<p class="ingestion featured-caption">An F-35B Lightning II aircraft departs the flight deck of the JS Kaga.Dane Wiedmann</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Japan's aircraft carrier JS Kaga completed sea trials off the California coast Friday.</li><li>The light aircraft carrier was refitted with a flight deck to carry F-35B stealth fighters.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-us-british-and-japanese-aircraft-carriers-compare-2021-11">Japan's destroyer-turned-aircraft carrier</a> just completed sea trials off the coast of California on Friday, the country's navy said.</p><p>The JS Kaga was <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-f35bs-landed-on-japans-converted-aircraft-carrier-izumo-2021-10">refitted with a flight deck</a> that allowed crews "to conduct fixed-wing aircraft operations," the US Defense Department said in a <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3940484/f-35b-test-jet-begins-sea-trials-with-japanese-multi-functional-destroyer-in-ea/">statement</a> last month.</p><p><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-fastidious-flattop-japanese-helicopter-carrier-wages-daily-war-on-dirt-and-grime-2018-10">The Kaga</a> is the first aircraft carrier to be operated by the Japanese navy since World War II as the country overhauls its maritime forces amid tensions in the Indo-Pacific. Central to the light carrier's power is the short take-off and landing version of the F-35 stealth fighter.</p>