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HMAS Canberra while berthed alongside Nuku`alofa, Tonga. (Defence)
Opinion: Should we modify our aircraft carriers?
AUTHOR: Stephen Kuper, senior analyst, Defence Connect
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Japan has upgraded its Izumo-class ‘helicopter destroyers’ to accommodate F-35Bs. Could doing the same be a cost-effective solution to deter adversaries?
Slipping silently into Darwin Harbour for the 2024 incarnation of Exercise Pitch Black, the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour was met with interest and excitement as the small F-35 carrier demonstrated the global reach of the Italian Navy. Further to our north, Japan, in a major departure from its post-WWII constitution began the modification of their own Izumo-class “helicopter destroyers” to accommodate and operate a fleet of fixed-wing F-35Bs in 2020 in response to mounting regional tensions.
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says:It was somewhat idiotic that Australia ordered the “A” version of the F-35 ans not the “B” version. The Royal Air Force ordered F-35B’s to serve both the coventional interceptor role with the RAF and the VSTOL interceptor role aboard the RN’s two aircraft carriers. No. 617 Squadron RAF was tasked to serve both roles and does so with a mixed RAF/RN personnel complement. Sometimes it might pay the Oz defence planners to observe how things are done in the UK, if not in countries closer to home!