U.S. F-35A fighter jet deployment in Japan to start in spring 2026

That's a beautiful machine.

That's a beautiful machine.

...and has priven to be very stealthy too. Russian S400 didn’t detect it in the recent air raids by Israel.

But apparently, according to Elon, USA doesn't need so many.

Sleek looking jet, we have them too and I can attest they are loud!

Hope not too many night manoeuvres for the locals.

That's a beautiful machine.

It is design to kill people, I hardly say it is beautiful.

TaiwanIsNotChinaToday  07:03 am JST

That's a beautiful machine.

It's a very capable machine, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I still prefer the F-22, F-15, F-14, and for sheer bad-assery, the F-111.

But apparently, according to Elon, USA doesn't need so many.

Musk wants drones which is foolish considering how talented North Korean and Chinese hackers could potentially be

Japan needs more American military like a fish needs a bicycle.

taxpayers money "well" wasted...

Although the F-35 is impressive, IMO it lacks the speed to be used as an interceptor.

In SEAD and deep strike missions, it would definitely be useful, but it’s top speed of Mach 1.2 puts it at a disadvantage to the F-15 or Su-27 which can both fly at Mach 2.5.

With Misawa and Chitose’s proximity to Russia, every second counts when intercepting a bogey, and speed is more important than stealth.

The usual mercenaries inside the US administration trying to help themselves, less than two months before they check out, to the expenses of naive Japanese tax payers. The same US industrial military complex which has already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in Ukraine and Gaza, and their big apparatus specialized in "warmongering"

FosToday 03:18 pm JST

The same US industrial military complex which has already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in Ukraine

Still Putin's War

ZaphodToday 01:27 pm JST

Japan needs more American military like a fish needs a bicycle.

You're right: they need nukes. Let's see you get behind that.

In SEAD and deep strike missions, it would definitely be useful, but it’s top speed of Mach 1.2 puts it at a disadvantage to the F-15 or Su-27 which can both fly at Mach 2.5.

Agree the F-35 with only one engine is much too slow. It is not designed for interdiction or air superiority. But its top speed is actually mach 1.62

A pity they couldn't produce new F-111 with modern avionics. They called it "the pig" as it could be difficulty to handle but it had speed and punch. A fantastic aircraft for its time.

CPowell

You're right: they need nukes. Let's see you get behind that.

Says the US administration which is defending the impunity of the State of Israel. after 44.000 children and women killed by Washington. No moral authority. Keep spending time defending the indefensible.

“Every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyyhvgZpleo

The definition of US mercenaries, gloating on the death and violence they caused in Middle East and Ukraine as we speak. 

The top 5 weapons manufacturers in the world, all American :

Lockheed Martin Corp

Raytheon Technologies

Northrop Grumman Corp

Boeing

General Dynamics Corp

The usual mercenaries inside the US administration trying to help . . . . .

The definition of US mercenaries, gloating on the death and . . .

Yawn,. . . .

More conspiracies and anti-US rhetoric!

Full of SomethingToday 04:33 pm JST

Says the US administration which is defending the impunity of the State of Israel. after 44.000 children and women killed by Washington. No moral authority. Keep spending time defending the indefensible.

Peking and Moscow have no moral authority on anything. They even say they will take all comers to BRICS.

“Every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyyhvgZpleo

Your favorite bedtime story.

The top 5 weapons manufacturers in the world, all American :

And the next 5 are all Chinese.

WiseOneIn Kansai

Yawn..,

You are right, let’s talk about Shohei Ohtani or Captain Marvel :)

There are people dying in Gaza and Lebanon through the same use of US war airplanes employed by Israel and bought by Japan, at the expenses of perhaps your employer tax contributions. Money which could go to daily care and assistance to needy people. And instead goes to Wall Street and the US hedge funds

Money which could go to daily care and assistance to needy people.

While this is absolutely where we should be aiming as a species, it is not practical at this time.

We live in a very dangerous period of history and literally everything is in the balance.

We need to show strength or the autocrats will move further to destabilize our way of life.

We need to show strength

This is what we have shown so far, what you call deterrence: over $110 billions worth of weapons in Ukraine and Israel, provided by US, and few dozens more to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan. And look where we are now. We need dialogue and diplomacy, not warmongering by Washington

BeerDeliveryGuyToday  02:03 pm JST

Although the F-35 is impressive, IMO it lacks the speed to be used as an interceptor.

In SEAD and deep strike missions, it would definitely be useful, but it’s top speed of Mach 1.2 puts it at a disadvantage to the F-15 or Su-27 which can both fly at Mach 2.5.

With Misawa and Chitose’s proximity to Russia, every second counts when intercepting a bogey, and speed is more important than stealth.

Peter14Today  04:22 pm JST

Agree the F-35 with only one engine is much too slow. It is not designed for interdiction or air superiority. But its top speed is actually mach 1.62

A pity they couldn't produce new F-111 with modern avionics. They called it "the pig" as it could be difficulty to handle but it had speed and punch. A fantastic aircraft for its time.

If top speed was still a priority for all combat jets, you can bet the designers would've made all of them capable of +Mach2. It simply isn't as much of a critical factor as it used to be. In many studies, most pilots never actually needed to go over +Mach2. With improving long range BVR air to air missiles whose range continues to expand, you don't need to use speed to get so close to targets. The missiles do more work now and are faster.

The F-35 is multipurpose fighter designed for many roles including interdiction and intercept if need be but if high speed is deemed a mission priority, then the F-22 and F-15EX are both capable of +Mach2. Many current fighter planes aren't capable of +Mach2 but that doesn't reduce their effectiveness. Where the F-35 is unique is sheer computing power, stealth, data management, and communication. And it still looks sexy as hell.

If top speed was still a priority for all combat jets, you can bet the designers would've made all of them capable of +Mach2. 

Indeed, top speed is not a requirement for ALL fighter jets. However, the USAF especially is still chasing the white elephant of “multi-role fighters” while essentially making a Jack of all trades but a master of none.

In Japan’s case, the simple distance to their bad neighbors and vastness of airspace, considering it’s landmass, requires a fast, low maintenance, long range, heavily armed fighter/interceptor; in lieu of a strong naval air corps.

Stealth takes second priority in this case, as the radar blip of an F-15 approaching at Mach 2.2 is a deterrent in itself.

Get the cheque books ready for that peice of junk!

@BeerDeliveryGuy

i keep hearing this axiom about multipurpose combat jets weaknesses and I think it applies to earlier attempts. Correct me if I’m wrong but the F-16 and F-18 are both multipurpose jets that have been very successful and also relatively cost efficient. They’re still in service today almost 40yrs since entering service. This is one Navy pilot I talked to said he thinks the F-16 is the best for all it’s capabilities, design, and low/cheap maintenance.

i keep hearing this axiom about multipurpose combat jets weaknesses and I think it applies to earlier attempts. Correct me if I’m wrong but the F-16 and F-18 are both multipurpose jets that have been very successful and also relatively cost efficient. 

Yes, the F-18, 16, and 15 are longseller unicorns because they are (relatively) low cost, low maintenance, and combat effective as multi-role fighters.

However, correct me if I’m wrong, but the multi-role aspect and variations came after the initial development as an air superiority platform. (Other than the F-18, the Navy wanted something to replace the F-14, E-6)

@Fos Wow I see the the company that I work for listed before

The definition of US mercenaries, gloating on the death and violence they caused in Middle East and Ukraine as we speak. 

The top 5 weapons manufacturers in the world, all American :

Lockheed Martin Corp

Raytheon Technologies

Northrop Grumman Corp

Boeing

General Dynamics Corp

FosDec. 2 06:36 pm JST

We need to show strength

This is what we have shown so far, what you call deterrence: over $110 billions worth of weapons in Ukraine and Israel, provided by US, and few dozens more to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan. And look where we are now. We need dialogue and diplomacy, not warmongering by Washington

The only diplomacy that solves the Taiwan situation is the PRC acknowledging they will never control Taiwan.