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Reuters

Japan plans to dispatch its largest warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea beginning in May, three sources said, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since the second world war.
China claims almost all the disputed waters and its growing military presence has fuelled concern in Japan and the West, with the United States holding regular air and naval patrols to ensure freedom of navigation.
The Izumo helicopter carrier, commissioned only two years ago, will make stops in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka before joining the Malabar joint naval exercise with Indian and US naval vessels in the Indian Ocean in July.

It will return to Japan in August, the sources said.
“The aim is to test the capability of the Izumo by sending it out on an extended mission,” said one of the sources who have knowledge of the plan.
Ill-informed storm over Japan's aircraft carrier in disguise
“It will train with the US Navy in the South China Sea,” he added, asking not to be identified because he is not authorised to talk to the media.
A spokesman for Japan’s Maritime Self Defence Force declined to comment.
Watch: what’s happened in the South China Sea so far


Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the sea which has rich fishing grounds, oil and gas deposits and through which around $5 trillion of global seaborne trade passes each year.
Japan does not have any claim to the waters, but has a separate maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea.

Japan wants to invite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has pushed ties with China in recent months as he has criticised the old alliance with the United States, to visit the Izumo when it visits Subic Bay, about 100km west of Manila, another of the sources said.
Japan’s flag-flying operation comes as the United States under President Donald Trump appears to be taking a tougher line with China. Washington has criticised China’s construction of man-made islands and a build-up of military facilities that it worries could be used to restrict free movement.
Watch: China’s aircraft carrier conducts drills in South China Sea


Beijing in January said it had “irrefutable” sovereignty over the disputed islands after the White House vowed to defend “international territories”.
It recently deployed its sole aircraft carrier Liaoning on patrol exercises in the South China Sea. Its J-15 jets conducted flight operations as the vessel sailed in heavy seas.
The 249 metre-long Izumo is as large as Japan’s second war-era carriers and can operate up to nine helicopters. It resembles the amphibious assault carriers used by US Marines, but lacks their well deck for launching landing craft and other vessels.

Japan is also adding longer-range patrol aircraft and military cargo planes to its defence capability, and buying Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, amphibious assault vehicles and Boeing’s Osprey troop carrier, which can operate from the Izumo.
Japan in recent years, particularly under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has been stretching the limits of its post-war, pacifist constitution. It has designated the Izumo as a destroyer because the constitution forbids the acquisition of offensive weapons. The vessel, nonetheless, allows Japan to project military power well beyond its territory.
Based in Yokosuka, near to Tokyo, which is also home to the US Seventh Fleet’s carrier, the Ronald Reagan, the Izumo’s primary mission is anti-submarine warfare.


Deterring Taiwan conflict a ‘priority’: US national security report

China ramps up surveillance equipment at Spratly Islands bases: US think tank

Drones are on the rise over South China Sea with shift to data-driven strategies

Philippines delays Manila Bay bridge project amid China security concerns

South China Sea

In huge show of force, Japan to send helicopter carrier Izumo to South China Sea

The 249 metre-long Izumo is as large as Japan’s second war-era carriers and can operate up to nine helicopters. It resembles the amphibious assault carriers used by US Marines, but lacks their well deck for launching landing craft and other vessels. Photo: Handout

Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces helicopter carrier Izumo (L) anchors at its Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa prefecture on December 6, 2016. Carter visited the base to inspect the helicopter carrier Izumo. / AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI

161111-N-GP548-070 PHILIPPINE SEA (Nov. 11, 2016) The U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer JS Izumo (DDH 183), lead ships breaking formation during Keen Sword 17 (KS17) including, USS Shiloh (CG 67), USS Barry (DDG 52), JS Oumi (AOE 426), JS Ashigara (DDG 178), JS Akizuki (DD115), JS Kurama (DDH 144), JS Yamagiri (DD 152), USS Chancellorsville (DDG 62), USS Chicago (SSN 721) and JS Souryu (SS 501). KS17 is a biennial, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-directed, U.S. Pacific Command-sponsored Field Training Exercise (FTX). KS17 is designed to meet mutual defense objectives by increasing combat readiness and interoperability between Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and U.S. forces. The ships are on patrol in the Philippine Sea supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Elijah G. Leinaar/Released)

== MANDATORY CREDIT TO AFP PHOTO / US NAVY VISUAL NEWS SERVICE == (FILES) In this image released by the US Navy Visual News Service October 3, 2011 shows an F-35B Lightning II makes the first vertical landing on a flight deck at sea aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). The F-35B is the Marine Corps Joint Strike Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter and is designed for short takeoff and vertical landing on Navy amphibious ships. Britain was on May 10, 2012 to announce it was scrapping plans to buy the preferred fighter jet for its two new aircraft carriers due to delays and spiraling costs, the BBC reported. Prime Minister David Cameron had wanted the more capable F-35C joint strike fighter (JSF), which required catapults and arrester gear to be fitted to the Royal Navy carriers, but has now signed off a decision to use the F-35B, a jump-jet variant, the BBC said. AFP PHOTO / Mass Communication Seaman Natasha R. Chalk / US NAVY VISUAL NEWS SERVICE / == RESTRICTED TO

J-15 fighter jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier make South China Sea debut

A J-15 jet fighter prepares to take off from the deck of the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, during a drill in the South China Sea on Monday. Photo: CNS

China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning, centre, along with other naval ships, are pictured during a drill in South China Sea on Jan. 02, 2017. (China News Service)

A J-15 jet fighter takes off from the deck of Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, during a drill in South China Sea on Jan. 02, 2017. (China News Service)