MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan will send its fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters overseas for the primary time later this month to participate in exercises in northern Australia.
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF, said in a release Monday that 4 Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters from the third Air Wing at Misawa will undertake a two-week deployment.
In keeping with the discharge, the deployment will see the jets participate in exercises flying via Andersen Air Force Base on the U.S. territory of Guam to Darwin and Tindal in Australia’s Northern Territory.
A JASDF Boeing KC-767 tanker, a Lockheed-Martin C-130 Hercules and two Kawasaki C-2 airlifters will support the F-35s for the exercises starting Aug. 21 and concluding Sept. 2.
It will mark the primary time Japan has sent its F-35s overseas for training and follows the deployment of 5 Mitsubishi F-2 fighters to Australia for the primary time in 2022 when the JASDF took part within the multinational Pitch Black air combat exercise.
Royal Australian Air Force F-35As will deploy to Japan in early September for Exercise Bushido Guardian, a joint air combat training activity between the 2 countries, in accordance with a joint announcement by Australia’s defense and foreign ministers.
Australia may even take part in Exercise Yama Sakura as a full participant for the primary time with greater than 150 personnel travelling to Japan in December for the land warfare exercise.
The announcement of the exercises comes because the Reciprocal Access Agreement, or RAA, between each countries comes into effect. The agreement provides the legal framework for greater cooperation between the defense forces of each countries.
That is the primary visiting forces agreement Japan has struck with any country outside the USA and is predicted to “streamline simpler force cooperation and enable each country to extend the sophistication and regularity of coaching, exercises and other cooperative activities,” in accordance with the announcement.
Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.