On Saturday, February 7, 2026, a ceremony marking the entry into service of the short takeoff and vertical landing Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Kōkū Jieitai, JASDF) was held at Nyutabaru Air Base on the island of Kyushu, in Miyazaki Prefecture.
Photos: Japanese Ministry Of Defense via X
The ceremony took place at the air base, which has been designated as one of the primary operating locations for Japan’s F-35B fleet. Yoshida Shinji, Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense and concurrently serving in the Prime Minister’s Office, attended the event (pictured above).
He delivered a speech to military personnel and inspected the newly deployed aircraft. In his remarks, Yoshida emphasized the growing importance of flexible air forces capable of surviving enemy strikes in order to safeguard Japan’s territorial integrity, particularly in light of increasingly complex regional security challenges.
The first three Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft out of a total of 42 ordered arrived in Japan on August 7, 2025, but have only now formally entered operational service. A fourth aircraft is expected to arrive by the end of March.
Although formally assigned to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Kōkū Jieitai), the aircraft will in practice carry out missions in support of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF, Kaijō Jieitai), operating from two Izumo-class 22DDH vessels converted for a new role as light aircraft carriers: JS Izumo (DDH-183) and JS Kaga (DDH-184). Upon completion of the conversion work, the ships will receive new designations, CVM-138 and CVM-184, respectively, and will each embark an air wing of approximately 20 combat aircraft. This will mark Japan’s first such capability since the end of World War II.
The F-35B fleet will complement 105 conventional Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II aircraft operated from land bases in Japan. It is worth recalling that on July 9, 2020, the government in Tokyo received approval to purchase 42 F-35B aircraft along with an additional 63 F-35A, in a deal estimated at up to 23.11 billion USD. Tokyo had expressed interest in acquiring the F-35B as early as November 2018.
To date, the F-35B variant has been selected by the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Singapore, and Japan. Australia decided in 2015 not to proceed with the F-35B (remaining with the F-35A), and in August of last year Spain also declined, although it continues to test carrier-based unmanned solutions, albeit not strike variants.
2月7日、F-35B新田原基地配備記念式典が実施されました✈️
F-35Bは短距離離陸・垂直着陸が可能な最新鋭のステルス戦闘機です。
式典には吉田防衛大臣政務官が出席し、隊員へ訓示を行うとともに、F-35B戦闘機を視察しました。… pic.twitter.com/mXvnKBZFLG
— 防衛省・自衛隊 (@ModJapan_jp) February 7, 2026
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