Overview

• Japan Air Self-Defense Force took delivery of three F-35Bs at Nyutabaru Air Base on August 7; a fourth jet will arrive at an unspecified date and four more are scheduled by March 2026.
• Construction delays at Mageshima Island’s new runway mean F-35B training flights will remain at Nyutabaru until about 2030, prompting local protests over vertical-landing noise.
• The Izumo- and Kaga-class destroyers have been retrofitted to host STOVL operations, with cross-deck drills planned before their 2027 and 2028 inductions.
• The short take-off and vertical landing jets will augment 44 existing F-35As, pushing Japan’s total fleet to 42 F-35Bs and 105 F-35As—the largest outside the United States.
• Defense officials say the STOVL fighters strengthen Japan’s southwestern defenses in response to rising tensions with China.