Japan to deploy F-35B stealth fighters from 2024 to step up defence of East China Sea islands
- Local media reports say the airfield is some 1,030km northeast of the disputed Diaoyu Islands that are claimed by China but controlled by Japan
- The first squadron for the F-35B – each of which costs US$117 million – will comprise 18 fighters, with Japan scheduled to buy a total of 42 jets
Sources told the Yomiuri newspaper that the first F-35B jets would be based at the Air Self-Defence Force’s Nyutabaru Air Base in southern Miyazaki Prefecture, to defend the country’s remote islands.
The Chinese coastguard has in recent years increased its activity near the Diaoyus, raising alarm in Tokyo, which brought the islands under state control in 2012.
Underlining Tokyo’s concerns, the Defence Ministry on Sunday confirmed that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and its accompanying support warships had traversed waters between the main island of southern Okinawa Prefecture and Miyako Island, also part of the prefecture. It was the first time the aircraft carrier had been sighted in the area in a year, although the warships at no time entered into Japanese territorial waters.
The F-35B is the vertical-take off and landing (VTOL) variant of the US-built fighter and the first units will operate with the Maritime Self-Defence Force’s JS Kaga, which is presently designated as a helicopter carrier but will be upgraded into an aircraft carrier.
Japanese pilots are now training on the F-35B – each of which costs 13 billion yen (US$117 million) – but are reportedly encountering challenges. They have never before flown VTOL-capable aircraft or trained to land vertically on aircraft carriers at sea. The first F-35B squadron will comprise 18 fighters, with Japan scheduled to purchase a total of 42 jets.
