An F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron lands while F-16C Fighting Falcons assigned to the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron taxi at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Jan. 13, 2025. (Tylir Meyer/U.S. Air Force)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — An F-16C Fighting Falcon made an emergency landing here Monday, according to a local newspaper, the second such incident at the base in as many days.
Meanwhile, more stealth fighters arrived at Kadena the same day as part of a temporary plan to fill in for retiring F-15 Eagles, according to a news release from the 18th Wing.
The F-16, deployed to Kadena on a rotational basis, landed at around 3:30 p.m. Monday, according to a report in the Ryukyu Shimpo citing an uncredited photo and unnamed witnesses. The fighter was believed to be participating in routine training that began last week and is scheduled to continue through Thursday, the report said.
Wing spokeswoman Maj. Alli Stormer declined to confirm the landing in an email Tuesday.
The same newspaper reported an F-22 Raptor stealth fighter made an emergency landing at Kadena on Sunday.
“Precautionary landings are standard procedure when pilots notice something out of the ordinary with their aircraft,” Stormer wrote. “We are committed to conducting safe flight operations as we uphold our defense commitments.”
Earlier Monday, 10 F-35A Lightning IIs began arriving at Kadena, a spokesman with the Okinawa Defense Bureau, an arm of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, said by phone Tuesday.
Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.
The stealth fighters are from the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron with the Vermont Air National Guard, according to the wing’s news release.
The Air Force has rotated squadrons of more advanced warplanes through Kadena since officially bidding farewell to its 48 legacy F-15 C/D Eagles on Okinawa in December 2022. The service sometimes calls Kadena the “keystone of the Pacific” because of Okinawa’s position northeast of Taiwan on the eastern edge of the East China Sea.
“Our squadron eagerly anticipates the chance to elevate our training by testing [agile combat employment] concepts during this deployment,” squadron commander Lt. Col. Trevor Callen said in the release. “We are committed to leveraging our experiences and techniques alongside our bilateral partners and Kadena flying units, which will significantly enhance our operational versatility in the Indo-Pacific.”
Agile combat employment is the Air Force doctrine that calls for operations to shift from centralized air hubs to a network of smaller, dispersed sites or cluster bases.
The F-35As join F-16C Fighting Falcons from the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and F-22 Raptors from the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of Joint-Base Elmendorf, Alaska, according to the release.
Stormer in another email Tuesday declined to say if F-35As from the 34th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of Hill Air Force Base, Utah, have departed the base, citing security reasons. The aircraft were at Kadena as of Monday.
“To support regional interoperability with allies and partners, we will continue to maintain a steady-state fighter presence of fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft,” she said.
Interoperability is a term the military often uses to describe the ability of one country’s armed forces to use another’s training methods and equipment.
In July, the Air Force announced it will permanently deploy 36 F-15EX Eagles to Okinawa to replace the older F-15s, as part of a broader plan to station more advanced fighter aircraft across Japan over the next several years.
Stars and Stripes reporter Keishi Koja contributed to this report.
