The Pentagon will deploy the U.S. military's first operational F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters to Japan this December as tensions with China over the South China Sea continue to simmer.

It said 10 F-35B Joint Strike Fighters of the U.S. Marine Corps will move permanently to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan on or before December.

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These jets will be joined by six more F-35B fighters in June 2017 with the arrival of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1). Since 2011, this ship has been testing the F-35B, the version built specifically for the Marines.

The F-35B is a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the jet. It can also take-off and land vertically like a helicopter.

"I can't wait to get the airplane out to the Pacific," said Lt. General Jon Davis, Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Headquarters Marine Corps.

"It's tailor-made for that part of the world with its fifth generation capability and its expeditionary capabilities to land on a small ship or strip, and flow back and forth between those."

Gen. Davis said the Marines' F-35s are ready for combat now if needed. He revealed the F-35s are doing a lot better in combat exercises than expected, achieving kill ratios of 24 to zero in mock aerial combats against other jets, and surviving every sort of simulated enemy attack.

"It is like watching a velociraptor going through. Everything in its path is killed," he said.

Gen. Davis said the Marines are working to ensure its small-deck carriers have enough bandwidth to take full advantage of the F-35's extensive data-gathering and sharing capabilities.

General Herbert J. "Hawk" Carlisle, Commander of the Air Combat Command, expects to declare an initial squadron of U.S. Air Force 12 F-35A jets ready for combat as early as August.

The Marine's F-35B can carry two 450 kg smart bombs plus air-to-air missiles in its internal weapons bay. It's also armed with a four-barrel 25 mm GAU-12 Equalizer cannon.

Among the bombs the F-35B can carry are the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM); Paveway series of smart bombs; the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW); Brimstone anti-tank missiles and cluster munitions (Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser).

The F-35Bs can be armed with AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-132 ASRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinders. It has a range of 1,670 kilometers and a top speed of 1,930 km/h.