Following its maiden flight in October, Japan’s 12th F-35A stealth fighter will soon be delivered to the Air Self-Defense Force. More than two years have passed since Lockheed Martin delivered the first F-35A fighter jet to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s 302nd Fighter Squadron, on Sept. 24, 2016, and today Japan has two F-35A squadrons, all deployed at Misawa Base in Aomori Prefecture.
At the same time, not long ago it was also rumored that Japan will spend $ 8.81 billion upfront to purchase 100 additional F-35 news, including some short-range vertical takeoff and landing type F-35B, to be equipped with modified “Izumo” and “Kaga” light aircraft carriers. If added to the 42 F-35A previously ordered, Japan will have at least 142 fifth-generation stealth fighters by then. What’s more, at the current rate of one F-35 every 1.25 days at the Lockheed Watson plant, Japan will have all 142 aircraft in five or six years, forming 14 squadrons of F-35s and forming the initial combat capability, as long as the money is available.
Not only that, but on March 28, 2018, the South Korean Air Force also got its first F-35A fighter jet. in March 2014, the South Korean Defense Agency had spent 7.4 trillion won to order 40 F-35A fighter jets from Lockheed. And on December 20, 2017, the South Korean government decided to purchase an additional 20 F-35 fighter jets. With the addition of two amphibious assault ships converted to carry F-35Bs, the number of F-35s owned by South Korea is likely to reach 80 in the future and will increase further.
Japan’s 142 F35s could be delivered in five or six years
South Korean F35A
In fact, in East Asia, the F-35s equipped by South Korea and Japan are only a small fighter, and the real main force is the U.S. military’s F-35 combat squadrons in South Korea and Japan, which are not only more advanced but also more numerous. If you count the F-35A in the U.S. Air Force bases in Korea and Japan, the F-35C on the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet carriers and the Marine Corps F-35B on amphibious assault ships, by 2025, the number of F-35s around China may be nearly 1,000, and East Asia will become the most densely populated region in the world for five-generation aircraft
By 2025, there could be thousands of F35s around China
On the other hand, according to the current possible production of J-20, by 2025, it is already the most optimistic projection to have 200 aircraft. Even if the FC31 is converted or becomes a carrier-based aircraft, at the current rate of progress, it will be good enough to be in service in 2025. By then, the CCP will have to face a situation where all the 3rd and 4th generation aircraft combined are not as many as the surrounding F-35s, and in addition they have a large number of F-15s, F-16s and F/A-18s that can be placed at second-line airports, so the situation can be very serious.
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