A prolonged general strike at Boeing’s plant in St. Louis, Missouri, has recently been identified by a U.S. Air Force spokesperson as the main reason delaying the deployment of F-15EX Eagle II fighters to bases in Japan, where they are intended to renew and strengthen Washington’s presence in the region. At present, the service is working on outlining a new schedule to readjust deliveries, taking into account the disruption that occurred between August and November 2025, which has made it unfeasible for Kadena Air Base to receive its new combat aircraft between March and June as originally planned.
According to sources within the U.S. Air Force, the service will be compelled to continue rotational deployments of other aircraft types to maintain its footprint in the region—an approach already in place since 2022, involving F-16, F-15E, F-22, and F-35A fighters. One of the most recent deployments, recorded last October, consisted of F-16s from the New Jersey Air National Guard, complemented by F-35As deployed from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska and Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
It should be recalled that the varied mix of aircraft deployed to Japan in these rotations has served as a bridge to mitigate the capability gap created by the retirement of the 48 F-15C/D Eagles previously stationed at Kadena Air Base. That fleet was among the oldest still in service with the USAF, as the first units had been deployed to Japan in the early 1980s—meaning that by 2022, replacement with a more modern force had become urgent.
Located just over 700 kilometers from Taiwan—making it the closest U.S. Air Force base to one of the Indo-Pacific’s primary geopolitical flashpoints—Kadena Air Base is still awaiting the arrival of 36 F-15EX fighters to address this gap. Although this represents a smaller number of aircraft than the previously deployed F-15C/D fleet, the new model incorporates significant upgrades, including greater range, speed, and payload capacity, as well as the advanced APG-82 AESA radar and the EPAWSS self-protection system.
Critics of these plans within the United States argued at the time the decision was announced that it reflected a broader lack of adequate funding for the Air Force across multiple administrations, undermining the possibility of an orderly transition to directly replace the retiring fighters. They also warned that the continued reliance on rotational deployments would place additional strain on the rest of the fleet, potentially limiting the service’s ability to execute its mission elsewhere.
The Boeing workers’ strike
Given its considerable impact on U.S. Air Force modernization plans, it is important to recall that the Boeing workers’ strike involved up to 3,000 employees, according to a local branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers—one of the country’s largest unions—in August 2025. The workers were reportedly demanding significant wage increases, exceeding 40%, according to company executives at the outset of the protest.
This marked the first strike in Boeing’s defense sector since 1996, when workers halted production for approximately three months. It was not the only recent labor disruption affecting the company, however, as a separate strike in 2024 impacted its commercial aviation division. That action involved more than 30,000 employees, resulting in substantial financial losses and a production slowdown that reduced aircraft output to its lowest level in years.
Broader challenges in the U.S. defense industry
Finally, Boeing’s difficulties reflect a broader issue within the U.S. defense industrial base—namely, a marked shortage of skilled labor and the outsized impact that workforce-related disruptions can have on military programs. As early as 2017, a report by the Pentagon’s Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy indicated that only 39% of the registered workforce was under the age of 45, while just 1.5% of Americans aged 25 to 34 held university degrees in hard science fields.
In the words of the report: “(…) aerospace and defense firms face a shortage of skilled workers to meet current demands, as well as the need to integrate a younger workforce with the appropriate skills, abilities, and experience—and the interest—to fill positions vacated by senior engineers and skilled technicians as they exit the workforce.”
As an illustrative example, it is worth mentioning the construction of the U.S. Navy’s first Columbia-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine. Although progress has been reported in recent months, the program has also experienced delays relative to its original schedule. As previously reported, manufacturer General Dynamics Electric Boat indicated that the timeline had been affected both by delayed delivery of critical components from Northrop Grumman and Newport News Shipbuilding and by limited availability of specialized labor.
Images used for illustrative purposes.
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