An F-35B lands aboard Japan’s Izumo-class multi-functional destroyer JS Kaga (DDH-184) for the first time on Oct. 20, 2024. (Photo by Cmdr. Darin Russell.)

WASHINGTON — The US Navy for the first time landed an F-35B onboard Japan’s largest ship, the destroyer JS Kaga (DDH-184), during sea trials off the coast of southern California, the service announced today.

“This test is essential for strengthening Japan’s defense capabilities and is of utmost importance. We will do our best to achieve good test results together with the [integrated test force],” said Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Capt. Shusaku Takeuchi, Kaga’s commanding officer, in a US Navy statement. “This test does not merely enhance the capabilities of [Japan’s] Maritime Self-Defense Force. It also improves the interoperability between Japan and the U.S., strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance, thereby contributing to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The Kaga underwent several changes to allow for F-35B, the US Marine Corps’ short-take-off-and-vertical-landing variant, to land on the ship, including painting the flight deck with a heat-resistant material, installing lights for nighttime operations and reshaping the flight deck’s bow from a trapezoid to a rectangle, according to the US Navy statement. The Japanese ship departed from Kure Naval Base in Hiroshima, Japan, in early September.

The F-35 is detached from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23) based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. The sea trials are scheduled to last approximately three weeks.

The bilateral testing follows numerous actions by President Joe Biden’s administration to strengthen the US-Japan bilateral relationship as a strategic bulwark against Chinese aggression. The White House in April hosted now former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for an official visit that climaxed with an announcement to upgrade security ties between the two countries. Those upgrades included a new military-industrial council to explore weapons for co-production as well as a new joint headquarters in Tokyo.

Biden has also hosted the leaders of both Japan and South Korea for a trilateral summit in an effort to mend what has been a historically fractured relationship between the two Asian countries.