US Navy To Deploy F-35 In Japan

The US Navy plans to send its F-35Cs to Japan shortly after the type’s first operational cruise in about 2021, to better counter North Korea and China. Source: US Air Force

The US Navy (USN) plans to follow up the first operational cruise of its Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) with a deployment to Japan, the nation’s media reported on 1 April.

Following the F-35C’s first shipborne deployment planed for USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in 2021, an

undisclosed number of aircraft from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 will forward deploy to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni in Japan.

According to The Japan News, which learned of the planned deployment from the USN, the F-35C is being sent to the region specifically to build up deterrence capabilities to better counter North Korea and China.

In sending its F-35Cs to Japan, the USN will follow the lead of the US Marine Corps (USMC) and US Air Force (USAF), which have already done so with their F-35B and F-35A jets respectively.

The USMC has had F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) located at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni in Japan since January 2017, while the USAF launched its first operational overseas deployment to the Japanese island of Okinawa in November 2017.