Japan is deploying eight aircraft, including four F-15 fighter jets, to bases in the United States, Canada and Europe in an unprecedented mission to support NATO.

The mission, dubbed Atlantic Eagles, reportedly marks the first time in history that Japanese warplanes have deployed to Canada and Europe.

A total of 180 personnel drawn from air bases across Japan are taking part, including from the 2nd Air Wing based at Chitose, 1st Tactical Airlift Wing based at Komaki, 2nd Tactical Airlift Group from Iruma and 3rd Tactical Airlift Wing from Miho, according to a Japan Air Self-Defense Force release. The four F-15s are being accompanied by two tanker aircraft and two refueling tankers.

The mission is “based on the recognition that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and of the Indo-Pacific are interconnected,” the Japan Air Self-Defense Force stated in the release.

Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft landed at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, the service said in a post on X on Monday. They will follow on to CFB Goose Bay in Canada, RAF Coningsby in England and Laage Air Base in Germany.

Japan established a diplomatic mission to NATO earlier this year. The deployment of Japanese aircraft to Europe comes amid rising tensions among NATO allies surrounding Belarusian and Russian military exercises and increasingly aggressive maneuvers by China in the Arctic region.

Zita Ballinger Fletcher previously served as editor of Military History Quarterly and Vietnam magazines and as the historian of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She holds an M.A. with distinction in military history.