1st aerial refueling drill conductedfor US F-35B

March 27, 2017

TOKYO- US Marine Corps has carried out the first aerial refueling drill for an F-35B stealth fighter jet deployed at its Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, using an air tanker at the US Air Force’s Kadena base in Okinawa Prefecture.

The drill was conducted over the Pacific Ocean near Japan on March 14, with the KC-135 air tanker refueling the cutting-edge fighter jet, said officials of the Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture.

After the drill, the F-35B was dispatched to join a US-South Korea joint exercise.

The F-35B is capable of ground attack using precision-guided munitions and has reconnaissance capability. Aerial refueling is indispensable for operations involving long flights.

The aerial refueling drill was apparently designed to prepare for a possible emergency situation amid increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to a series of provocative acts by North Korea. Jiji Press