U.S. commits to “steady” presence in Okinawa as F-15 jets retired
The United States on Tuesday vowed to ensure a “steady-state” military presence in Japan’s southern island prefecture of Okinawa, as it withdraws its F-15 fighter jets based at the U.S. Kadena Air Base and replaces them with a “rotational” force.
The move comes at a time when China is becoming increasingly assertive in the Indo-Pacific, including toward Taiwan.
Four key Republican lawmakers warned in a letter to the Pentagon that the development could send the “wrong signal” to both Beijing as well as U.S. allies in the region.
“We are concerned with reporting that indicates that there will be no permanent presence to replace the Okinawa F-15s,” Sens. Marco Rubio and William Hagerty, former U.S. ambassador to Japan, as well as House of Representatives members such as Mike Gallagher said in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The phased withdrawal of the F-15 aircraft, which has been in service for more than 30 years, will take place over the next two years, starting Tuesday, as part of the U.S. Air Force’s modernization plan.
Defense Department spokesman Pat Ryder emphasized during a press conference the same day that the U.S. military presence at the Kadena base will be maintained through “rotational deployments” that will include “advanced fourth-generation and fifth-generation aircraft to backfill” the F-15s as they depart.
The U.S. Air Force said last week that the deployment of the advanced fighters will be temporary and the Defense Department has “not made a decision on the long-term solution.”
The plan to retire two squadrons of F-15s would involve half of the roughly 100 U.S. Air Force fighters in Japan, the four Republican lawmakers expressed fears over “a tangible reduction in American forward combat power in the Indo-Pacific.”
They also said the move could lower the “bar for aggression,” in an apparent reference to China’s stated desire for “reunification” with Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing views as its own.
Japan is a close U.S. ally that hosts around 54,000 U.S. troops.
Okinawa is home to the bulk of the U.S. military presence in Japan and Kadena is a key air base in the region.