Russia, China and North Korea in the sights of US air power plan

The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it has significantly upgraded its air force in allied Japan, with plans to deploy more advanced fighter jets to the front lines to better withstand threats from Russia, China and North Korea.

Two U.S. military services will deploy aircraft to three locations in Japan: Kadena and Misawa air bases and the Marine Corps base at Iwakuni.

The Air Force will retire Kadena Air Base’s 48 F-15C/D Eagle fighter jets, which have been in service for more than 30 years, and replace them with 36 newer F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets, the Defense Department said. At the same time, a rotating presence of fourth- and fifth-generation tactical aircraft will be maintained.

Kadena is a major U.S. military hub in Okinawa, a southwestern Japanese island that is part of the so-called First Group of Islands. Because of its proximity to Taiwan, some 370 miles, Kadena is also called the “Keystone of the Pacific”, an important stronghold for the U.S. air projection into the Taiwan Strait.

Japan is home to more than 50,000 active-duty U.S. military personnel, about two-thirds of whom are in Okinawa, the largest in the world outside U.S. territory. Despite Tokyo’s strong support, their presence remains a sensitive issue.

Kadena Mayor Hiroshi Toyama said Wednesday that his office would monitor the potential impact of the plan on city residents, particularly noise pollution caused by U.S. fighter jets, Japan’s Kyodo News reported.

The F-15EX combines “state-of-the-art design and technology” to deliver next-generation capabilities, manufacturer Boeing said. The fighter can carry 12 air-to-air missiles, while older versions of the F-15 had a maximum of eight. The extra firepower could give the U.S. a major advantage in aerial combat.

The air force will also upgrade a base in northern Honshu, Japan’s main island. The 36 F-16 Fighting Falcons at Misawa Air Base will be replaced by 48 F-35A Lightning IIs, fifth-generation stealth fighters. The War Zone, a defense news website, said the F-35As would take over the suppression and destruction of enemy air defense missions from the F-16s.

Misawa is located near the Tsugaru Strait, a key waterway connecting the Sea of ​​Japan to the wider Pacific Ocean, which is frequently used by both Chinese and Russian navies to conduct operations and exercises in the waters east of Japan. Stealth fighter jets are expected to be better able to counter threats from the newer generation of hostile warships.

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Near the southwestern tip of Honshu, the Marine Corps will modify an undisclosed number of F-35B Lightning II fighter jets at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni as part of its modernization plan. The aircraft, designed for short takeoff and vertical landing, or STOVL, are essential to the Corps’ expeditionary operations in the Western Pacific.

In the event of a conflict on the nearby Korean Peninsula, where Kim Jong Un’s regime has continued a series of provocative missile tests, US units at Iwakuni could be among the first wave of “non-regional” support for their counterparts in South Korea.

The F-35Bs would also support Japan’s Self-Defense Forces in the East China Sea, where Tokyo and Beijing have maritime disputes.

The Pentagon said the modernization plan will involve investments of more than $10 billion, to be implemented over the next few years, and will “strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance, enhance regional deterrence, and strengthen peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

However, analysts say the United States could struggle to meet its military commitments in multiple regions at once as tensions rise globally, including in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the war between Israel and Hamas and the Red Sea crisis.