The first F-15EX Eagle II designated for Kadena Air Base departed Boeing\u2019s St Louis facility on 28 August 2026, taking the US Air Force closer to permanently stationing its newest Eagle variant in Japan. The aircraft is bound for Portland Air National Guard Base in Oregon, where it will undergo further preparations before continuing to Kadena.<\/p>\n
F-15EX aircraft are scheduled to begin arriving at the Japanese base in fiscal year 2027. They will replace Kadena\u2019s legacy F-15C\/D fleet under the Air Force\u2019s wider modernisation of tactical airpower.<\/p>\n
The planned deployment represents continued US investment in Kadena\u2019s permanent fighter force. The Air Force said it would also reinforce operational readiness and the long-standing defence partnership between the US and Japan.<\/p>\n
The F-15EX combines upgraded avionics and increased payload capacity with multirole capabilities. Kadena will become the second Air Force location with combat-coded F-15EX aircraft, following the Oregon Air National Guard\u2019s 142nd Wing in Portland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an important next step toward bringing the F-15EX home to Kadena,\u201d said Brig. Gen. John Gallemore, 18th Wing commander. \u201cOur team is ready to welcome the F-15EX, and this is another milestone that brings us closer to putting this capability in the hands of the Airmen who will fly, maintain and employ it from Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Permanent basing at Kadena is intended to improve the wing\u2019s ability to generate combat-ready airpower. It will also create further opportunities to train and integrate with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and other allied and partner forces.<\/p>\n
The 18th Wing regularly trains with Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15 units based at Naha Air Base. Those bilateral activities are designed to improve interoperability and strengthen the US-Japan defence partnership.<\/p>\n
Kadena is now preparing to receive and fully integrate the new aircraft while maintaining operational readiness. The 18th Wing said the transition would support its continuing role in regional security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first F-15EX Eagle II designated for Kadena Air Base departed Boeing\u2019s St Louis facility on 28 August…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-8919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-defence-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}