US allies in Pacific adding 'mini-carriers' to their fleets ( Copy Right @ Stars and Stripes, Author- Seth Robson)

JDS Izumo (DDH-183),  Image Courtesy- Wikimedia commons/ Author- Dragoner J.P

The naval strength of America’s allies in the Pacific is growing, with Japan and Australia building a fleet of massive ships designed to launch aircraft at sea.

Japan already has two Hyuga Class destroyers — each able to carry up to 10 helicopters — and it will soon launch its first Izumo Class escort ship. The vessels have large landing decks that allow multiple aircraft to operate at the same time, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense.

The 13,950-ton Hyugas are primarily designed for anti-submarine warfare missions, according to Jan Van Tol, a retired U.S. Navy captain who is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C.

“The Izumos, on the other hand, have accommodations for some 400 troops, and will apparently be able to accommodate (tilt-rotor) MV-22 Ospreys and perhaps F-35B [verticle take-off and landing] aircraft,” he said.

The Japanese government has yet to release detailed specifications for the Izumos but a spokesman from Japan’s Maritime Staff Office said the first of them is expected to be in operation by March 2015. A second will be commissioned in March 2017.

Meanwhile, Australia is spending $3 billion on two new “Landing Helicopter Docks” – the Canberra and the Adelaide – that will enter service in the next 18 months.

The ships are designed for amphibious operations using helicopters or landing craft but the development of the F-35B, which both Australia and Japan are helping to build, means they could, potentially, serve as platforms for fixed-wing operations.

Commodore Peter Quinn of the Royal Australian Navy’s strategic headquarters in Canberra, said Australia hasn’t had a conventional aircraft carrier since it decomissioned the HMAS Melbourne in 1981.

The broad utility of an amphibious capability was one of the primary reasons the government decided to purchase the new ships, Quinn said.

“If you look at Australia’s region we are an island continent surrounded by large archipelegos,” he said. “Our areas of interest is all about the maritime environment.”

Australia’s new ships are based on the design of the Juan Carlos I – which entered service with the Spanish Navy in 2011, he said.

The Canberra is preparing for its first sea trials off the Australian coast this year while the Adelaide is in Melbourne having her superstructure fitted. That ship will be commissioned in mid-2015, Quinn said.

Each of the new Australian ships will carry four landing craft able to transport vehicles as heavy as an Abrams tank. Air Groups associated with the ships will operate 7 MRH90 helicopters, new scout helicopters and CH-47F transports, Quinn said.

The Australian ships will work closely with Royal Australian Army units that are training for amphibious operations. The crew of the Canberra expects to be capable of humanitarian assistance operations carrying a 400-strong amphibious unit by mid-2015, he said.

“We will gradually build the capability up until 2017 when we will have an amphibious ready group based on a landing force of 1,000 with the two ships and all their aviation support,” Quinn said.

The new ships are designed to accommodate landing craft used by U.S. Marines and the Australians will work on integrating aircraft from other nations — such as the tilt-rotor Osprey — in the lead up to Hawaii’s RIMPAC exercise in 2016, he said.

“Over the next couple of years these ships will be working around Australia but from the end of next year and in 2016 we will be doing more regional engagements,” Quinn said. “You will see them out and about and see them throughout Asia and the Western Pacific. By 2016 to 2017 we will have a very capable amphibious force in the ADF exercising a lot with the U.S.”

Author: Seth Robson

Original link to the article: http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/us-allies-in-pacific-adding-mini-carriers-to-their-fleets-1.281521