US to deploy F-35 jets in Japan by 2017
The US will deploy around 16 fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter planes in Japan's Iwakuni in 2017, US officials said. The move will make Japan the first country with an overseas US base to get the F-35 aircraft. This comes after the US Air Force declared the first squadron of F-35 fighter aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin as 'combat capable'.