Japan Sent Fighter Jets To Europe - Here's Why

Fighter jets appearing in a nation's airspace can cause concern for civilians, but it's usually nothing to worry about. Oftentimes, unit movements are training exercises, which can be crucial training for allies. In the event of a global conflict, large-scale maneuvers can be essential techniques, and these training exercises allow forces to gain experience flying, maintaining, and using shared equipment. For these reasons, joint military maneuvers happen quite often. One such example occurred in September 2025, when Japanese fighter jets and personnel were temporarily stationed in Europe at the British Royal Air Force base RAF Coningsby. 

The Japanese forces also traveled to Germany, Canada, and the United States in something of a whistlestop tour of some of the island nation's allies that was performed as part of what was called the Atlantic Eagles mission. A press release from Japan's Air Self-Defense Force described the jets' mission as "a friendly visit to North America and Europe". The idea is that would-be aggressors would see that multiple nations patrol these areas and cooperate closely together. A primary way to do this, of course, is something of a show of force, and that explains why the number of personnel and aircraft selected to perform the mission was quite considerable. This is unsurprising, as Japan boasts one of the largest air forces in the world by aircraft numbers.

The press release also included details on the number of personnel and aircraft selected. It notes that approximately 180 members of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force took part in the mission, which utilized eight aircraft from across the 1st and 3rd Tactical Airlift Wing, the 2nd Tactical Airlift Group, and the 2nd Air Wing of the force, including a quartet of F-15s from the latter wing. According to the Royal Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff General Morita Takehiro marked the occasion by declaring, "We have named this mission 'Atlantic Eagles,' symbolising our F-15 jets spreading their wings across the Atlantic."

They did not spread their majestic wings alone. Alongside the jets were two C-2s (a long-range transport model manufactured by Kawasaki that has served with the JASDF since 2017). They were joined by specialized refueling/transport models: The KC-46A (Boeing's formidable Pegasus, pictured here) and KC-767 (designed by Boeing primarily for Japanese and Italian allies). Joint training operations took place at three other locations aside from RAF Coningsby: Germany's Laage Air Base, CFB Goose Bay in Canada and Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The JASDF was officially created as a separate body back in 1954, and before this mission, it had never deployed in European nations or Canada.