Ny allianse materialiserer seg - Japan Australia - Stars & Stripes

 

På grunn av Kinas særdeles aggressive holdning og oppbygging av forsvaret, ser stadig flere land på dem som en eksistensiell trussel. Japan har vært hatet av Australia i mange år, nærmere bestemt 78 Nå er tonen en helt annen..... (Red.)

ASIA-PACIFIC

Japanese F-35A stealth fighters touch down in Australia on first overseas deployment

By 

SETH ROBSON

STARS AND STRIPES • August 28, 2023

A Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Lightning II lands at Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal in the Northern Territory, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. (Australia’s Department of Defence)

A pair of Japanese F-35A Lightning II fighter jets are in Australia’s Northern Territory on their first international mission, the Australian Department of Defence announced Monday.

The stealth aircraft, along with 55 Japanese airmen, flew nearly 4,000 miles from Japan to Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal, according to a department news release.

The fifth-generation fighters arrived Saturday and will depart Tuesday, the statement said.

“Australia is honored to be chosen as the destination for Japan’s first international deployment of its F-35As,” Australian Defence Department secretary Greg Moriarty said in the release. “This is a significant milestone in the relationship between our two countries, and is the fist activity to be held under the Reciprocal Access Agreement.”

Lt. Col. Kazuhito Okamoto, commander of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's 301st Squadron, gives a coin to Cmdr. Martin Parker, leader of the No.75 Squadron, at Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal, Australia, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. (Australia's Department of Defence)

The recent agreement allows training by troops from Japan and Australia in each other’s territory.

RAAF Tindal hosted a dozen U.S. Marine Corps F-35B short-takeoff, vertical-landing fighters from Marine Fighter Attack Squadrons 121 and 242 during last summer’s biennial Pitch Black exercise. Based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, they were the first Marine F-35s to operate from Australian soil, although F-35s had flown from ships off Australia’s coast since 2019.

Multimillion-dollar upgrades are underway at RAAF Tindal to accommodate rotations of U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers during the southern hemisphere winter.

Just over 200 miles’ drive south of Darwin, in an expanse of red soil and gum trees, RAAF Tindal is home to F-35As from Australia’s No. 75 Squadron and is one of only two bases with a unit of the country’s newest fighters.

Australia is acquiring 72 F-35As from U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, according to the Australian air force.