Japan launches a new aircraft carrier

**VinceM** · #1 08-07-2013, 07:33 PM

The Izumo, a helicopter carrier, 820 ft long. Also could carry VTOL airplanes if desired. Japan's largest warship since World War II. Do we see a new model coming?

**John Bowden** · #2 08-07-2013, 09:18 PM

Saw this............Wow!

Actually they call it a Helicopter Destroyer............ I wonder if this is a hold over from WWII.

**SJPONeill** · #3 08-07-2013, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Bowden

I wonder if this is a hold over from WWII.

Nope...it's still above the surface...

**herky** · #4 08-08-2013, 12:14 AM

how does it compare with the hyuga.there is a kit of this one out there already

**Kevin WS** · #5 08-08-2013, 12:41 AM

New Japanese Helicopter Carrier Draws China Warning to Asia - Bloomberg

Japan unveils largest-ever helicopter carrier - IHS Jane's 360

A couple more interesting links.

**rickstef** · #6 08-08-2013, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Described by Japan Marine United as an "evolution" of the two 18,290-tonne Hyuga-class helicopter carriers that entered service in 2009 and 2011

This is what was posted on the Janes' site

**VinceM** · #7 08-08-2013, 07:21 PM

Maybe it's technically called a "helicopter destroyer, but that sounds silly to me. Makes it sound like it's mission is to destroy helicopters, not launch them. To my convoluted logic, helicopters are aircraft, so it's an aircraft carrier, just like the Hyuga or the USS Tarawa.
Nevertheless, it's a pretty cool ship.

**John Bowden** · #8 08-08-2013, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJPONeill

Nope...it's still above the surface...

I was talking about the naming convention DDH-183........... JMSDF not being able to have anything larger than a destroyer.......

But you know I never even though of reading the thread that way....... funny!

**VinceM** · #9 08-08-2013, 08:38 PM

So just by calling it a "destroyer" you can have anything you want? Maybe the US can sell them the USS Kitty Hawk and call it an "F-14 destroyer"!!

**Don Boose** · #10 08-09-2013, 01:05 PM

The Japan Maritime Defense Force uses the term "helicopter destroyer" in English.

In Japanese, the ship (like most Japanese surface combatants) is 護衛艦 (goei-kan), or "escort ship."

Some of the seemingly-strange terminology used by the Japanese military derives from intepretations of what is acceptable under Article 9 of the Constitution, which renounces war or the threat or use of force to settle international disputes.

The Japanese have not renounced self defense, however, and Japanese military forces are viewed as forces maintained for self defense. That's why the Army, Navy, and Air Force are called the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces and ships that in other navies would be called destroyers or cruisers are called "escort ships."

This is the way the Japanese Ministry of Defense explains it: I. Constitution of Japan and Right of Self-Defense

We should also keep in mind that in the 1930s, the U.S. Congress was so determined to keep the United States out of war that it rejected "offensive" weapons, so that the rationale for the B-17 bomber project was that it would be used for coastal defense.

Don