{"id":13260286,"date":"2026-08-17T16:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T16:20:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:20:49","slug":"kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Kadena&#8217;s First New Eagle Shows Its Colors"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<p>A single Eagle rolled out of Boeing&rsquo;s St. Louis plant this month wearing two small but loaded details: a &ldquo;ZZ&rdquo; tail flash and the badge of the 18th Wing. Translation &mdash; the first <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-15-eagle\/\">F-15EX Eagle II<\/a> built for Kadena Air Base has finally broken cover.<\/p>\r\n<p>The jet, serial 22-0022, made its first flight on 4 August 2026 in bare primer, then flew again on 15 August in full livery. It is also the first aircraft of the new Lot 3. After years of waiting, Okinawa&rsquo;s next-generation Eagle is real, and it is painted for the fight it was bought for.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px;border-radius:8px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;line-height:1.8\"><li><strong>The jet:<\/strong> F-15EX Eagle II serial 22-0022, in 18th Wing &ldquo;ZZ&rdquo; markings<\/li><li><strong>First flights:<\/strong> 4 August 2026 (primer), 15 August 2026 (full livery), from Boeing St. Louis<\/li><li><strong>Destination:<\/strong> Kadena Air Base, Okinawa &mdash; the closest U.S. air base to Taiwan<\/li><li><strong>The plan:<\/strong> 36 F-15EXs to replace Kadena&rsquo;s retired F-15C\/D Eagles<\/li><li><strong>Timeline:<\/strong> first arrivals in 2027, full complement by 2028 (delayed from spring 2026)<\/li><li><strong>First unit:<\/strong> the 67th Fighter Squadron, followed by the 44th<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A gap over Okinawa<\/h2>\r\n<p>Kadena has felt thin for a while. The 18th Wing flew F-15C\/D Eagles for decades, but the Air Force began retiring those tired jets back in 2022, flying the last operational Kadena F-15C in January 2025. Since then the base has leaned on rotating deployments &mdash; F-22 Raptors among them &mdash; to keep fighters over the first island chain while the permanent replacements were built.<\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=407576908  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:xAwx.cd23\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/f-15ex-kadena-air-base.jpg\" alt=\"An F-15EX Eagle II at Kadena Air Base, Japan\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">F-15EX and F-15E air power at Kadena Air Base during an earlier familiarization deployment. US Air Force photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why the wait<\/h2>\r\n<p>The delay has an unglamorous cause: a monthslong strike at Boeing&rsquo;s St. Louis F-15EX line in 2025 pushed the whole program to the right. The original plan had Eagles landing on Okinawa in spring 2026; now the first are due in 2027, with the 36th arriving in 2028. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told the Senate the fix is stable, long-term contracts.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dpFVAcu8heI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;Because [of] the instability in the [F-15EX] production rates and the unknown future, the contractor just couldn&rsquo;t make the investments necessary to tool up and improve&hellip; That long-term stability allows a contractor to do those things that eventually save the government money, and allow us to produce those aircraft quicker.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Troy Meink<\/strong> &mdash; Secretary of the Air Force<\/div><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">An Eagle built for China<\/h2>\r\n<p>There is no mystery about the mission. Kadena sits closer to Taiwan than any other American air base, and 36 heavily-armed EX Eagles &mdash; each able to haul a dozen air-to-air missiles &mdash; are meant to make the skies over the first island chain a very expensive place to fight. The buy is growing too: the Air Force has more than doubled its planned F-15EX fleet. One freshly-painted jet in St. Louis is the first small proof that the plan is finally moving metal.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:italic;color:#777;font-size:14px;margin-top:24px\">Sources: The Aviationist (photos by Jerry McGrath); Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine; Stars and Stripes. Meink quote from Senate Armed Services Committee testimony, 21 May 2026.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-first-visit-kadena-air-base-okinawa-2026\/\">F-15EX Eagle II Makes Its First Visit to Kadena<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/mcdonnell-douglas-boeing-f-15-eagle-deep-dive\/\">The F-15 Eagle: A Deep Dive Into an Undefeated Fighter<\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A single Eagle rolled out of Boeing&rsquo;s St. Louis plant this month wearing two small but loaded details: a &ldquo;ZZ&rdquo; tail flash and the badge of the 18th Wing. Translation &mdash; the first F-15EX Eagle II built for Kadena Air Base has finally broken cover. The jet, serial 22-0022, made its first flight on 4 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":13259972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13260286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kadena F-15EX: First Eagle II Breaks Cover<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first F-15EX Eagle II for Kadena Air Base broke cover in 18th Wing markings, as the US Air Force prepares to base 36 new Eagles in Okinawa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kadena F-15EX: First Eagle II Breaks Cover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first F-15EX Eagle II for Kadena Air Base broke cover in 18th Wing markings, as the US Air Force prepares to base 36 new Eagles in Okinawa.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T14:20:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T14:20:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:xAwx.cd23\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\"},\"headline\":\"Kadena&#8217;s First New Eagle Shows Its Colors\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T14:20:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-17T14:20:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":540,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Military Aviation\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kadena F-15EX: First Eagle II Breaks Cover\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T14:20:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-17T14:20:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"The first F-15EX Eagle II for Kadena Air Base broke cover in 18th Wing markings, as the US Air Force prepares to base 36 new Eagles in Okinawa.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"An F-15EX Eagle II from the 40th Flight Test Squadron, 96th Test Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flies in formation during an aerial refueling operation above the skies of Northern California, May 14. The Eagle II participated in the Northern Edge 21 exercise in Alaska earlier in May. (Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kadena&#8217;s First New Eagle Shows Its Colors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\",\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joseph Duncan\"},\"description\":\"Joseph Duncan covers breaking defence news \u2014 fast, sharp dispatches on the Pentagon, procurement and the world\u2019s air forces.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/author\\\/josephduncan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kadena F-15EX: First Eagle II Breaks Cover","description":"The first F-15EX Eagle II for Kadena Air Base broke cover in 18th Wing markings, as the US Air Force prepares to base 36 new Eagles in Okinawa.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kadena F-15EX: First Eagle II Breaks Cover","og_description":"The first F-15EX Eagle II for Kadena Air Base broke cover in 18th Wing markings, as the US Air Force prepares to base 36 new Eagles in Okinawa.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-08-17T14:20:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-17T14:20:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:xAwx.cd23\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joseph Duncan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joseph Duncan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"Joseph Duncan","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85"},"headline":"Kadena&#8217;s First New Eagle Shows Its Colors","datePublished":"2026-08-17T14:20:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-17T14:20:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/"},"wordCount":540,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:xAwx.cd23\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg","articleSection":["Military Aviation","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/","name":"Kadena F-15EX: First Eagle II Breaks Cover","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:xAwx.cd23\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-17T14:20:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-17T14:20:49+00:00","description":"The first F-15EX Eagle II for Kadena Air Base broke cover in 18th Wing markings, as the US Air Force prepares to base 36 new Eagles in Okinawa.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:xAwx.cd23\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:xAwx.cd23\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/f-15ex-eagle-ii-1.jpg","width":1280,"height":853,"caption":"An F-15EX Eagle II from the 40th Flight Test Squadron, 96th Test Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, flies in formation during an aerial refueling operation above the skies of Northern California, May 14. The Eagle II participated in the Northern Edge 21 exercise in Alaska earlier in May. (Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/kadena-first-f-15ex-eagle-ii-breaks-cover-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kadena&#8217;s First New Eagle Shows Its Colors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85","name":"Joseph Duncan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joseph Duncan"},"description":"Joseph Duncan covers breaking defence news \u2014 fast, sharp dispatches on the Pentagon, procurement and the world\u2019s air forces.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/author\/josephduncan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13260286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13260286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13260286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13260479,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13260286\/revisions\/13260479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13259972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13260286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13260286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13260286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}