KADENA AIR BASE — Nearly 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo, on the island of Okinawa, sits the US military’s Kadena Air Base, the largest US installation in the Indo-Pacific.
Breaking Defense recently visited the base, as part of a reporting trip to speak to officials including in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, who revealed new details about Chinese activity in the region including some potentially dangerous incidents. You can read both parts of that story here and here. In the meantime, check out some photos from the flightline at Kadena below.
The US Air Force maintains near constant rotational presence of at least one RC-135 at Kadena, This RC-135S Cobra Ball of the 55th Wing, which is used for monitoring and tracking ballistic missile launches, was photographed landing at the base having just deployed from its home base at Offutt, Nebraska. (Mike Yeo / Breaking Defense)
A US Navy P-8A Poseidon of Patrol Squadron (VP) 9 “Golden Eagles” turns on the the runway at Kadena in preparation for take off. This aircraft carries the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor pod on its bottom fuselage, which contains a radar with moving target indicator (MTI) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) functionality for tracking moving targets at sea and on land. (Mike Yeo / Breaking Defense)Another operator of the MQ-9 Reaper at Kadena is the US Air Force’s 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, whose role is to conduct airborne reconnaissance in the region in coordination with Japan’s Ministry of Defense. (Mike Yeo / Breaking Defense)A Bombardier Global Express 6000/6500 executive jet fitted with the L3Harris Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES) rolls down the runway at Kadena Airbase. ARES integrates capabilities from the Army’s existing ISR fleet with capacity to add payloads, sensors and increase standoff ranges. (Mike Yeo / Breaking Defense)
Tires smoke gently as a US Marine Corps General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper of Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 3 touches down at Kadena Airbase. (Mike Yeo / Breaking Defense)A US Air Force Boeing RC-135V/W Rivet Joint Electronic/Signals Intelligence aircraft landing at Kadena following a mission. The aircraft’s on-board sensor suite allows the mission crew to detect, identify and geolocate signals from emitters such as radars and communications systems throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. (Mike Yeo / Breaking Defense)Kadena Air Base currently does not have any combat aircraft assigned to the 18th Wing following the retirement of its F-15C/D Eagle interceptors. Instead detachments from other USAF fighter units, such as this F-15E Strike Eagle from the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Wing normally based at Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, are rotationally deployed to the base until the new F-15EX Eagle IIs arrive in FY 2026. (Breaking Defense/Mike Yeo)
A USAF Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker of Kadena’s resident 18th Wing turns onto the runway for departure on a mission to support other US air assets on the afternoon of Sept 29, 2025. The wing has one squadron of such tankers, belonging to the Young Tigers of the 909th Air Refueling Squadron. (Breaking Defense/Mike Yeo)
