan is certainly an important consideration, but North Korea’s vast artillery and conventional ballistic missile capabilities can put stationary airfields across the South at considerable risk...
> https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/the-south-korean-navy-has-big-plans-ahead/



Mark
Ottawa


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## a_majoor (11 Nov 2019)

A bit more on both the Korean and Japanese desire for F-35B variants and small aircraft carriers:

https://strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20191107.aspx



> Naval Air: South Korea Improvises
> 
> November 7, 2019: In October South Korea announced it was buying 20 more F-35 stealth fighters. There are already 40 on order and South Korea will have received 13 by the end of 2019. Those 60 F-35s will cost $9.7 billion and a decision still has to be made as to whether any of the second 20 will be the VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) F-35B version. The first 40 will all be the basic F-35A which just operates from land-based airfields. But South Korea has ships that F-35Bs could operate from.
> 
> ...



The rest of the article is on the link

The key benefit for both Korea and Japan is to prevent their air power from being caught on the ground by surprise strikes by missiles or SoF forces. Keeping an effective force at sea where it is harder to target them and where the aircraft can appear in unexpected times and places is a huge benefit when dealing with China or the DPRK.


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## CBH99 (11 Nov 2019)

Thucydides said:
			
		

> A bit more on both the Korean and Japanese desire for F-35B variants and small aircraft carriers:
> 
> https://strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20191107.aspx
> 
> ...


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