The Ministry of Defense is seen in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward in this June 14, 2023, file photo. (Mainichi/Kaho Kitayama)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan will send Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jets for the first time to Britain, Germany and Canada for defense exchanges starting this weekend, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Friday.
The defense cooperation tour from Sunday, which will last about two weeks excluding joint training, comes amid heightened global tensions.
“This embodies the common understanding that security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is inseparable,” Nakatani said at a press conference. “We will seek to deepen mutual understanding with the air forces of those countries.”
Four F-15s, based at Chitose Air Base in Hokkaido, will be dispatched, along with transport and refueling aircraft, until around Oct. 1 to Canada, Britain and then Germany via a U.S. military base in Alaska.
The plan for the first Japanese fighter jet deployment to Europe was revealed when British Defense Secretary John Healey met with Nakatani in Tokyo in August.
AloJapan.com