France and Japan Build a Stronger Air Power Bridge Between Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

French Rafale F4 fighters trained with Japanese F-2A/B combat aircraft at Hyakuri Air Base during France’s PÉGASE 26 deployment, with the French Air and Space Force reporting the activity on September 18, 2026. The drills strengthen the ability of both air forces to combine fighters, tankers, and air-control assets during long-range operations in the Indo-Pacific.

Japanese F-2 crews also practised dry-contact refuelling procedures with a French A330 MRTT Phénix, building familiarity with an allied tanker without transferring fuel. Combined with fighter tactical training, the activity expands practical interoperability and supports more flexible multinational air operations across extended distances.

Related Topic: Japan’s E-2D Links Australia and the Philippines in an Emerging Indo-Pacific Air Defense Network

French Rafale F4s trained alongside Japanese F-2 fighters at Hyakuri Air Base during PÉGASE 26, pairing combat-aircraft operations with A330 MRTT Phénix refuelling drills (French Air Force)

On September 18, 2026, French and Japanese airmen were conducting operational cooperation activities at Hyakuri Air Base as part of France’s PÉGASE 26 long-range deployment. French Rafale fighters trained alongside Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, while Japanese crews also conducted air-to-air refuelling exercises with French A330 MRTT Phénix aircraft. The activities represent the third PÉGASE stopover in Japan and underline the increasingly operational character of Franco-Japanese air cooperation. Details were released by the French Air and Space Force, while Japanese authorities separately confirmed the wider bilateral exercise conducted at Hyakuri from September 15 to 18.

The centrepiece of the latest cooperation was joint training between French Rafale fighters and Japanese Mitsubishi F-2A/B combat aircraft. Ibaraki Prefecture, citing information provided by Japan’s North Kanto Defense Bureau, confirmed that the Japanese contingent included eight F-2A/Bs from the 7th Air Wing at Hyakuri, while France deployed four Rafales. France has identified the fighters deployed for PÉGASE 26 as Rafale F4s, representing the current frontline standard of one of the French Air and Space Force’s principal multirole combat aircraft. The combination brings together two sophisticated fighter fleets designed around multirole operations, with the F-2 remaining an important component of Japan’s air-defense and maritime-strike architecture and the Rafale providing France with a highly deployable platform for air superiority, strike, reconnaissance and long-range expeditionary missions.

Training these two fighter types together has significance beyond the visual impact of Rafales and F-2s sharing the same airspace. Pilots and mission planners must become familiar with different aircraft performance characteristics, tactical procedures, communications practices and formation techniques if multinational forces are expected to operate effectively together. Japan officially described the purpose of the exercise as deepening mutual understanding, improving tactical proficiency and strengthening interoperability, with tactical training and a photo exercise included in the programme. The involvement of Japanese air-surveillance and control personnel alongside fighters and tankers is also noteworthy, because it places the activity within a broader command-and-control framework rather than limiting it to fighter-versus-fighter familiarisation.

Another particularly significant component involved air-to-air refuelling procedures between Japanese F-2 fighters and the French A330 MRTT Phénix. According to the French Air and Space Force, crews performed “dry contacts,” allowing the F-2 and Phénix crews to practise closing and formation-keeping procedures without transferring fuel. Operationally, that detail deserves attention. The F-2 receives fuel through a boom receptacle, while the French Phénix is equipped with a centrally mounted rigid refuelling boom in addition to its wing-mounted hose-and-drogue systems. Australia previously demonstrated the compatibility of its closely related KC-30A MRTT boom with both F-2A and F-2B aircraft during dedicated trials in Japan. The PÉGASE 26 activity exposes JASDF crews to refuelling procedures with another allied A330 MRTT operator and potentially broadens familiarity with tanker options beyond Japan’s own KC-767 and KC-46 fleets. It should not, however, be interpreted as certification for operational fuel transfer unless such certification is separately confirmed.

The A330 MRTT Phénix is central to what PÉGASE 26 is intended to demonstrate. The French aircraft can carry up to 110 tonnes of fuel and uses both wing-mounted hose-and-drogue systems and a centreline rigid boom, allowing it to support different categories of receiver aircraft. Beyond refuelling, the Phénix provides strategic transport and medical-evacuation capabilities and supports France’s ability to deploy combat aircraft over intercontinental distances. PÉGASE 26 itself involves approximately 300 airmen, four Rafale F4s, three A330 MRTTs and two A400M Atlas transports on a deployment exceeding 40,000 kilometres. France describes the mission not only as a demonstration of long-range air-power projection but also as an effort to qualify new routes and operating locations while harmonising procedures with partners. In Japan, the French package operated alongside eight F-2A/Bs, a JASDF KC-46A and Japanese air-control elements, producing a relatively complete combination of fighters, tankers, transports and command-and-control assets.

Strategically, the deployment reinforces a wider pattern of France-Japan defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. The Hyakuri activity comes only months after France and Japan signed a new bilateral Defense Roadmap on April 1, 2026, with both governments explicitly identifying joint training, interoperability and personnel exchanges as areas for deeper cooperation. Japan’s Defense Ministry also linked that roadmap to strengthening regional deterrence and reiterated the shared Franco-Japanese position that Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security are increasingly interconnected. Against this background, PÉGASE 26 carries significance beyond a temporary fighter deployment. For France, repeated deployments demonstrate that its combat aviation can reach and sustain operations in the Indo-Pacific through multiple strategic routes while integrating with regional partners. For Japan, training with an additional advanced European air force expands operational familiarity beyond its longstanding cooperation with the United States and other regional partners. The third PÉGASE stopover in Japan illustrates how a longstanding Franco-Japanese aviation relationship is increasingly developing into practical military interoperability.

PÉGASE 26’s third stopover in Japan highlights how a long-standing Franco-Japanese relationship is increasingly being translated into practical air-power cooperation. Rafale-F-2 joint training gives pilots experience operating alongside a different frontline combat aircraft, while the F-2’s dry-contact work with the A330 MRTT Phénix adds a less visible but operationally important tanker-interoperability dimension. The fact that the French deployment brought together Rafale F4 fighters, Phénix tankers and A400M transports while Japan committed F-2s, a KC-46A and air-control elements makes Hyakuri more than a symbolic port call. It represents another step in building the procedures, familiarity and technical understanding required for French and Japanese air forces to operate alongside one another over increasingly long distances. As Paris sustains its military presence across the Indo-Pacific and Tokyo broadens cooperation with capable European partners, exercises such as PÉGASE 26 are steadily giving the France-Japan defense relationship a more operational character.

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Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.