The Influence of History

All non-US carriers operating fixed-wing aircraft (click to enlarge) The aircraft carrier has been the ultimate expression of naval power since World War II. Able to engage air, surface, and subsurface targets from hundreds of miles away, the carrier is a highly versatile class of warship and even a small number of carriers can turn the tide of an entire war. However, these ships (and the aircraft that they carry) are extremely expensive and only a handful of navies have ever operated them. Since the end of World War II, only 14 nations have operated a carrier with fixed-wing aircraft and no more than 9 nations have done so simultaneously. The above chart covers all non-US aircraft carriers operating fixed-wing aircraft from 1951-2020. I have not only excluded helicopter carriers, but also attempted to avoid counting commissioned ships that did not have available aircraft (for instance, I did not count the Soviet Kiev-class ships after 1991, when their Yak-38 fighters were phased out)...

While aviation-heavy escort vessels were employed by several navies in the 20th century, the JMSDF stuck with them the longest. Intended to operate as the centerpiece of units that included guided missile ships and general purpose escorts, the Japanese helicopter destroyers were primarily valued for their airgroup. However, they carried a substantial armament of their own and remained fully capable of engaging enemy forces directly. The Haruna-class The two ship  Haruna -class were the first such vessels. Commissioned in 1973 and 1974, their original missile armament was an eight cell ASROC box launcher with eight reloads stored in the superstructure. While this may not seem like much, Haruna  was the first Japanese ship to carry ASROC reloads, which meant that her missile armament was actually second heaviest in the JMSDF (after its lone Tartar ship, Amatsukaze ). Haruna in 1973: 16x ASROC Beginning with Hiei in 1984 and followed by Haruna herself in 1988, these t...