{"id":2595122,"date":"2026-06-24T10:50:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/js-kaga-f-35b-marines-japan-carrier-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T10:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T08:36:33","slug":"js-kaga-f-35b-marines-japan-carrier-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/es\/js-kaga-f-35b-marines-japan-carrier-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s Kaga Is a Carrier Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><p>A grey warship longer than three football fields is steaming through the Pacific, and stealth fighters are dropping onto its deck. For most navies that would be unremarkable. For Japan, it is something close to historic \u2014 because for eighty years, Japan insisted it did not, and would not, operate aircraft carriers.<\/p><p>The ship is JS Kaga, and through June, U.S. Marine Corps <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-35-lightning-ii\">F-35Bs<\/a> have been taking off and landing from its flight deck. Officially it is still a \u201chelicopter destroyer.\u201d In practice, Japan is learning to fly fighters from the sea again.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f3f4f6;border-radius:8px;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#333;font-size:15px;letter-spacing:.3px\">QUICK FACTS<\/p><table style=\"border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px;line-height:1.5\"><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Ship<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">JS Kaga (DDH-184) \u2014 Japan\u2019s largest warship<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Size<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Over 800 ft long, about 27,000 tons<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Origin<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">An Izumo-class \u201chelicopter destroyer,\u201d converted into an F-35B carrier<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>June 2026<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">U.S. Marine F-35Bs conducting take-off and landing drills aboard<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Japan\u2019s F-35Bs<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">42 on order; carrier conversion finishes around March 2029<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Why<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Preparing Kaga\u2019s crew to operate fixed-wing fighters at sea<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The carrier Japan said it would never build<\/h2><p>JS Kaga is the second of two Izumo-class ships, and at over 800 feet and roughly 27,000 tons it is the largest warship Japan has built since the Second World War. It was designed as a flat-topped helicopter carrier \u2014 a politically careful label in a country whose post-war constitution renounced offensive military power. Calling it a \u201cdestroyer\u201d was always a bit of a fiction. Now even the fiction is fading.<\/p><p>Japan is reworking both Izumo-class ships to operate the short-takeoff, vertical-landing F-35B, and has ordered 42 of the jets. Kaga\u2019s heat-resistant deck and reshaped bow have already been modified; the second and final stage of its conversion is due to wrap around March 2029.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=200833079  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/f-35b-takes-off-js-kaga-deck.jpg\" alt=\"A U.S. Marine F-35B launches from JS Kaga\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A U.S. Marine F-35B lifts off the deck of JS Kaga during sea trials. U.S. Navy photo \/ DVIDS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why Marines are landing on it now<\/h2><p>Japan does not yet have its own carrier-qualified F-35B pilots, so it is borrowing expertise from the people who wrote the book on jump-jet carrier operations: the U.S. Marine Corps. In early June, Kaga made a port call at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni to load equipment, and later in the month Marine F-35Bs conducted cross-deck drills from its deck.<\/p><p>The point of these exercises is not the jets \u2014 the Marines already know how to fly them. It is the ship\u2019s crew, who are learning the choreography of fixed-wing flight operations: the deck handling, the timing, the fuelling, the thousand small routines that turn a flat deck into a working carrier. Kaga did its first F-35B sea trials off California back in 2024; June\u2019s drills are the next step toward the day Japanese pilots do it themselves.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1036052178  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/f-35b-aboard-js-kaga-pax-itf.jpg\" alt=\"An F-35B on the flight deck of JS Kaga\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Marine F-35B on Kaga\u2019s flight deck during the Patuxent River Integrated Test Force trials. Photo: Dane Wiedmann \/ U.S. Navy via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">An old name, a new mission<\/h2><p>There is a ghost in this story. The most famous ship ever to carry the name Kaga was an Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier \u2014 one of the four sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, the carriers whose loss broke Japan\u2019s naval air power. Eighty-four years later, almost to the month, a new Kaga is launching fighters again.<\/p><p>This time the jets are American-built, the partner is the United States, and the target on everyone\u2019s mind is the growing power of China across the East and South China Seas. For Japan, a carrier is no longer unthinkable. It is steaming, and it is learning to fly.<\/p><p><em>Sources: USNI News; DVIDS \/ F-35 Pax River ITF; The National Interest; Naval News.<\/em><\/p><!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}.mf-faq-answer a{color:#5C91FF}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What is the JS Kaga?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>JS Kaga (DDH-184) is Japan\u2019s largest warship, an Izumo-class vessel over 800 feet long and about 27,000 tons. Originally built as a \u201chelicopter destroyer,\u201d it is being converted to operate F-35B stealth fighters \u2014 effectively Japan\u2019s first aircraft carrier since the Second World War.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why did Japan say it had no aircraft carriers?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>For decades Japan\u2019s post-war constitution renounced offensive military power, so it labelled flat-topped ships like Kaga \u201chelicopter destroyers\u201d rather than carriers. Converting Kaga to fly F-35Bs ends that distinction, marking a historic shift in Japanese defence policy.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What is the F-35B?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The F-35B is the short-takeoff, vertical-landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II, able to operate from short decks and rough strips. Japan has ordered 42 of them for its carriers; the same jet has also <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/usmc-f-35b-finnish-highway-ramstein-flag-2026\/\">landed on highways in Finland<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>When will Kaga\u2019s carrier conversion be finished?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Kaga\u2019s heat-resistant deck and reshaped bow have already been modified. The second and final stage of the conversion is due to be completed around March 2029. In June 2026, U.S. Marine F-35Bs conducted take-off and landing trials aboard the ship.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why were U.S. Marines flying from a Japanese ship?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Japan does not yet have its own carrier-qualified F-35B pilots, so U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs conducted the first fixed-wing trials aboard Kaga, helping prepare the ship and its crew for fixed-wing operations at sea.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How big is the JS Kaga?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Kaga is over 800 feet long and displaces roughly 27,000 tons, making it the largest warship Japan has built since the Second World War. Flying fast jets from its deck is among the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/night-carrier-landings-most-dangerous-routine-aviation\/\">most demanding tasks in naval aviation<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the JS Kaga?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"JS Kaga (DDH-184) is Japan\u2019s largest warship, an Izumo-class vessel over 800 feet long and about 27,000 tons. Originally built as a \u201chelicopter destroyer,\u201d it is being converted to operate F-35B stealth fighters \u2014 effectively Japan\u2019s first aircraft carrier since the Second World War.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did Japan say it had no aircraft carriers?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"For decades Japan\u2019s post-war constitution renounced offensive military power, so it labelled flat-topped ships like Kaga \u201chelicopter destroyers\u201d rather than carriers. Converting Kaga to fly F-35Bs ends that distinction, marking a historic shift in Japanese defence policy.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the F-35B?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The F-35B is the short-takeoff, vertical-landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II, able to operate from short decks and rough strips. Japan has ordered 42 of them for its carriers; the same jet has also <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/usmc-f-35b-finnish-highway-ramstein-flag-2026\/\\\">landed on highways in Finland<\/a>.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When will Kaga\u2019s carrier conversion be finished?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Kaga\u2019s heat-resistant deck and reshaped bow have already been modified. The second and final stage of the conversion is due to be completed around March 2029. 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Flying fast jets from its deck is among the <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/night-carrier-landings-most-dangerous-routine-aviation\/\\\">most demanding tasks in naval aviation<\/a>.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/emals-aag-aircraft-carrier-technology-revolution-ford-class\/\">EMALS, AAG, and the Catapult That Reinvented the Aircraft Carrier<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/first-f-35a-wild-weasel-ww-tail-misawa\/\">The First F-35 in Wild Weasel War Paint<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A grey warship longer than three football fields is steaming through the Pacific, and stealth fighters are dropping onto its deck. For most navies that would be unremarkable. For Japan, it is something close to historic \u2014 because for eighty years, Japan insisted it did not, and would not, operate aircraft carriers. The ship is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":2595570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2595122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Japan\u2019s Kaga Is a Carrier Again<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"U.S. Marine F-35Bs are flying from JS Kaga, Japan\u2019s largest warship \u2014 as the country it once swore off carriers learns to operate fighters at sea again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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