Скачать или смотреть Japan's F-35B Lightning Carriers: The Stealth Weapon That's Destroying China's $50 Billion Dream

Japan delivered its first three F-35B stealth fighters in August 2025 and is converting two Izumo-class ships into Lightning Carriers—the first Japanese fixed-wing carriers since WWII, carrying a total order of 147 stealth aircraft. China immediately complained these ships "go beyond Japan's defense policy," but the real fear is strategic: Japan's 27,000-ton carriers with invisible F-35Bs completely outmatch China's 58,000-ton Liaoning carrying visible J-15s that modern radars can track from hundreds of kilometers away. While China's newest carrier Fujian returned for maintenance after just five months, Japan's stealth carriers are already operationally proven with US and British F-35Bs tested aboard—demonstrating that technology and readiness trump tonnage in the battle for the first island chain.