US sending dozens of new fighter jets to Japan bases in $10 billion force modernization

CNN —

The US military will send dozens of its newest fighter jets to Japan as part of a $10 billion upgrade of its forces in the country, the Defense Department announced Wednesday.

In a news release, the Pentagon said the effort would be carried out “over the next several years” to “enhance the US-Japan Alliance, bolster regional deterrence, and strengthen peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

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.

At Marine Corps Air Station 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.

Japan said basing the new fighter aircraft in the country would enhance US capabilities there.

“In the face of the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II, and amidst the increased military activities of neighboring countries, the United States is maintaining and strengthening the presence of U.S. forces in Japan to further enhance the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the government’s top spokesman, said at a regular briefing Thursday.