A British Royal Air Force F-35B Lightning II fighter jet made an emergency landing at Kagoshima Airport in southern Japan on Saturday morning after the pilot reported a potential technical issue.
No injuries were reported, and the airport has since resumed normal operations.
According to Kagoshima Airport officials, the incident occurred shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time, when air traffic control received a radio message from the pilot requesting an emergency landing due to a possible equipment malfunction. The stealth fighter safely touched down and was moved from the runway to a taxiway for safety checks within approximately 20 minutes, allowing the airport to reopen its runway.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that the aircraft was a Royal Air Force F-35B operating from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. The ministry said the jet landed due to “an aircraft malfunction.”
As noted by Japanese officials, the fighter remains positioned near the runway as of late afternoon local time. Six civilian flights experienced delays of around 20 minutes, but overall airport operations were largely unaffected.
The British carrier strike group — including HMS Prince of Wales and several escort ships — is currently deployed in the Western Pacific, conducting joint training exercises with the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the U.S. military, and other regional partners. The exercise is scheduled to run until August 12.
The emergency landing comes less than two months after another UK F-35 fighter made a similar precautionary landing in Kerala, India, also due to a reported technical problem. The back-to-back incidents add to scrutiny over the reliability of Britain’s F-35 fleet during a high-profile deployment far from home waters.
The F-35B is the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, designed for operations from aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships. It features advanced stealth, sensor fusion, and networked warfare capabilities, but its operational history has also included technical setbacks and maintenance challenges.