U.S. F-35s and F-22s have toured Southeast Asia twice this year, reflecting an American desire to increase training exercises with nations in the vicinity of the South China Sea.
U.S. fifth-generation fighter jets made another swing through Southeast Asia in early August, visiting countries around the South China Sea in a tour that reflects Washington’s efforts to bolster its relationships in the region amid tensions with China.
The visits began after this year’s Pitch Black exercise, to which 20 countries sent 140 jets for training across northern Australia. It was the largest-ever iteration of the exercise, and featured the most fifth-generation jets, known as “stealth” for their low observability, in its history. Among the stealth contingent were U.S. Air Force F-22s, participating in Pitch Black for the first time.
Days after the exercise concluded on August 2, the F-22s headed north to their base in Japan on a redeployment operation called Iron Blade. Four of the jets landed at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Air Force Base in Bali on August 6, marking the first time any U.S. stealth jet, a category that includes the F-35, had landed in Indonesia. They were preceded by a C-130 cargo plane to prepare for training at the airport, and their visit “allowed pilots and maintenance teams the opportunity to increase awareness of Indonesian airspace operations and test rapid refueling capabilities,” the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia said.
As the F-22s landed in Indonesia, other F-22s set down at Rimba Air Force Base in Brunei, becoming the second U.S. stealth jet to visit that country following a visit by US Air Force F-35s in March. While there, the commander of Brunei’s Air Force received a tour of the aircraft and “an introduction to its unique capabilities,” the U.S. Embassy in Brunei said.
The F-22s left Brunei on August 8 for the Philippines, where F-22s and C-130s made a stopover visit. The two air forces held an exercise that included formation flights with two F-22s, a C-130, and two Philippine FA-50PH fighters, as well as training at Basa Air Base north of Manila and Brigadier General Benito N Ebuen Air Base in Cebu. U.S. stealth jets aren’t strangers to the Philippines, but they are relative newcomers; they first landed in and operated from the country in March 2023.
F-22s remained active around the South China Sea in the second half of August. Singapore said on August 21 that F-22s would be there “over the next few days” for air-combat training with the Singapore Air Force’s F-15SGs and F-16s and for aerial-refueling training with its A330 tanker. A close military partner of the U.S., Singapore plans to buy at least 12 F-35s, and its air force used Pitch Black to assess how its current jets can operate alongside the stealth fighter.
The F-22’s milestone tour covered some of the same ground as the landmark visits by U.S. F-35s earlier this year. Following the inaugural visit to Brunei on March 1, the F-35s headed to Singapore, where they conducted day-to-day operations from Paya Lebar Air Base for the first time. Around the same time, F-35s arrived in Thailand for the Cope Tiger exercise, which has been held annually since the mid-1990s but this year for the first time involved U.S. fifth-gen jets.
Even with the issues facing the F-35 program, the jet holds appeal as the most advanced fifth-generation fighter on the market, and training with the F-35 and F-22 – the latter is not available for export – allows militaries to test their pilots and planes against two top stealth jets. Australia, Japan, and South Korea already operate F-35s, and the continued growth of their fleets means more opportunities to do advanced operations together, according to Gen. Kevin Schneider, the commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces.
Despite the challenges that that program may have had, Schneider said in an interview in July, the fact that it continues to deliver jets means that “from an air-domain perspective” the F-35 “is probably the greatest platform” available for improving interoperability and interchangeability with allies and partners.
Flying Through Open Doors
The tours also reflect the U.S.’s increasing focus on its relationships with Southeast Asian countries, which it sees as important diplomatic and economic partners located around the strategically important South China Sea. The U.S. military has deepened ties with the Philippines, a longtime ally, and sought greater cooperation with Vietnam, a one-time foe. For Schneider’s command, known as PACAF, that focus manifests itself “through exchanges, exercises, airman-to-airman talks, and doing more together,” Schneider said, adding that he has “regular engagements with other air chiefs in the region through the course of what we’re trying to do for air-domain awareness.”
PACAF continues to “develop and grow” its relationships with U.S. allies but is looking to expand relations with a number of other countries. “Aside from Japan, Korea, Australia, Philippines, and Thailand – our bilateral alliances – I also look with great interest at India, Vietnam, and New Zealand. I list those up front because I have trips planned to those locations,” Schneider said. “We’re very interested in Brunei, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and others to continue to do more with them and, again, to move beyond just bilateral relationships and into more multilateral spheres of working together.”
The U.S.’s security relationships in Southeast Asia are long-standing, but countries there are also conducting more frequent exercises with China’s military. In mid-August alone, Thailand and China held their Falcon Strike air force exercise for the seventh time since 2015, and Indonesia, which is currently hosting another edition of the Super Garuda Shield exercise with the U.S., boosted defense ties with China by agreeing to hold joint military training.
Some officials in Southeast Asia say the increase in exercises with China is a response to pressure from Beijing; others see training with both the U.S. and China as a way to balance between the rival superpowers, but for many in the region the U.S. military is still the partner of choice, offering more frequent and sophisticated training. Experts say Southeast Asian governments’ distrust of Beijing will continue to limit the scope and scale of the exercises they’re willing to do with China, and U.S. officials see that benefiting them.
The F-35 visits in March were made possible by “a growing understanding and awareness of the threat posed by Beijing in their illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive activities,” Schneider said. “That awareness is opening doors for us” and driving “a greater desire” among allies, partners, and countries with less developed ties to the U.S. “to do more together.”
“So one of the joys of being in this job,” Schneider said, “is there are a lot of open doors for all the relationships and all the communications I have with air chiefs in the region – a willingness to do more and a willingness to allow us to transit airplanes through their locations, their willingness to expand exercises to be perhaps more realistic for the threat environments that we face.”
