Japan to invest in “aircraft carrier” and F-35 fighters

This will be Japan's first carrier since WWII. It won't be a true carrier - it has a short deck, but that is why the Japanese are going to buy the F-35B which can take off and land vertically.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to give his island nation what effectively is its first aircraft carrier since World War II and will announce plans to purchase dozens of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets as he grapples with a growing threat from China, according to defense guidelines and media reports.

The plans, constituting a major review of Japan’s defense strategy, were approved by a committee of the ruling coalition Tuesday and will be presented to the cabinet for approval next week.


Japan will announce plans to buy 40 to 50 F-35s over the next five years but may ultimately purchase 100 planes, media reports said. That will have the added benefit of mollifying President Trump, who has complained about the U.S. trade deficit with Japan as well as the cost of stationing tens of thousands of U.S. troops here.


But the primary driver is Abe’s conviction that Japan, despite a pacifist constitution and culture, and the protection afforded by its alliance with the United States, needs to take its defense more seriously, experts said. Nevertheless, the move is already under fire, with critics saying it stirs up memories of Japan’s militaristic past.


“The most important responsibility of the government is to protect the people and their peaceful lives,” Abe told a panel of national security experts Tuesday.


“Under the drastically changing security environment, in order to duly fulfill this responsibility, we have to fundamentally strengthen our preparedness to protect the people’s lives, property, territorial waters and airspace on our own.”