China now has to deal with over 300 F-35’s operating near its northern borders. In the 1990s Chinese support for an aggressive and unpredictable North Korea prompted South Korea to become a major developer, manufacturer and exporter of modern weapons. Now Japan, with a larger population and industrial base than South Korea has followed South Korean in an arms race with China.
It’s the latest StrategyPage Procurement update. Japan is primarily buying the F-35A but has decided to add some F-35Bs (the vertical takeoff and landing variant) to its air fleet. The update includes a look at the implications of that decision.
UPDATE: A very related post – Taiwan orders $620 million worth of missiles and upgrades for its seven Patriot PAC-3 missile batteries.