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By Ryan Chan
China News Reporter
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Kadena Air Base in Japan, a major United States air power hub near China, has been reinforced with fighter jets during a force transition that began in fall 2022, ensuring a continuous and credible military presence amid tensions across the Western Pacific.
The deployment of military forces by "certain countries" close to Taiwan seriously threatens China's national security and undermines regional peace and stability, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek.
Newsweek has also contacted the 18th Wing, the U.S. Air Force host unit at Kadena Air Base on Japan's southwestern outlying island of Okinawa, for comment by email.
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Why It Matters
Serving as the closest U.S. air base to Taiwan, a self-governed island claimed by China about 370 miles away, Kadena awaits the arrival of the first F-15EX jets as it phases out aging F-15C/D jets. In the meantime, the outpost keeps a rotational fighter jet presence by temporarily hosting aircraft from other bases to ensure U.S. air power.
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Okinawa is one of the islands that form the First Island Chain under a U.S. containment strategy, aimed at deterring and defending against Chinese aggression in the region—including military tensions across the Taiwan Strait and maritime disputes in the East China Sea and the South China Sea—through the projection of U.S. and allied forces.
The continuous deployment of U.S. fighter jets at Kadena comes amid China's growing military activities near Japan—Washington's mutual defense treaty ally that currently hosts about 60,000 American military personnel—in recent months, following Tokyo's remarks about possible military intervention should Beijing move against Taiwan.
What To Know
According to a Newsweek map, Kadena has hosted American fighter aircraft from the U.S. mainland, Alaska, Hawaii and Germany since the first rotation in November 2022, featuring F-22 stealth jets deployed from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
In addition to F-22 jets, F-15C, F-15E, F-16C, F-16CM and F-35A aircraft assigned to Air Force and Air National Guard units have helped maintain "steady-state fighter capabilities" at Kadena and enhance U.S. readiness to defend Japan, the map shows.
Prior to the arrival of the first fighter jet reinforcement, deployed for six months, the 18th Wing said it would temporarily host newer, more advanced aircraft to backfill its F-15C/D jets as they were withdrawn "over the next two years" in a phased approach.
The withdrawal began in December 2022, when the first F-15C/D jets departed Kadena for the last time and returned to the U.S. The base has operated this type of jet, also known as the Eagle, since September 1979 to ensure U.S. air superiority in the region.
However, the future permanent fighter jet presence at Kadena was not clear until July 2024, when the Pentagon announced a modernization plan for its fighter jets based in Japan, replacing Kadena's fleet of 48 F-15C/D jets with 36 advanced F-15EX aircraft.
Unlike older F-15 jet variants, which can carry eight air-to-air missiles, the F-15EX is said to have a larger payload than any other fighter jet, capable of being equipped with as many as 12 missiles for aerial combat, according to aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
In January, a Kadena-based F-15C jet flew for the last time before its transition to a maintenance training aircraft, marking the conclusion of 45 years of Eagles' service at the base, as well as the final flight of any active-duty F-15C jet in the Air Force.
Kadena's air power transition reached a milestone in July, when the F-15EX jet, also known as the Eagle II, arrived at the base for the first time to conduct what the 18th Wing called "integration and familiarization training" with local units and partners.
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The fighter jet rotation at Kadena continued today, as the base entered the countdown to permanently hosting F-15EX jets in spring 2026. The current force rotation includes F-35A jets deployed from Alaska and Utah, along with F-16C jets based in New Jersey.
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Air Force's 18th Wing said in a December press release: "Modernizing airpower in the Indo-Pacific remains a top Department of War priority … The rotation of advanced fighters through Kadena maintains a persistent and potent U.S. presence: ready to respond decisively, deter aggression, and shape the future of air dominance in the Pacific."
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China's Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek: "China has consistently maintained that U.S.-Japan military and security cooperation should not target third countries or jeopardize regional peace and development … Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwan issue is purely China's internal affair, brooking no external interference … China has the determination and capability to safeguard its national territorial sovereignty."
What Happens Next
It remains unclear when the U.S. Air Force will end its rotational deployment of fighter jets at Kadena. The outpost may continue to host aircraft from other bases as part of U.S. efforts to build up military capabilities to deny aggression in the First Island Chain.
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