Agence France-Presse, Japan said Oct. 9 it would deploy F-15 fighter jets on the southernmost island chain of Okinawa for the first time amid growing concern about China’s military presence in the region.
The defense ministry also said that Japan, the U.S. and Australia would conduct a first-ever joint military drill Oct. 17 in the East China Sea off Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu.
The Air Self-Defense Force will shift 20 F-15 jets from a base near Tokyo to Okinawa’s Naha Base by March 2009 to replace 20 F-4 jets in the island, a defense ministry spokeswoman said.
“The deployment is mainly aimed at the replacement of the aging F-4s,” the spokeswoman said.
She declined to comment on a report by the Nikkei business newspaper that the shift was in response to growing concern about China.
Okinawa, located some 372 miles from China’s eastern coast, also holds half of more than 40,000 American troops stationed in Japan under a security alliance.
“The Japanese government cannot say that China is a threat, but we are showing concern,” Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura was quoted by the Nikkei as saying.
The three-nation drill, involving P-3C submarine spotting planes, is aimed at improving techniques in fields such as communications and search-and-rescue operations, as well as helping build mutual confidence, another defense ministry official said.
“It doesn’t have any particular third country in mind. Japan, the United States and Australia share the same values as partners and the drill will help promote the partnership,” the official said.
It is the first time that the three countries will stage a joint military drill, the ministry said. Japan, India and the U.S. also held a first joint naval exercise in April.
The latest drill will involve two destroyers and two P-3Cs from Japan’s navy and a P-3C patrol plane each from the U.S. navy and the Australian air force.
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who took office in late September, has pledged to strengthen ties with China but called on Beijing to fully explain its growing military spending.
China has seen double-digit increases in its military spending almost annually for the past 15 years, triggering concern in the U.S. and Japan.
The planned deployment of F-15s, which form the core of Japan’s fighter force, also comes amid a delay in Japan’s plans to introduce next-generation fighters.
Japan has hoped to buy F-22 Raptors, the latest U.S. Air Force jets built to evade radar detection at supersonic speeds, but Washington has yet to approve the sale as U.S. law bans exporting Raptors to any country.
Japan has been officially pacifist since its defeat in World War II but has one of the world’s largest defense budgets and has gradually expanded its military role.
