More F-35s Arrive in Okinawa, Bolstering 5th-Gen Forces Near Taiwan
Nov. 21, 2023 | By Greg Hadley
F-35 fighters from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, arrived in Japan Nov. 20, bolstering the fifth-generation airpower at Kadena Air Base and maintaining the steady rotation of fighters there in place of retiring F-15C/Ds.
The 18th Wing at Kadena did not disclose the exact number of aircraft. The base said the new jets, from the 4th Fighter Squadron, join F-35s from the 356th Fighter Squadron already at Kadena, the base said in a release. The 356th jets arrrived in Japan from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, in March.
Ever since the Air Force announced in October 2022 that it was returning home all 48 of Kadena’s aging F-15C/D aircraft after more than 40 years of continuous Eagle operations there, USAF has been rotating fighter units to the base. That has ensured continuous U.S. jet fighter presence in Okinawa, a strategically important location just 400 miles east of Taiwan.
Kadena has hosted every fighter type but one in the Air Force inventory since then, with the sole exception being the A-10. In addition to the F-35s there now, the base has hosted:
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/f-35-fighters-hill-arrive-kadena/
