Former Deputy Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Dan Leaf, said bluntly that after the evacuation of the U.S. F-15 fighter jets permanently deployed in Okinawa will have serious negative impacts and will be difficult for the U.S. Air Force to remedy it.
The US Stars and Stripes said on the 25th that retired Air Force Lieutenant General Dan Leaf served as an F-15 fighter pilot in Okinawa. From 2005 to 2008, he also served as deputy commander of the US Pacific Command. Recently, he made it clear in an interview, "If I make the decision, I will maintain the permanent existence of the fighter air superiority in Okinawa." Liv said that Okinawa Kadena Air Force Base is close to Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula, which is very beneficial to the US military's rapid intervention in the situation in East Asia. In addition, the local government of Okinawa, Japan has been negotiating to demand the withdrawal of US troops. Liff emphasized that "once they (US F-15 fighter jets) evacuated, they will disappear from Okinawa permanently." At the same time, "regardless of the reason for the US military to withdraw the F-15 from Okinawa, China and the US allies in the region will regard it as withdrawal, thus affecting the strategic deterrence capabilities of the US military." According to reports, the 18th Wing of the US Air Force is the most powerful air force in the Asia-Pacific region, "can provide a comprehensive frontier power projection platform to defend the common interests of the United States and Japan." The wing has a complete fighter jet model that can perform different tasks such as fighting for air superiority, air refueling, air warning, combat search and rescue.
According to the Pentagon's plan, starting from November 1, the F-15 fighter jets of two squadrons will be withdrawn from Okinawa Kadena Air Force Base in stages for two years. As a substitute, some F-22 stealth fighter have been rotated and deployed at the base on November 4. In order to demonstrate the deterrence capabilities of the US military in the region, the US Air Force conducted a large-scale display at the Kadena base for the first time since the F-15 began to evacuate from Okinawa, dispatching 23 F-15 fighters, 8 F-22 stealth fighters, 3 HH-60 "Paving Eagle" helicopters, 1 RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft, 1 KC-135 tanker and 1 E-3 early warning aircraft.
Even so, many American heavyweights have opposed the evacuation of the F-15 from Okinawa. Several Republican lawmakers wrote to U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin, saying they were worried that the move would lead to a "significant decline in the United States' frontier combat effectiveness." Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Steve Ganyad believes that "the idea that the Okinawa base cannot survive in the conflict with China is incorrect." According to reports, the United States and Japan have put a lot of effort into strengthening Okinawa's defense. Just earlier this month, two Japanese latest missile destroyers, , used a new interceptor missile to shoot down target bombs that simulated the incoming ballistic missile . Leaf stressed that the US Air Force announced the use of rotating the deployment of fighter troops to replace the permanent deployment of F-15 fighter jets in Okinawa with "logic imbalance." Because the fighter jets deployed on the island are facing the same risks as permanently stationed forces in wartime.
The US Air Force Magazine said that the replacement of F-15C/D includes F-22 stationed in Alaska and F-16 stationed in Germany, and will likely use the newly produced F-15EX fighter jets in the future. But Leaf admits that the key problem is that the US Air Force has not invested enough to fully replace old F-15 fighters. Although the U.S. Air Force had asked to purchase hundreds of F-22s to replace the F-15, it ended up only 187. "We knew 20 years ago that this was not enough."
