{"id":667913,"date":"2026-05-07T11:47:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-22-raptors-deploy-kadena-air-base-japan-f-15ex-delay\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:47:37","slug":"f-22-raptors-deploy-kadena-air-base-japan-f-15ex-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/f-22-raptors-deploy-kadena-air-base-japan-f-15ex-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors Land at Kadena While Japan Waits for Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\n<p>The U.S. Air Force has just done something it almost never does: it has put F-22 Raptors on a runway in Japan.<\/p>\n\n<p>A package of Raptors landed at Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa earlier this week, the most senior officials at Pacific Air Forces have confirmed. The deployment is officially temporary. The reason for it is not subtle. Kadena&#8217;s home-station F-15C Eagles, which spent fifty years standing alert against any Chinese aircraft heading for Taiwan or southern Japan, are gone. Their replacement \u2014 the brand-new F-15EX Eagle II \u2014 has not arrived. Until it does, the gap is being plugged with the most expensive air-superiority fighter ever built.<\/p>\n\n<p>It is a striking move. Raptors are kept on a short leash, both because they are scarce and because every hour they fly in the open eats into their useful life. To send them to Kadena is to admit two things at the same time: the F-15EX delay is bad enough to need a real fix, and the situation in the Western Pacific is serious enough that the Pentagon is willing to spend Raptor flight hours to fill the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f4f5f7;border-radius:8px;padding:18px 22px;margin:18px 0 28px;font-size:14.5px;line-height:1.7\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#5C91FF;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.5px;font-size:12.5px\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor<\/p><p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Base:<\/strong> Kadena Air Base, Okinawa<\/p><p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Reason:<\/strong> F-15EX Eagle II delivery delays<\/p><p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Original tenants:<\/strong> F-15C\/D Eagles (retired)<\/p><p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>Distance from mainland China:<\/strong> approx. 800 km<\/p><p style=\"margin:3px 0\"><strong>F-22 fleet size (USAF):<\/strong> 186 airframes total<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why Kadena matters<\/h2>\n\n<p>Kadena is not a normal air base. It is the largest U.S. Air Force base in the Pacific, the western anchor of the entire INDOPACOM network, and \u2014 crucially \u2014 the closest American fighter base to mainland China and Taiwan. The runway is just under 800 kilometres from the Chinese coast. Anything based at Kadena is part of the immediate defensive crust of Japan and the first wave of any Western response to a fight over Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n<p>Until 2022, that crust was made of fifty-four F-15Cs of the 18th Wing. Those airframes had flown Pacific alert duty for half a century. They were also exhausted. The Air Force retired them in waves, on the assumption that they would be replaced one-for-one by the brand-new F-15EX. That replacement has not happened on schedule. Boeing&#8217;s production line has been slow to ramp up, the EX has had its share of teething issues, and the planned Kadena delivery date has slipped \u2014 for the second time.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=760447155  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:Zd-D.bbaa\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-22-raptor-condensation-tinian-pacific.jpg\" alt=\"F-22 Raptor in condensation as it departs Tinian\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor wrapped in vapour as it departs Tinian during a Pacific deployment. The same aircraft is now standing alert at Kadena. (US Air Force \/ public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The cost of the gap<\/h2>\n\n<p>An hour of F-22 flight time costs roughly 70,000 dollars. An F-15C, when it was still flying, cost about 30,000. Whatever the budget figure works out to over a deployment that may run six months or more, this is not the cheap solution. It is the only solution available right now that puts a credible air-superiority fighter at Kadena.<\/p>\n\n<p>Other contenders were considered. F-35As from CONUS could have rotated in, and Marine F-35Bs are already in theatre at Iwakuni. But the F-22 still does something no other American fighter does: it owns the air-to-air fight at every altitude and every aspect against anything China can put up. As long as the EX is late, the Pentagon will pay Raptor money to keep that capability over Okinawa.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=942161043  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:5NZ_.bbab\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/f-15c-eagle-kadena-air-base.jpg\" alt=\"F-15C Eagle at Kadena Air Base\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An 18th Wing F-15C Eagle at Kadena, photographed in 2019. The base lost its last home-station F-15C in 2022; the F-15EX replacement is years late. (US Air Force \/ public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The bigger picture<\/h2>\n\n<p>This is the latest in a string of decisions that point in the same direction: the Pacific is the priority theatre, and the U.S. Air Force is rearranging its highest-end assets accordingly. F-22s have been rotating through Tinian, Andersen on Guam, and now Kadena. F-35As have moved permanently to Eielson in Alaska and to Misawa in northern Japan. The B-21 is making its first overseas appearances. The bomber task forces have shifted west.<\/p>\n\n<p>For Beijing, the message is straightforward. Even with the EX delay, even with the F-15Cs gone, the runway at Kadena is not unguarded. It just costs more.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">When the Eagles return<\/h2>\n\n<p>Kadena is currently scheduled to receive its first F-15EX squadron in 2027, with a second to follow by the end of the decade. Until then, expect Raptor rotations and possibly F-35As to fill the slots. The Air Force has not said how long this particular deployment will last, but if recent practice is any guide, it will run at least until the next rotation lands behind it.<\/p>\n\n<p>For now, the world&#8217;s most expensive fighter is the alert bird at the most important air base in the Pacific. Make of that what you will.<\/p>\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:24px\"><em>Sources: Air &#038; Space Forces Magazine, Pacific Air Forces public release, U.S. Air Force.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\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\/267-eagles-air-force-more-than-doubles-the-f-15ex-fleet\/\">267 Eagles: Air Force More Than Doubles the F-15EX Fleet<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-f-15s-perfect-record-104-kills-zero-losses\/\">The F-15&#8217;s Perfect Record: 104 Kills, Zero Losses<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-f-22-can-now-fight-blind-jam-resistant-navigation-goes-operational\/\">The F-22 Can Now Fight Blind: Jam-Resistant Navigation Goes Operational<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Air Force has just done something it almost never does: it has put F-22 Raptors on a runway in Japan. A package of Raptors landed at Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa earlier this week, the most senior officials at Pacific Air Forces have confirmed. The deployment is officially [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":667882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"F-22 Raptor Kadena","_yoast_wpseo_title":"F-22 Raptors Deploy to Kadena While Japan Waits for the F-15EX","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"F-22 Raptors are now standing alert at Kadena Air Base, plugging the gap left by retired F-15C Eagles while the late F-15EX Eagle II replacement is still months away.","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-667913","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 v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>F-22 Raptors Deploy to Kadena 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