The U.S. State Dept. approved a sale of 105 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Stealth fighter jets to the Japan Air Self Defense Force, part of a broader sale estimated to total $23.11 billion. The Japanese defense ministry made a request for 63 F-35A Conventional Take-Off-and-Landing (CTOL) variant jets and 42 F-35B Short-Take-Off-and-Vertical-Landing (STVOL) variant jets, as well as 110 Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan engines (including five spare engines) to power the aircraft.
The sale has yet to be finalized by the U.S. Congress and officially approved by the Japanese government.
The F-35 is a series of three different, single-engine aircraft with Stealth capability and designed for ground attack and combat. It's deployed by the U.S Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy, and the defense forces of multiple allied nations.
The 105 aircraft would be built in the U.S. by Lockheed Martin, though Japan is the site of an F-35 Final Assembly and Check-Out facility.
"This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Asia-Pacific region," stated the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a Dept. of Defense agency that provides financial and technical assistance, transfer of defense matériel, training, and services to U.S. allies, and promotes military-to-military contacts.
"It is vital to U.S. national interest to assist Japan in developing and maintaining a strong and effective self-defense capability," it added.
With the new purchases, Japan will operate 147 of the F-35s. It would be the second-largest operator of the F-35, after the U.S. Dept. of Defense, just ahead of the U.K. Ministry of Defence. The first Japanese squadron of 13 F-35aircraft went into service in 2019.
