11-07-2025
UK Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales to Make First Port Call in Japan
The HMS Prince of Wales may conduct 'cross-deck drills' with JS Kaga using aircraft carrier-based F-35Bs. If realized, it would send a strong message to China
F-35 test pilot Marine Maj. Paul Gucwa from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23), Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), flies an F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft to the U.K. HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier in the Western Atlantic Oct. 11, 2023.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense has announced that the United Kingdom's carrier strike group, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, will make its first port call in Japan from August to September this year.
The deployment of a British aircraft carrier strike group to Japan will be the second time following the port call by HMS Queen Elizabeth and the escort vessels in September 2021, according to the ministry.
Tokyo welcomes the port call as a demonstration of the U.K.'s commitment to regional peace and stability amid an increasingly severe and uncertain security environment surrounding Japan, the Japanese defense ministry said in a press release on June 25.
The port call 'will also contribute to further strengthening Japan's security and Japan-U.K. security and defense cooperation,' it added.
One area of interest during the upcoming port call is whether F-35B stealth fighter jets carried by the Prince of Wales will conduct 'cross-deck drills' in which they land and take off from the deck of JS Kaga (DDH 184), the second Izumo-class helicopter carrier (locally classified as 'helicopter destroyer') of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
So far, no British F-35B has ever landed or taken off from JS Izumo or JS Kaga before. If a British F-35B were to do so from the deck of the JS Kaga, it would send a strong message to the world, especially an assertive China, that Japan's relationship with the U.K., which is widely regarded as a 'quasi-ally,' is truly being strengthened.
The Diplomat asked Admiral Saito Akira, chief of staff of the JMSDF, about this point at his regular press conference on July 8.
Japan's top naval officer responded:
'We are currently considering the details of what kind of joint training we should conduct with the Royal Navy. As Takahashi-san said, if the F-35B is able to cross-deck drills with the Kaga, it will be an extremely powerful message, and I think it will be an opportunity for us to absorb know-how, including the operation of the F-35, from the Royal Navy, which has been operating aircraft carriers for many years. We are currently making adjustments, including this menu, but have not yet reached a final decision.'
Saito did not deny the possibility of 'cross-deck drills.'
Meanwhile, Commodore James Blackmore, commander of United Kingdom carrier strike group, expressed his desire to strengthen cooperation with the JSDF, saying that they will have personnel from the JMSDF and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force board the aircraft carrier and train together, according to an article published by the Yomiuri Shimbun on April 23.
Blackmore spoke on April 16, before the HMS Prince of Wales departed Portsmouth in the south of England, the Japanese newspaper said.
The U.K. commander also expressed his hope for the realization of joint training with the JS Kaga, which is being upgraded as a light aircraft carrier in preparation for the deployment of the F-35B, the newspaper also said.
When the HMS Queen Elizabeth was dispatched to Japan in September 2021, no joint training of this nature was conducted.
The JS Izumo conducted takeoff and landing tests of the U.S. military's F-35B in October 2021. Following that, the JS Kaga also conducted takeoff and landing tests of the U.S. military's F-35B in October 2024.
Steady steps are being taken toward converting the two Izumo-class destroyers into light aircraft carriers. Notably, the U.S. F-35B landed aboard JS Kaga for the first time on October 20, 2024, off the southern coast of California and was piloted by Royal Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nick Baker, a test pilot with the F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF) in the U.S. state of Maryland.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense will begin deploying its own F-35Bs to the Nyutabaru Air Base of the JASDF in Miyazaki Prefecture in fiscal year 2025. The plan is to deploy a total of 42 aircraft in the future.
Following the JS Kaga, the JS Izumo is currently undergoing major modifications to turn it into a light aircraft carrier at Japan Marine United's (JMU) Isogo Works, a shipyard in Yokohama, south of Tokyo.
China is rapidly expanding its maritime presence using aircraft carriers. China's two operational aircraft carriers, Liaonging and Shandong, conducted a total of about 1,120 takeoffs and landings of fighter jets during most recent sailings that have seen the Chinese Navy expand increasingly farther into the Pacific Ocean, a spokesperson at the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry told The Diplomat on June 24.
Specifically, the spokesperson said those Chinese aircraft carriers had conducted the flight operations in the Pacific Ocean near Japan through June 22 after being tracked by the JMSDF from late May.
