Judging from all the touristy gift shops, the theme restaurants and the throngs of loud teenagers crowding the sidewalks, the Japanese seem to regard the island of Okinawa, the nation’s southernmost prefecture, as a sort of Asiatic Myrtle Beach. But 60 years ago, the island was a fortress guarding the main Japanese islands from American assault during the final days of World War II. The battle for the island lasting from March ’til June 1945 killed 12,000 Americans, 66,000 Japanese soldiers and 150,000 Okinawan civilians — and was the last major battle of the war.
For more than a quarter-century following the battle, Okinawa was American territory. And even when the island returned to Japanese control, the Americans stayed. Today, Okinawa remains a major military outpost. But now the 15,000 U.S. Marines and airmen are partners with the thousands of Japanese servicepeople also on the island. At the capital of Naha at the island’s center, the Japanese “Air Self-Defense Force” has based F-4E Phantom fighter-bombers, P-3 Orion patrol planes and H-60 rescue choppers; further south, the U.S. Air Force flies F-15 Eagle fighters, P-3s, E-3 Sentries, tankers, helicopters and other aircraft from Kadena Air Force Base. When a detachment of F-22 Raptors from the Virginia-based 27th Fighter Squadron (pics!) arrived a couple weeks back for a three-month deployment, they only bolstered what is already one of the most powerful international air forces in the world. Plus the island hosts U.S. transport ships, Marine forces and Japanese coast guard cutters as well as heavy air defenses including U.S. Army PAC-3 anti-missile missiles.
The threats? Nuclear North Korea with its Taepodong ballistic missiles, a potentially resurgent Russia that is already more active in Pacific skies, regional political instability such as seen in Thailand recently and, of course, China. There has been a steady running down of U.S. forces in Europe in the wake of the Cold War, but here in the Pacific no one’s talking about force cuts. Sure, we’re “re-aligning” our troops in South Korea as that country become militarily self-sufficient, and many U.S. forces across densely-populated Japan will move to Guam to form a Pacific “super base”. But overall force levels in the region will at least remain steady while their lethality increases greatly. No fewer than three Raptor squadrons are slated for permanent Pacific duty, the first Littoral Combat Ships are coming to the Pacific fleet in San Diego and the U.S. Army has equipped three of its five regional brigade combat teams in Hawaii, Korea and Alaska with Stryker wheeled vehicles. Meanwhile, our closest allies in the region – Japan, South Korea and Australia – all are embarking on impressive modernization programs (more here) aiming to improve their ability to cooperate with U.S. forces. While media attention focuses on ongoing fights in Iraq and Afghanistan, America’s Pacific forces and our regional allies are quietly preparing for potentially much bigger wars.
Today I visited the deployed Raptor flyers at Kadena to hear why their mount is ideally suited to Pacific operations. That and our regional build-up will be subjects of future posts and an upcoming feature in Defense Technology International.
Related posts:
[...] The first overseas deployment by an F-22 Raptor squadron – to Kadena Air Force Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa – is showcasing not only the Air Force’s newest fighter jet, but also an innovative teaming of active-duty and Air National Guard airmen meant to squeeze more out of a shrinking arsenal of airplanes. [...]
[...] So what exactly are the F-22 Raptors from the 27th Fighter Squadron (pics!) doing at Kadena Air Force Base (more pics!) in Okinawa, Japan, now that they’ve settled in? [...]
Okinawa must surely be a different place than it was April 1, 1945 when I landed there with the Marine 6th division . We left there July 4th and went to Guam to upgrade our equipment in preparation for invasion of the Japanese mainland .
[...] And as AESAs get cheaper, more fighters are being retrofitted or having them installed on the production line, especially in the U.S. Eighteen Alaska-based F-15s received early-model (v)2 AESAs in the 1990s (these jets are now cascading down to Kadena, Japan, as Alaska get Raptors) and new Super Hornets got APG-79s beginning last year. The Air National Guard is next. The 180 AESA-equipped “Golden Eagles” will equip U.S.-based fighter squadrons, assuming Congress keeps the cash coming. The F-35’s radar will be an AESA, too, of course — and the European Typhoon might get AESA sometime down the line. [...]
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[...] But Kaplan’s interest in Guam isn’t misplaced. The island base, seized from Spain in 1898, is one of two key toeholds that give America powerful leverage over events in the Pacific. From Guam, bombers can range all over the region, threatening armies, cities and shipping. The other toehold is Okinawa, a Japanese prefecture that the U.S. seized in World War II and where we still maintain one of the world’s largest air bases. Where remote Guam is an ideal bomber base, Kadena on Okinawa is close enough to Taiwan and the Koreas to bring fighter aircraft to bear. [...]
[...] Last week, six F-22 Raptor fighters from the 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron traveled to Kadena Air Force Base (pictured) in Japan, where they will conduct air combat training with Kadena-based F-15 Eagles. It’s the second deployment to Japan in as many years for the F-22. [...]