Kadena AB Bids Farewell to the Eagle.
- Robbie van Disseldorp
- Apr 2
- 2 min read
Report by Robbie van Disseldorp
Earlier this year the 18th Wing flew its last mission with the F-15 C Eagle. This last flight marked the end of Eagle operations at Kadena AB after 45 years.
In a recent press release, Kadena AB announced that the last Eagle mission was flown on January 24. This also marked the last-ever flight of an Active-Duty F-15C. The last Eagle was the 81-0029/ZZ, and this particular airframe will become a maintenance training aircraft.
The 18th Wing started phasing out the Legacy Eagles in 2022. The retired ZZ Eagles were either redistributed to Air National Guard units or sadly, flown directly to the boneyard in Arizona.
The wing is now preparing for the arrival of the brand-new F-15EX. Last summer the U.S. Air Force (USAF) announced that 36 F-15EX Eagles will be stationed at Kadena AB. The first EX models are expected to arrive in the spring of 2026. With the arrival of the F-15EX also comes a new role for the 18th Wing. The new EX brings with it more multi-role capabilities. After focusing solely on air-to-air missions, the 18th Wing will now train for both air-to-air and air-to ground missions.
While the 18th Wing waits for the arrival of the F-15EX, the USAF will rotate different 4th and 5th gen aircraft units to keep a fighter presence at Kadena.
