US Sends F-35 Jets to Ally Under Pressure From Trump

questioned the Northeast Asian security ally for not having to “protect us.”

has reached out to the Japanese Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Why It Matters

with allied and friendly territories.

, for potential emergencies in the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula.

signed in 1960 was not reciprocal: “We have to protect them but they don’t have to protect us.”

What To Know

.

The Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214, which sent the fighter jets to Japan, became the first F-35B squadron to take part in this rotational mission known as the Unit Deployment Program, which augmented the U.S. Marines’ aviation forces in the Indo-Pacific region.

The temporary deployment program provides continental U.S.-based units with experience of operating in the Indo-Pacific region, the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing said in a press release.

The Marine Aircraft Group 12, which is one of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing’s subordinate units, maintained two other F-35B squadrons in Japan before the arrival of the new aircraft.

for the Unit Deployment Program; this previously involved the less advanced, fourth-generation aircraft such as the F/A-18 and the AV-8B. The radar-evading F-35B jet is classified as the fifth generation.

. The F-35A is built for operating from conventional runways, and the F-35C is designed for deployment aboard aircraft carriers.

the following month, which are expected to be superior to the fifth generation.

What People Are Saying

“As more F-35 squadrons deploy to the remote and contested environments of the Indo-Pacific, Marine Aviation’s readiness will grow, and our capabilities as a combined force in this region will become even more lethal.”

“An additional F-35B squadron increases Marine aviation’s contribution to operations in the Indo-Pacific with joint forces, allies, and partners alike from established and scantily developed locations for distributed operations.”

What Happens Next

, changed its home port to Japan last October.

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