Singapore is in line to get its first F-35 fighters later this year

SINGAPORE — Singapore is slated join the F-35 operator club once the first of its Lockheed Martin F-35B fighters enter service later this year, becoming the fourth Asia-Pacific nation to fly the fifth-generation fighter.

Steve Sheehy, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of Aeronautics International Business Development, predicted in a briefing at Singapore Airshow 2026 that more than 300 F-35s will be present in the region by 2030. This figure includes American F-35s based in Japan and Alaska.

Australia has 72 F-35A fighters, the last of which arrived in December 2024. In fact, Australia is currently the largest F-35 operator outside the United States.

However, that moniker will eventually transfer to Japan once the Japan Air Self-Defense Force gains its full complement of 105 F-35A and 42 F-35B jets. Japan received its first four F-35Bs last year.

Elsewhere in the region, South Korea took delivery of 40 F-35As and has another 20 on order.

Singapore is set to receive four F-35Bs before year’s end, based on a 2019 order. They will initially operate from Ebbing Air National Guard Base, before F-35s are introduced at Tengah Air Base in Singapore in around 2029, according to Lockheed Martin.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has a further eight F-35Bs on order, these due for handover in 2028. Then, in February 2024, eight F-35As were added to Singapore’s order book and these should be delivered by 2030. This will give the RSAF a total of 20 F-35s in two variants.

Major Gen. Kelvin Fan, Singapore’s Chief of Air Force, commented: “The F-35As, with greater endurance and higher payload capacity, will provide sustained reach and persistence, while the F-35Bs with short take-off and vertical-landing capability will offer greater operational agility.”

Along with 40 F-15SG fighters and around 60 F-16C/Ds brought up to F-16V configuration, the RSAF eclipses every other Southeast Asian nation in terms of air combat power.

Of four F-35 heavy maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities around the world, two are in Asia-Pacific – in Australia and Japan. The others are in Italy and the United States.

Sheehy said his company delivered a record 191 F-35s last year. However, that number was swollen by delays in rolling out Technology Refresh 3 updates. He said the TR-3 backlog has been cleared, and he expected 156 F-35s to be delivered this year.

Further F-35 customers in Asia-Pacific may be difficult to find, however. Both Taiwan and Thailand have been rebuffed in recent years, although U.S. President Donald Trump invited Indian interest last year.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新加坡——新加坡的首架洛克希德·马丁F-35B战斗机将于今年晚些时候投入使用，届时新加坡将加入F-35战斗机用户俱乐部，成为亚太地区第四个使用第五代战斗机的国家。

洛克希德·马丁公司航空国际业务发展副总裁史蒂夫·希伊在2026年新加坡航展的一次简报会上预测，到2030年，该地区将部署超过300架F-35战斗机。这一数字包括驻扎在日本和阿拉斯加的美国F-35战斗机。

澳大利亚拥有72架F-35A战斗机，最后一架于2024年12月交付。事实上，澳大利亚目前是美国以外最大的F-35用户。

然而，一旦日本航空自卫队全部接收了105架F-35A和42架F-35B战机，这个称号最终将属于日本。日本去年接收了首批四架F-35B战机。

该地区其他地方，韩国接收了 40 架 F-35A 战斗机，另有 20 架订单。

根据2019年的订单，新加坡将在年底前接收四架F-35B战斗机。洛克希德·马丁公司表示，这些战斗机最初将部署在埃宾空军国民警卫队基地，之后F-35战斗机将于2029年左右部署到新加坡的登加空军基地。

新加坡空军（RSAF）已订购8架F-35B战斗机，预计将于2028年交付。随后，在2024年2月，新加坡又订购了8架F-35A战斗机，预计将于2030年交付。届时，新加坡空军将拥有两种型号共计20架F-35战斗机。

新加坡空军司令范凯文少将评论道：“F-35A 拥有更长的续航时间和更大的有效载荷能力，将提供持续的打击范围和持久作战能力，而具备短距起飞和垂直降落能力的 F-35B 将提供更大的作战灵活性。”

加上 40 架 F-15SG 战斗机和大约 60 架升级到 F-16V 配置的 F-16C/D 战斗机，新加坡空军在空中作战能力方面超越了其他所有东南亚国家。

全球共有四座F-35重型维护、修理和大修设施，其中两座位于亚太地区——分别位于澳大利亚和日本。另外两座分别位于意大利和美国。

希伊表示，他的公司去年交付了创纪录的191架F-35战斗机。然而，由于第三阶段技术升级（TR-3）的交付延迟，实际交付数量有所增加。他表示，TR-3的积压订单已经清理完毕，预计今年将交付156架F-35战斗机。

然而，在亚太地区寻找更多F-35客户可能比较困难。近年来，台湾和泰国都遭到了拒绝，尽管美国总统唐纳德·特朗普去年曾表示印度有兴趣购买F-35。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。