<p >On April 8 the U.S. Air Force was confirmed to have deployed F-35A Lightning II and F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft to Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa, marking the latest rotation of fighters as replacing the facility’s F-15C/D air superiority fighters which in August <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-withdrawing-f15-44yrs-china-doorstep" target="_blank">ended</a> a permanent deployment of <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-withdrawing-f15-44yrs-china-doorstep" target="_blank">over 45 years </a>there. The F-35s were deployed under the 355th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, while the F-15Es were deployed under the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The two newly deployed fighter classes are considered highly complementary, with the F-35 boasting advanced stealth and sensor fusion capabilities that are unrivalled outside China, while the F-15E carries a significantly larger sensor suite and has a much longer range and higher weapons carrying capacity.&nbsp;The lack of a direct replacement for the F-15C/D has forced the Air Force to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/american-f35-forward-deployed-taiwan-f15s-phased-out" target="_blank" >rely on rotational deployments</a> to replace the aircraft, until sufficient production of the new <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/more-f15ex-needed-ageing-fleet" target="_blank">F-15EX Eagle II fighter</a> allows for these newer aircraft to form a new permanent deployment.&nbsp;</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/04/11/article_67f8720e2f8667_47617609.jpg" title="U.S. Air Force F-15C Fighters Operating From Kadena Air Base"></p><p >The decision to replace F-15s from the early 1980s with a newer variant of the same aircraft, which has now been in service for over 50 years, was taken largely due to the lack of a fifth generation successor, with the F-22 program initially intended to provide such an aircraft &nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/25-f22-maiden-flight-looks-like-failure" >having fallen far short&nbsp;</a>of expectations, both in terms of performance and availability rates. Although there was significant speculation that the Western world’s only fifth generation fighter currently in production, the F-35, could replace the F-15C/D on permanent deployment, the fighter’s limited range, much smaller radar size, flight performance limitations, and low availably rates all serve to reduce its suitability to serve as a direct successor for the much larger F-15s.&nbsp;Kadena Air Force Base is one of the most significant facilities in the world for American power projection, and is the closest to the Taiwan Strait which remains a leading hotspot for Sino-U.S. tensions. The deployment of advanced fifth generation fighters in growing numbers and with fast improving capabilities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force has brought the ability of the facility’s fighters to contest air superiority into growing question, with China poised to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-may-win-race-sixth-gen-fighters" target="_blank">begin fielding</a> the world’s first sixth generation fighters in the early 2030s.</p>