As deliveries continue, the JASDF has now started training operations with the F-35B Lightning II at Nyutabaru Air Base.
The JASDF (Japan Air-Self Defense Force) officially began its training operations with the F-35B Lightning II at Nyutabaru Air Base on Nov. 4, 2025, marking a significant milestone in Tokyo’s move towards a more modern Self-Defense Force.
The initial phase of F-35B training in Japan
The Nov. 4 sortie marked the first training flight since the type’s introduction to the base, located in the southern island of Kyushu. According to the Japanese MoD (Ministry of Defense), the first phase of training focuses on core STOVL (Short Take Off and Vertical Landing) operations, including short-takeoffs, touch-and-goes, slow-landings, and vertical landings.
新田原NOW.F35Bタッチアンドゴー pic.twitter.com/WBfiAhmBD2
— 前田正孝 (@takakumajapan) November 4, 2025
As usual for JASDF sorties, a typical F-35B training mission will last one to two hours, and the MoD expects the initial training period to continue for two to six days, depending on weather and operational requirements. The MoD also announced that most sorties will see the jets conducting CTOL (Conventional Take Off and Landing) operations.
In fact, due to the increased noise factor brought on by the new type, the JASDF has promised to limit their vertical landing operations to an average of 80 vertical landings per month, with around 20 of those conducted during night sorties. Each hover and vertical landing sequence is expected to last two to three minutes.
新田原基地周辺地域に向けたF-35B飛行実演
空自35Bニュータ初の短距離離陸
納入時に消えていたロービジ日の丸🔘を視認して、改めて本邦の35Bだと実感しました🫡
航空自衛隊 臨時F-35B飛行隊
2025/09/17(Wed)
RJFN/Nyutabaru Air Base
Lockheed Martin F-35B(59-8204)
STOVL Demonstration Flight pic.twitter.com/uuPbmCKXzK
— ﾏﾛﾀﾞﾖｰ (@Marodayooooo) September 17, 2025
Notably, U.S. pilots conducted a demonstration flight at the base on Sep. 17, in an attempt to mitigate concerns of local residents over the noise caused by the vertical landings. Furthermore, an airbase is being built at Mageshima Island, around 150 kilometers to the south of Nyutabaru, for pilots to practice vertical landings without complaints over noise.
The first three F-35Bs were delivered to Nyutabaru in August 2025, followed by another batch of two that arrived in October. Three additional jets are scheduled to be delivered later in the fiscal year, with the JASDF expecting to field its initial complement of eight STOVL fighters by the end of fiscal year 2025 as part of Japan’s planned fleet of 42 F-35Bs.
空自35B 追加2機のフェリーフライト
14時過ぎに 新田原基地に到着しました。
携わられたcrewの皆様、遠路はるばるお疲れ様でした🙂↕️
航空自衛隊 臨時F-35B飛行隊
JASDF Temporary F-35B Squadron
Lockheed Martin F-35B
(59-8202/59-8206)
2025/10/28(Tue)
RJFN/Nyutabaru Air Base#新田原基地 pic.twitter.com/irrJ621SA5
— ﾏﾛﾀﾞﾖｰ (@Marodayooooo) October 28, 2025
F-35Bs in Japanese service
Japan plans to operate a portion of its 42 F-35Bs aboard the JMSDF’s (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force) helicopter-destroyers JS Kaga and JS Izumo. Both ships are currently undergoing structural modifications to accommodate the F-35Bs, with the completion expected by the end of the fiscal year 2027.
As part of the program, both vessels have already conducted developmental trials with aircraft from the USN (US Navy)’s VX-23 (Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23).
For now, the aircraft at Nyutabaru operate under a “Temporary F-35B Flight Squadron,” but the Ministry of Defense has disclosed plans to stand up the first permanent unit as the 202nd TFS (Tactical Fighter Squadron) under the FY2026 budget. The 202nd TFS, originally established in 1964 and based at Nyutabaru for most of its operational history, was disbanded in 2000.
The unit is famous as the first squadron in the JASDF to transition from the F-104J to the F-15J. Its emblem before the deactivation was that of a Haniwa, small clay-made statue found in archeological sites near the base, but it is unclear whether the revived 202nd TFS will continue to use said emblem.
Notably, the JASDF also operates F-35As and has already received 47 units out of the planned fleet of 105, with the 301st and 302nd TFS based at Misawa Air Base operating 20 airframes each. The third F-35A squadron, the 303rd TFS based at Komatsu, recently began transitioning from the F-15J/DJ and has received 7 units of the fifth-generation jet so far.
Unlike the service’s F-35As which are license-built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Komaki, Nagoya, all JASDF F-35Bs are being produced at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant in the U.S.
59-8204 BX-04 F-35B JASDF (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) on a test flight at NAS JRB Fort Worth in STOVL mode. pic.twitter.com/0expFdzlRQ
— Sam Combs (@pressxtolive) July 2, 2025
