Japan’s Largest Warship Preparing for F-35B Training with U.S. Marines

Dzirhan Mahadzir – May 20, 2026 11:52 AM

U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft will conduct take-off and landing drills on Japan’s largest warship JS Kaga (DDH-184) in June as the warship prepares to load equipment at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, according to the government officials.

Helicopter carrier Kaga will make a port call from June 1-4 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni to load equipment for the Marine Corps’ F-35B fighters in advance of the joint U.S.-Japan exercise scheduled next month, reads a notice from Japan’s Ministry of Defense.

Japanese warships typically do not make port calls at MCAS Iwakuni. The purpose of the port call by Kaga is solely for equipment loading, the Ministry of Defense said, and there are no specific plans for Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force ships to enter MCAS Iwakuni to pre-load equipment necessary for F-35B operations on Izumo-class destroyers.

The training slated for later in June will include cross-deck operations, according to a document from the Iwakuni City Council to the Chugoku-Shikoku Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense that was reviewed by USNI News. The details of the joint training, including the location, are still being coordinated. However, the bureau said it is unlikely the training will be conducted in the vicinity of Iwakuni.

The Iwakuni City Council requested that the Ministry of Defense strive to prevent residents from being disrupted or experiencing anxiety. The council also requested that MCAS Iwakuni not be designated as a regular port call or a homeport for warships. Due to local authorities and residents’ concerns of military activities in their vicinity, Japan’s Ministry of Defense has a number of regional and district defense bureaus to notify the public of military activities that will occur in their vicinity and deal with any related complaints.

It is unclear whether the joint U.S.-Japan training involving the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B and Kaga is part of a larger exercise or a specific event to prepare the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to operate F-35Bs from the JMSDF’s two Izumo-class destroyer carriers. Although the JMSDF Fleet Air Wing operates both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, Japan placed F-35Bs under its Air Force.

The JASDF is in the initial stages of its F-35B training under U.S. Marine Corps pilots at JASDF Nyutabaru Air Base. The first three aircraft were delivered last year and another three were delivered this year. Japan plans to have a fleet of 42 F-35Bs.

The Marine Corps conducted the first F-35B launch and recovery for the JMSDF in 2021 aboard JS Izumo (DDH-183). Kaga deployed to the U.S. in fall 2024 to carry out F-35B trials, marking the second time the JMSDF carried out F-35B trials. Last year in August, Kaga carried out cross-deck landings and take offs of U.K. and Marine Corps F-35Bs operating from Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09), and in October, Kaga embarked Marine Corps F-35Bs as part of the JMSDF’s annual exercise.

Izumo is currently in Yokohama undergoing its second and final stage of conversion and modifications to operate F-35Bs, which is expected to be completed in March 2028.

Kaga is scheduled to go in for second and final stage modification in the coming months with work to be completed in March 2029

Kaga is also scheduled for a deployment under the JMSDF Indo-Pacific Deployment 2026 as part of the three-ship 2nd Surface Unit alongside destroyer JS Fuyuzuki (DD-118) and fleet oiler JS Mashu (AOE-425). The 2nd Surface Unit is slated to participate in the Rim of the Pacific 2026 hosted by U.S. Third Fleet around the Hawaiian Islands from June 24-July 31.

Dzirhan Mahadzir

Dzirhan Mahadzir is a freelance defense journalist and analyst based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Among the publications he has written for and currently writes for since 1998 includes Defence Review Asia, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Navy International, International Defence Review, Asian Defence Journal, Defence Helicopter, Asian Military Review and the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter.

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