US may deploy 38 of latest F-15EX fighter jets in southern Japan

The US Armed Forces are considering the option of permanently deploying 38 of the latest upgraded F-15EX fighter jets at Kadena Base on Okinawa Island in southern Japan. This was reported by the Nikkei newspaper, with reference to the command of the US Air Force, TASS reported.

It intends to return to the scheme of permanent deployment of combat aircraft at the Kadena Air Force Base, from where 48 obsolete F-15C fighters began to be phased out from 2022.

The F-15EX fighters began to be produced only in 2020. The permanent deployment of these aircraft is seen as an important part of China's deterrence strategy, the Nikkei writes. The F-15EX fighters are also supposed to be supplemented with the latest unmanned aerial vehicles, which will operate together with conventional aircraft.

Kadena Base is the largest facility of the US Air Force outside the United States. Located 650 km from the coast of China, it is considered one of the main strongholds of the Pentagon in East Asia.