Japan To Purchase 150 F-35s

The Air Self-Defense Force’s F-35A fighter jet is shown at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture in February. Pool photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun

Business Insider: Japan is loading up on F-35s for an aircraft carrier meant to check China

* Japan plans to purchase 147 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters, Keitaro Ohno, parliamentary vice minister of defense for Japan's ruling party, revealed Wednesday.
* 107 F-35As will replace an aging fleet of F-4 and F-15 fighters, and 40 B variants are expected to serve aboard refitted Izumo-class destroyers.
* The focus, according to Ohno, is responding to China in the Pacific.

Japan is apparently considering tripling its original F-35 order "to respond to China in the Pacific," a senior defense official in the Japanese parliament revealed Wednesday.

Japan plans to purchase as many as 147 F-35s to replace Japan's aging fleet of F-4 and F-15 fighters, as well as significantly enhance the combat capabilities of Japan's maritime forces, Keitaro Ohno, parliamentary vice minister of defense for Japan's ruling party, explained Wednesday, confirming rumors

that have been circulating for weeks.

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WNU Editor: This is a major purchase.

More News On Japan's Decision To Purchase 150 F-35s

Japan’s potential buy of 100 more F-35s would have big international significance -- Defense News
Japan moves forward on F-35 buy, aircraft carrier transformation -- Military Times
Upgrade Would Arm Japan With First Aircraft Carriers Since World War II -- The New York Times
Japan plans to purchase nearly 150 F-35 fighter jets from the US -- VOX
Japan Triples Its F-35 Order: Stealth fighters to replace 99 F-15s -- War Is Boring
The Best Defense? Japan’s Controversial F-35 Carrier Upgrade Confirmed -- Sputnik
Japan Is Dumping the F-4 Phantom for the F-35 (And It’s a Big Deal) -- Michael Peck, National Interest