The first Boeing F-15EX Eagle II headed for permanent assignment at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa left Boeing’s St. Louis facility on August 28, 2026, starting the next phase of a move that will eventually put the jet in Japan. The aircraft, serial 22-0022, is now bound for the 142nd Wing at Portland Air National Guard Base in Oregon before it reaches the 18th Wing in Okinawa.
That departure matters because it marks the clearest dated step yet in the handoff from production line to front-line service. John Gallemore said his team is ready to welcome the aircraft and called the move another milestone on the way to putting the capability in the hands of the airmen who will fly, maintain and employ it from Japan. For readers following the search for Boeing F-15EX Eagle II, this is the point where the replacement for Kadena’s retired F-15C/D fleet stops being a promise and becomes a jet in transit.
The aircraft was already visible in the sky before it left St. Louis for good. In early August, 22-0022 was flying test sorties in primer paint, and by the middle of the month it was flying in full livery with the ZZ tail code. Boeing delivered the 22nd F-15EX to the US Air Force, and this one is the first destined for Kadena Air Base in Japan.
What happens next is a deliberate pause, not a delay. The 142nd Wing will handle final staging and integration preparations, acting as the coordination and preparation unit for the 18th Wing before the aircraft is deployed to Okinawa. That work matters because the F-15EX brings modernized avionics, flight controls, an expanded electronic warfare suite and increased weapons carriage, along with the ability to carry large air-to-air and air-to-surface payloads and serve as a long-range missile truck. It can also take on new sensors, weapons and electronic warfare capabilities more readily than the aging F-15C/D fleet.
The friction is simple: the jet has left St. Louis, but it is not yet home. Arrival in Japan is expected to begin in fiscal year 2027, which starts on October 1, 2026, so the aircraft that just rolled out of Boeing’s factory still has a stretch of preparation ahead before it joins the buildup at Kadena. Two active-duty squadrons of F-15EXs are set to be established there, replacing units that once flew F-15Cs, while the Air Force keeps rotating F-15Es, F-22s and other fighters through the base in the meantime. The first Kadena-bound Eagle II is moving now, but its real test begins when it finally reaches Okinawa.
