First Kadena-Bound F-15EX Eagle II Leaves Boeing's St. Louis Plant
The first F-15EX earmarked for permanent basing in Japan departed Boeing's St. Louis facility for Oregon on its way to Kadena Air Base, where the jet arrives in fiscal year 2027.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Melany Bermudez, DVIDS, public domain
The first F-15EX Eagle II built for permanent basing at Kadena Air Base, Japan, rolled off Boeing’s St. Louis production line and departed for Oregon on Aug. 28, 2026, according to a release from the Air Force’s 18th Wing carried on DVIDS. The aircraft is headed first to Portland Air National Guard Base, where it will receive further preparation before its eventual move to Kadena, with first arrivals in Japan expected in fiscal year 2027.
A second home for the newest Eagle
Kadena sits at the center of U.S. air power in the western Pacific, opposite China and Taiwan, and the base has flown F-15C/D Eagles there for decades. Those jets are being retired, and the F-15EX is their planned replacement. Per the 18th Wing’s own release, this delivery marks Kadena’s transition toward becoming just the second U.S. Air Force location, after the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing at Portland, to fly combat-coded Eagle IIs.
The distinction matters. F-15EX jets have visited Kadena before on rotational deployments, but this aircraft is different: it is built specifically for permanent stationing there, part of what the release describes as continued U.S. investment in Kadena’s fighter force and the broader modernization of tactical airpower in the region. The 18th Wing already trains regularly with Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15s based at nearby Naha Air Base, and a permanently stationed Eagle II fleet is meant to deepen that interoperability rather than start it from scratch.
The commander’s read on the milestone
Brig. Gen. John Gallemore, the 18th Wing’s commander, framed the departure as a step in a longer process rather than an arrival in itself.
“This is an important next step toward bringing the F-15EX home to Kadena,” said Brig. Gen. John Gallemore, 18th Wing commander (DVIDS, Sept. 2, 2026). “Our team is ready to welcome the F-15EX, and this is another milestone that brings us closer to putting this capability in the hands of the Airmen who will fly, maintain and employ it from Japan.”
That framing lines up with how the Air Force has described the F-15EX program generally: incremental, production-line milestones building toward operational capability, rather than a single dramatic unveiling.
What the jet actually brings to the fight
The F-15EX Eagle II is the newest-build derivative of the F-15 airframe, and per WeaponSpecs’ own systems record, it carries the largest external weapons payload of any U.S. Air Force fighter: up to 13,380 kilograms across 12 hardpoints. That capacity comes from retaining the F-15’s fundamentally analog, hang-everything-on-it airframe while modernizing everything else around it. The jet flies with an AN/APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array radar and the AN/ALQ-250 Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System, a substantially more capable electronic warfare suite than anything on the F-15C/D fleet it replaces. Its hardpoints are wired for the AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder in service today, plus the in-development AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile and, further out, hypersonic weapons that were never part of the older Eagle’s design envelope.
Boeing has built 30 F-15EX jets to date, per WeaponSpecs’ database, against an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract the Air Force awarded in July 2020, with a ceiling of up to 200 aircraft and a total value of roughly $23 billion. Unit flyaway cost on early production lots runs approximately $90 million per jet. The first F-15EX delivered to an operational flying unit arrived at Portland Air National Guard Base in June 2024, standing up the Oregon Air National Guard as the type’s first combat-coded home. Kadena is next.
Timeline, not a single event
Nothing about this delivery is a surprise announcement. It is the latest data point in a program that has moved in visible, sequential steps since 2020: contract award, first flight testing at Eglin Air Force Base, a formal naming ceremony, first operational delivery to Portland, and now the first jet purpose-built for a second permanent base. Each step has been documented as it happened, which is part of why this delivery is verifiable in the first place rather than something that has to be taken on the Air Force’s word after the fact.
What comes next is straightforward to track. This aircraft’s stay at Portland Air National Guard Base is a preparation stop, not a final destination, and the 18th Wing’s own release ties actual arrivals at Kadena to fiscal year 2027. Whether that timeline holds, and how many additional Eagle IIs follow this one before the F-15C/D fleet at Kadena is fully retired, are the two concrete markers worth watching as the program moves from a Missouri production line to an operational squadron in the Pacific.
Sources
- First Kadena-bound F-15EX departs Boeing facility for next milestone at Portland (DVIDS / 18th Wing, Sep 2, 2026)
Systems mentioned
Every system named in this story, with its photo and, where available, a video. Tap a card to open the full spec sheet.
Fighter aircraft
F-15EX Eagle IIFrequently asked questions
Why is the F-15EX going to Kadena specifically? +
Kadena is one of the U.S. Air Force's main forward air power hubs in the First Island Chain, positioned opposite China and Taiwan. It will become only the second Air Force location flying combat-coded F-15EX Eagle IIs, after the Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Wing at Portland, according to the 18th Wing commander's statement.
How many F-15EX jets has Boeing built so far? +
WeaponSpecs' own systems database records 30 built to date against an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract with a ceiling of up to 200 aircraft, awarded in July 2020 with a value of roughly $23 billion.
What can the F-15EX carry that older F-15 variants can't? +
Per WeaponSpecs' spec sheet, the F-15EX can carry up to 13,380 kilograms across 12 hardpoints, the largest external weapons payload of any U.S. Air Force fighter. It also has provision for the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile and planned hypersonic weapons that older F-15C/D airframes were never wired to carry.
When will F-15EX jets actually arrive at Kadena? +
DVIDS reporting on this delivery puts the first arrivals in fiscal year 2027. This particular aircraft is staging at Portland Air National Guard Base first for further preparation before its eventual move to Japan.
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