The F-35B gives Japan a relatively low threshold for operating fixed-wing aircraft at sea. The mission of these ships is characterised as aviation escort, with escort carrier offered as a functional description. The preferred translation of the Japanese designation here is escort, even though destroyer is the familiar official English rendering. The terminology argument distinguishes the ships' escort mission from the familiar joke that Japan calls every combatant a destroyer.
Notable Point · 3:56:03-3:58:03
Japan's F-35B ships as aviation escorts
F-35B opens a route to fixed-wing carrier aviation, while Japan's ship terminology raises a distinction between destroyer and aviation escort.