US, Australia and Japan Deploy F-35 Stealth Fighters in First Trilateral Air Power Exercise
Southern Cross 2026: A Show of Allied Air Power
More than 1,000 airmen and 40 aircraft from the United States, Australia and Japan kicked off a fifth-generation fighter exercise Down Under on the same day that China test-fired a ballistic missile into the South Pacific Ocean. Exercise Southern Cross is underway at Royal Australian Air Force Bases Darwin and Tindal in Australia’s Northern Territory, running through July 17. It is the first time the three nations have conducted a joint F-35 exercise on Australian soil.
The drill is the third in a series of stealth jet exercises involving the three nations, following COPE North in Guam and Bushido Guardian in Japan last year. Australian Air Force Chief Air Marshal Stephen Chappell said the exercise signals a unified front against destabilizing behavior in the Indo-Pacific.
“It is incredibly important we do so at this time in history to continue to deter decisions that would undermine the security and prosperity and stability of the Indo-Pacific,” Chappell told reporters at RAAF Darwin Thursday. He appeared alongside U.S. Pacific Air Forces commander General Kevin Schneider and Japanese Air Self-Defense Force chief of staff General Takehiro Morita.
Forward Arming and Refueling in the Field
Airmen from the three nations demonstrated a forward arming and refueling point at RAAF Darwin during the exercise. The training showed the three nations could rearm and refuel an F-35 at an austere airfield in Australia or elsewhere in the region, Chappell said. Forward arming and refueling is considered a critical capability for sustaining fifth-generation operations across the vast distances of the Pacific.
An Australian KC-30A tanker refueled Japanese F-35As over the Pacific Ocean on their way to Australia, Morita told reporters. Australia operates a fleet of 72 F-35As, including a squadron based at Tindal. America and Australia have invested heavily in upgrading the base to support future U.S. bomber task force missions.
Japan has operated F-35As from Misawa Air Base in the country’s northeast since 2018. The U.S. 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa began transitioning from F-16 Fighting Falcons to F-35As in March. Japan plans to build a fleet of 147 stealth jets, including 105 F-35As and 42 short-takeoff-vertical-landing F-35Bs.
China’s Pacific Missile Test Casts a Shadow
The exercises come one day after China test-fired a nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead that analysts estimated landed north of the Solomon Islands. The test prompted complaints from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and other nations in the region.
General Schneider, a fighter pilot himself, said building bonds with allies was a key part of America’s defense strategy. “There is so much more that we can get out of this platform by working together,” Schneider said of the Lightning II. “When we train together, we build the interoperability that matters most when it counts.”
All three nations will join Australia’s largest air combat exercise, Pitch Black, from July 20 to August 7. The biennial drill will involve 19 nations and more than 100 aircraft flying over the Northern Territory and Queensland, making it one of the largest multilateral air exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.
The timing of Southern Cross was not lost on regional analysts. China’s missile launch on Monday — the first submarine-fired ballistic missile test in the South Pacific in decades — rattled governments across the region and prompted an emergency session of the Pacific Islands Forum. The Federated States of Micronesia, whose exclusive economic zone the warhead reportedly landed near, lodged a formal protest with Beijing through diplomatic channels.
Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said the exercise demonstrated the importance of allies working together at a time of rising strategic competition. “The Indo-Pacific is becoming more contested, and exercises like Southern Cross send a clear message that democratic nations stand together,” Marles said in a statement. The United States has stationed F-22 Raptors and B-2 Spirit bombers in Australia as part of its force posture upgrades in the region.
