Boeing has delivered the first F-15EX Eagle II destined for permanent deployment at Kadena Air Base in Japan, as the U.S. Air Force prepares to establish its second combat-coded unit equipped with the new fighter.
The aircraft, known as EX-22, is the 22nd F-15EX delivered to the Air Force, according to Boeing. It departed the manufacturer's St. Louis facility on August 28 for Portland Air National Guard Base in Oregon.
Rather than flying directly to Japan, the aircraft will undergo additional preparations in Portland before eventually moving to Kadena, the 18th Wing said on September 3. F-15EXs are scheduled to begin arriving permanently at the Japanese base during fiscal year 2027. (kadena.af.mil)
The aircraft already carries the "ZZ" tail code associated with the 18th Wing at Kadena.
36 F-15EXs for Kadena
The Air Force plans to permanently station 36 F-15EXs at Kadena, replacing the F-15C/D fleet that had been based on the Japanese island of Okinawa for decades.
The last permanently assigned F-15C/Ds left Kadena in 2024 as the Air Force retired the aging fighters. Since their departure, the service has maintained fighter presence at the strategically important base through rotational deployments of aircraft from the United States.
Kadena will become the second Air Force location to operate combat-coded F-15EXs, following the Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Wing at Portland.
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"This is an important next step toward bringing the F-15EX home to Kadena," Brig. Gen. John Gallemore, commander of the 18th Wing, said.
The arrival of EX-22 will not mark the first appearance of the Eagle II at Kadena. Test aircraft have already deployed to Okinawa as the Air Force prepares the base and its personnel for the permanent fleet.
First F-15EX to be based in Japan takes off for Kadena Air Base | USAF 
First F-15EX to be based in Japan takes off for Kadena Air Base | USAF
In June, an F-15EX assigned to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron arrived at Kadena alongside two F-15E Strike Eagles. Similar deployments have been used to familiarize personnel with the aircraft and evaluate its integration into operations in the Indo-Pacific.
New generation of the Eagle
Developed from the F-15QA built for Qatar, the F-15EX retains the basic configuration of the F-15 but introduces a digital cockpit, fly-by-wire flight controls, the AN/APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array radar and the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS).
The aircraft also provides substantially greater weapons capacity than the Air Force's stealth fighters and is intended to perform missions including air superiority, homeland defense and carriage of large stand-off weapons.
The Air Force originally planned to acquire at least 144 F-15EXs when the program was launched, but successive budget proposals reduced the planned fleet. More recent plans have again increased the expected buy, with the service seeking to maintain the Eagle II alongside the F-35A and F-22 as part of its tactical fighter force.
Kadena's location, about 400 miles (640 km) east of Taiwan, makes the replacement particularly significant. The base is one of the principal U.S. air installations in the western Pacific and regularly conducts joint training with Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15Js based at Naha Air Base.
The Air Force has not disclosed when EX-22 itself will leave Portland for Japan, only that the aircraft will receive additional updates and preparations there before its future stationing at Kadena.
