The Japanese cabinet has approved a plan to add an additional 105 Lockheed Martin F-35s to its planned fleet of 42 examples, potentially making it the world’s second largest F-35 operator.
In a press briefing, the chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed that the country’s Medium Term Defence Program has been approved by the cabinet.
Of Tokyo’s eventual F-35 fleet of 147 examples, it is likely that 107 will be conventional take-off and landing F-35As, while 40 will be short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35Bs. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that a fleet of this size would make Tokyo the second largest operator of the F-35 type after the United States, and putting it ahead of the United Kingdom.
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