U.S. Marines Deploy F-35B Stealth Fighters to Japan as China Competition Reshapes Pacific Airpower

U.S. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 533 has deployed F-35B Lightning II aircraft from MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, to MCAS Iwakuni in Japan. The rotational deployment replaces VMFA-232, which operated F/A-18C/D Hornets, and returns a fifth-generation short-take-off-and-vertical-landing squadron to Marine Aircraft Group 12. VMFA-533 began receiving F-35Bs in 2024 after transitioning from the Hornet, enabling an East Coast unit to sustain an Indo-Pacific rotation. The deployment supports stealth strike, air defence, sensing and expeditionary operations from established bases, austere sites or amphibious ships; aircraft numbers were not disclosed.