U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan fly alongside 2 U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers assigned to the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, over waters near Kyushu, Japan, August 30th. The F-35Bs and B-1Bs made contact with 2 Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) F-15J fighters in Japanese airspace in direct response to North Korea’s intermediate range ballistic missile launch, which flew directly over northern Japan on August 28 amid rising tension over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development programs.
Japan Air Self-Defense Force
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