The modernization plan will see 48 fifth-generation F-35A fighters replace 36 F-16s at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan, and 36 brand-new F-15EX jets deploy to Kadena Air Base on the southern island of Okinawa, replacing 48 older F-15C/D models that have been pulled from the region in the past year, the Pentagon release said, according.to CNN.
Iwakuni, just south of Hiroshima on the main island of Honshu, the number of deployed F-35B aircraft will be modified, the Pentagon said, without giving specific numbers.
“The Department’s plan to station the Joint Force’s most advanced tactical aircraft in Japan demonstrates the ironclad U.S. commitment to the defense of Japan and both countries’ shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the news release said.
