Japan's Nippon newspaper quoted JMSDF officials as saying that the visit was part of a program to send warships to visit foreign countries proposed by the force since 2017, "to promote a free and open Indo- Pacific region".

Japanese ship JS Izumo visits Vietnam on June 20. Photo: Nippon

“The crew of the JS Izumo will hold talks with Vietnamese Navy officials to determine cooperation between the two countries,” JMSDF officials said.

According to Kyodo news agency, JS Izumo (DDH-183) is one of two Izumo-class helicopter destroyers built by Japan and put into service with the JMSDF since 2015. The ship is 248m long; the widest beam is 38m; draft is 7.5m. The maximum load of this ship is up to 27,000 tons.

JS Izumo ship. Photo: Wikipedia

JS Izumo needs 4 General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines to operate. The ship can reach a speed of 56 km/h, with a range of up to 8,350 km.

Because it operates at sea, the JS Izumo is equipped with a variety of radars and long-range sonar devices that can detect targets at sea, in the air, or under the sea. For example, the FCS-3 radar equipped on the ship can track enemy targets at a distance of 222.2 km and a maximum altitude of 30.48 km.

The defensive weapons system installed on JS Izumo includes two Phalanx CIWS systems including M61A1 Vulcan six-barreled guns and fire control radars; two RIM-116 air defense missile systems (RAM) equipped with infrared guidance mechanism and Mark 36 SRBOC decoy launcher system whose task is to deceive the guidance system installed on the enemy's anti-ship missiles.

RIM-116 system installed next to the conning tower of JS Izumo. Photo: Seaforces.org

But what makes the JS Izumo powerful is the number of aircraft it can carry. The ship's internal hull can hold up to 28 fighters and helicopters of various types.

Video : NHK

Video: Inside the JS Izumo. Source: Naval News

Image of two Indian naval ships visiting Da Nang Two Indian naval ships INS Delhi and INS Satpura under the command of Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh visited Da Nang port from May 19 to 22.
Images of exchange activities of Indian warship sailors in Vietnam The crews of two ships INS Delhi and INS Satpura of the Indian Navy recently organized many friendly exchange activities in Vietnam.
Watch Japanese aircraft carrier conduct exercises with Vietnamese warships

Last week, the frigate Dinh Tien Hoang joined the Japanese helicopter carrier JS Kaga and destroyer JS Murasame in exercises off Cam Ranh.