The Japan Air Self-Defence Forces had been reported by U.S. President Donald Trump to have acquired its first batch of air-to-air missiles to equip its F-35 fifth era fighters solely the final week of October 2025, over eight years after the service acquired its first F-35s in mid-2017. The assertion signifies that the F-35s have been working with out an air-to-air functionality for years, elevating questions relating to their utility for Japan’s defence. The F-35’s requirement to hold missiles internally to retain its stealth profile, that means solely missile with specifically cropped fins could be accommodated, means the fighters can not make use of older sorts of air-to-air missile when stealth configured. Though the F-35A variant that has made up the majority of Japanese orders is supplied with a GAU-22/A gatling gun, it carries sufficient rounds for simply 4 seconds of fireplace, whereas misalignment points meant that the weapon was successfully ineffective till this was belatedly mounted in March 2024.
The F-35 depends on the AIM-120C and AIM-120D as its main past visible vary missiles, and the AIM-9X Block II as its main visible vary armament, though it can not carry the latter when stealth configured which leaves it doubtlessly extremely susceptible in shorter vary engagements. Japan’s fighter fleet has been gradual to undertake AIM-120, with most of the F-15 squadrons that also kind the spine of its fleet counting on the older AIM-7 missile lengthy since thought-about out of date, whereas small numbers of indigenous AAM-4 with comparable capabilities to earlier AIM-120 variants. The veracity of President Trump’s declare that Japan has not but acquired air-to-air missiles for its F-35s stay in query, with the president having a protracted file of constructing extremely uncommon claims relating to navy gear. In mid-October, for instance, he introduced an order for an upgraded model of B-2 bomber, which is taken into account extremely unlikely to truly be deliberate, whereas he later that month claimed that American plane carriers will return to utilizing previous steam catapult launch techniques which can be not anticipated to materialise.
