Hyuga's main job is to generate helicopter flight hours, maintain aircraft, and extend ASW coverage around a task group defending Japan's sea lanes. A typical deployment carries one AW101 and three Mitsubishi SH-60s. The ship can sustain as many as twenty-four helicopters with some deck parking, but limited aircraft procurement and the desire to conserve airframes keep the normal group much smaller. Its defensive fit includes sixteen Mark 41 VLS cells for ESSM and ASROC, two Phalanx mounts, and two triple torpedo-tube mountings. Resorting to those torpedo tubes would imply an exceptionally dangerous close encounter for such a valuable aviation ship. Combat power depends on serviceable aircraft and trained crews, with maintenance facilities helping turn embarked aircraft into available sorties, a point also made through comparison with the Queen Elizabeth class.
Chapter · 28:37-32:18
Hyuga generates ASW helicopter sorties
Hyuga's flight deck and maintenance facilities extend submarine-hunting coverage, although normal deployments use only a small part of its helicopter capacity.