Flights of US Air Force stealth fighters continue to rotate through Japan to backfill Boeing F-15C/D jets being sent home for retirement.
The temporarily deployed jets include both the multi-role Lockheed Martin F-35A strike fighter and Lockheed Martin F-22 air superiority platform.
An unspecified number of F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard landed at the Okinawa air base on 13 January, joining active duty F-35As from Hill AFB in Utah that arrived in November.
F-22s from Alaska and Northrop Grumman F-16s from South Carolina also reported to Kadena for what the air force is calling a “routine readiness exercise” on 15 January.
The fighter deployments are also part of the USAF’s effort to maintain its combat presence in the Western Pacific as it withdraws 48 ageing F-15C/Ds from the forward base on Okinawa.
“The deployment of fourth- and fifth-generation fighters at Kadena signifies a continued commitment to regional stability and security,” the air force says.
The Pentagon revealed plans to retire the Kadena-based F-15s in 2022, at the time estimating the move would take two years to complete.
While the air force declines to specify how many of the older Eagles are still in Kadena, photos of recent training exercises indicate at least one F-15C participated. The jets have been in service for more than 40 years and are set to be permanently replaced by 36 of Boeing’s latest F-15EX Eagle II fighters.
However, Boeing only recently began delivering combat-configured EXs, with two jets being turned over to the Oregon Air National Guard (ANG) in summer 2024.
At the time, the service told FlightGlobal that 18 F-15EXs were undergoing final assembly at Boeing’s St Louis, Missouri fighter plant, including the two operational jets that have since been delivered under Lot 1, with all examples destined for the Portland-based fighter squadron.
Boeing on 16 January told FlightGlobal it plans to begin F-15EX Lot 2 deliveries in the first quarter of 2025, with the full tranche of 12 jets expected to be handed over before end-2025.
The airframer declines to provide delivery projections beyond Lot 2, saying the schedule is still under discussion with the air force.
If the service maintains plans to first outfit the Oregon ANG with Eagle IIs, the temporary deployment of fighter units to Kadena will likely continue for some time in order to maintain what the air force calls “lethal and credible airpower to deter acts of aggression”.
“Rotational aircraft are a normal part of Kadena’s operations, and their presence ensures the continuation of our long-standing mission to defend Japan and maintain an open and free Indo-Pacific,” says Colonel David Deptula, deputy commander of the Okinawa-based 18th Wing Operations Group.
The air force says modernising its capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region remains a “top priority”. The service notes Kadena is of particular importance, describing the air base as the “keystone of the Pacific”.
War-games and studies indicate large bases like Kadena would be early targets for mass waves of Chinese missiles should conflict erupt in the Indo-Pacific between Beijing and Washington. The threat is serious enough that senior officers have warned they can no longer count on such bases to project power in the region.
Elsewhere on Okinawa, the Pentagon is reducing its troop presence. A contingent of US Marines recently departed the island in December for a new posting in Guam amid long-standing tension with the local Okinawan populace about the US military’s heavy presence on the island.
The small prefecture hosts over half of the more than 50,000 American forces stationed in Japan, and roughly 70% of all US military installations located in the island country, according to the US Congressional Research Service.
