Japan Air Self-Defense Force

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (航空自衛隊, Kōkū Jieitai), JASDF (空自, Kūji), also referred to as the Japanese Air Force,[2] is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare.[3] The JASDF carries out combat air patrols around Japan, while also maintaining a network of ground and air early-warning radar systems. The branch also has an aerobatic team known as Blue Impulse and has provided air transport in UN peacekeeping missions.

Japan Air Self-Defense Force
  • 航空自衛隊
  • Kōkū Jieitai
Emblem of the Air Self-Defense Force
Founded1 July 1954; 69 years ago (1954-07-01)[1]
Country Japan
TypeAir force
Space force
Role
Size
  • 49,913 personnel (2018)[1]
  • 745 aircraft
Part ofJapan Self-Defense Forces
HeadquartersIchigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Motto(s)"Key to Defense, Ready Anytime!"
Websitewww.mod.go.jp/asdf/English_page/index.html Edit this at Wikidata
Commanders
Commander-in-ChiefPrime Minister Fumio Kishida
Minister of DefenseMinoru Kihara
Chief of Staff, Joint StaffGeneral Yoshihide Yoshida
Chief of Staff, Air Self-Defense ForceGeneral Hiroaki Uchikura
Insignia
Roundel
Flag
Aircraft flown
Electronic
warfare
E-767, EC-1, E-2C/D, YS-11EA/EB
FighterF-15J/DJ, F-2A/B, F-35A/B
HelicopterUH-60J, CH-47J (LR)
TrainerT-3, T-7, T-400, T-4
TransportC-1, C-2, C-130H, Hawker 800, Gulfstream IV, Boeing 777
TankerKC-767, KC-130

The JASDF had an estimated 49,913 personnel as of 2018, and as of 2020 operates about 740 aircraft, approximately 330 of them being fighter aircraft.[4]

The service will be renamed in 2027 to the Japan Air and Space Self-Defense Force (航空宇宙自衛隊, Kōkū Uchū Jieitai), in recognition of the increasing importance of the space domain.[5]

History edit

 
A JASDF Lockheed T-33 trainer

Japan did not have a separate air force before and during World War II. Aviation operations were carried out by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (Kōkūtai). Following defeat in World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy (including their respective Air Services) were disbanded in 1945.[citation needed]

Under the supervision of the United States occupation authorities, a pacifist Japanese government was appointed in place of the militaristic governments that administered the Empire of Japan during the war.[citation needed] The new government drafted a postwar constitution. While the primary intent of this endeavor was to place the country's political structure on a firmly democratic footing, the constitution endorsed by the United States and ratified by the Diet of Japan in 1947 also contained Article 9 which strictly prohibited Japan from having a regular military.[citation needed]

The U.S. occupation formally ended in 1952, although large American garrison remained in Japan to defend the country. The victory of the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War and the onset of the Korean War led the Americans to reconsider what role the Japanese could be expected to play in, at the very least, defending their own home islands against growing Chinese, Soviet and North Korean power in the region. Under U.S. guidance, on 1 July 1954 the National Security Board was reorganized as the Defense Agency, and the National Security Force was reorganized afterwards as the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (de facto post-war Japanese Army), the Coastal Safety Force was reorganized as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (de facto post-war Japanese Navy) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (de facto post-war Japanese Air Force) was established as a new branch of JSDF. General Keizō Hayashi was appointed as the first Chairman of Joint Staff Council—professional head of the three branches. The enabling legislation for this was the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Act (Act No. 165 of 1954).[6][7]

The Far East Air Force, U.S. Air Force, announced on 6 January 1955, that 85 aircraft would be turned over to the fledgling Japanese air force on about 15 January, the first equipment of the new force.[8]

The JASDF Air Defense Command (Japan) [ja] Headquarters was relocated from Fuchu Air Base to Yokota Air Base on March 26, 2012. The relocation is due to the 2002 Defense Policy Review Initiative. The purpose is to strengthen the U.S.-Japan Security Alliance. The ADC Headquarters does command and control operations to defend Japanese airspace.[citation needed]

Until 2015, women were banned from becoming fighter jet and reconnaissance aircraft pilots. The first female pilot of an F-15 joined the ranks, along with three other female pilots currently in training, in 2018.[9]

Since 2008, the number of scrambles to intercept Chinese aircraft has increased rapidly. In 2010 there were scrambles against 31 Chinese aircraft and 193 Russian aircraft. In 2018 scrambles increased to against 638 Chinese aircraft and 343 Russian aircraft. Chinese aircraft flight paths are mostly in the East China Sea, around the Ryukyu islands and through the Korea Strait. Russia frequently conducts flights orbiting Japan with military aircraft.[10]

The Ministry of Defense reported in fiscal 2018 that there were 999 scrambles by JASDF jets against mainly Chinese and Russian unidentified aircraft. That is the second highest amount of scrambles by the JASDF since 1958. 638 (64%) were Chinese aircraft and 343 (34%) were Russian aircraft. On June 20, 2019, two Russian bombers (Tupolev Tu-95) violated Japanese airspace twice on the same day.[11]

The Diet of Japan approved the modification of the ships of the Izumo-class to operate STOVL aircraft and in 2019 ordered 42 STOVL Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs.[12] The US Marines will operate their own STOVL F-35s from the Izumo-class in cooperation with the ship's crew to build up a Japanese capability to operate this type. The current plan is for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to operate the STOVL F-35B from land bases once delivered.[13]

As of 2020, the JASDF is under increasing pressure to intercept warplanes from China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) close to entering its air space. As of the last fiscal year ending in March 2020, the JASDF scrambled aircraft a record 947 times to intercept PLAAF warplanes. This has resulted in heavy wear and tear on their F-15J fighter aircraft,[14] due to this, as of 2021, the JASDF intercepts fewer PLAAF warplane approaches and has deployed F-35 fighter jets to supplement the F-15J fighter jets in this role.[15][16]

On 17 March 2021, the Mitsubishi F-4EJ Phantom II was retired after 50 years of service with the JASDF, being replaced by the F-35A.[17]

During the 9 months of fiscal year 2021, JASDF fighters scrambled against 785 inbound flights.[18] Chinese aircraft were intercepted 571 times (70%), and 199 Russian aircraft.[18] The majority of the Chinese aircraft flew over Okinawa prefecture.[18]

On 22 October 2023, the JASDF conducted its first-ever trilateral exercise with the South Korean and United States air forces near the Korean Peninsula.[19]

Organization edit

 
Japan Air Self-Defense Force Air Defense Command Headquarters (2012)

Major units of the JASDF are the Air Defense Command, Air Support Command, Air Training Command, Air Development and Test Command, and Air Materiel Command. The Air Support Command is responsible for direct support of operational forces in rescue, transportation, control, weather monitoring and inspection. The Air Training Command is responsible for basic flying and technical training. The Air Development and Test Command, in addition to overseeing equipment research and development, is also responsible for research and development in such areas as flight medicine. On May 19, 2020, the JASDF officially inaugurated its Space Operation Squadron.[20]

 
F-15DJ Eagle

The Air Defense Command has northern, central, and western regional headquarters located at Misawa, Iruma, and Kasuga, respectively and the Southwestern Composite Air Division based at Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. All four regional headquarters control surface-to-air missile units of both the JASDF and the JGSDF located in their respective areas.

Ranks edit

Commissioned officer ranks edit

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group General / flag officers Senior officers Junior officers Officer cadet
  Japan Air Self-Defense Force[21]
                   
幕僚長たる空将
Bakuryōchō-taru-kūshō
空将
Kūshō
空将補
Kūshō-ho
1等空佐
Ittō kūsa
2等空佐
Nitō kūsa
3等空佐
Santō kūsa
1等空尉
Ittō kūi
2等空尉
Nitō kūi
3等空尉
Santō kūi
准空尉
Jun kūi

Other ranks edit

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group Senior NCOs Junior NCOs Enlisted
  Japan Air Self-Defense Force[21]
               
空曹長
Kūsōchō
1等空曹
Ittō kūsō
2等空曹
Nitō kūsō
3等空曹
Santō kūsō
空士長
Kūshichō
1等空士
Ittō kūshi
2等空士
Nitō kūshi
自衛官候補生
Jieikan kōhosei

Equipment edit

The JASDF maintains an integrated network of radar installations and air defense direction centers throughout the country known as the Basic Air Defense Ground Environment. In the late 1980s, the system was modernized and augmented with E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft. The nation relies on fighter-interceptor aircraft and surface-to-air missiles to intercept hostile aircraft. Both of these systems were improved from the beginning of the late 1980s. Outmoded aircraft were replaced in the early 1990s with more sophisticated models, and Nike-J missiles have been replaced with the modern Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 system and M167 VADS.[22][23] The JASDF also provides air support for ground and sea operations of the JGSDF and the JMSDF and air defense for bases of all the forces. Base defenses were upgraded in the late 1980s with new surface-to-air missiles, modern antiaircraft artillery and new fixed and mobile aircraft shelters.

Current aircraft edit

Fixed-wing aircraft (manned) edit

Aircraft Origin Role Variant In service On order Notes Image
Combat Aircraft
F-15 Eagle   United States

  Japan

Air superiority Mitsubishi F-15J 155 [24] Licensed produced by Mitsubishi.

213 built, 13 were lost.

 
Conversion trainer Mitsubishi F-15DJ 44 [24]  
Mitsubishi F-2   Japan Multirole F-2A 62 [24] based on the Lockheed Martin F-16

98 built, 4 prototypes [25]

 
Conversion trainer F-2B 24 [24]  
F-35 Lightning II   United States Swing role F-35A 36 [24] + 69 Assembled in Japan, few parts of the programme made in Japan.
  • 105 F-35A + 42 F-35B ordered.[26][27]
  • 1 F-35A lost in 2019.[28]
 
F-35B 0 [24] + 42  
Airborne early warning and control
Boeing E-767   United States AEW&C 4 [29] Based on the B767-200ER.  
E-2 Hawkeye   United States AEW&C E-2C 10 [24] E-2C being replaced by the E-2D.

13 were ordered:[30]

  • 4 in 1979
  • 4 in 1981
  • 3 in 1989
  • 2 in 1990
 
AEW&C E-2D 6 [24] + 12 Ordered to replace the E-2C.  
Electronic Warfare
NAMC YS-11   Japan Electronic warfare EA 2 2 delivered in this variant,

number operational unclear, conflicting information

 
ELINT EB 4 4 delivered in this variant,

number operational unclear, conflicting information

 
Kawasaki C-2   Japan Electronic countermeasure aircraft

/ ELINT

RC-2 1 [29][24] Successor of the Kawasaki EC-1[33]  
Tanker
Boeing KC-767   United States aerial refueling / transport KC-767J 4 [29][24] Based on the B767-200ER.

Selected in 2001, contract 2003.[34]

 
Boeing KC-46 Pegasus   United States aerial refueling / transport KC-46A 2 [35] +4 4 ordered in 2016 [36]

2 ordered in 2022 [37]

 
Lockheed Martin KC-130   United States aerial refueling KC-130H 3 [29] Used for helicopter refueling  
Transport
Boeing 777   United States VIP transport 777-300ER 2 [38] Callsign Japanese Air Force One.

Also used for humanitarian missions.

 
Kawasaki C-1   Japan Tactical and strategic transport 6 [29][24] 31 were built, introduced in 1974.[39]

Being retired and replaced by the C-2.

 
Kawasaki C-2   Japan Tactical and strategic transport 13 [29] + 7 [24]  
Lockheed C-130 Hercules   United States Tactical transport C-130H 14 [24]  
Flight inspection
Gulfstream IV   United States Inspecting the air navigation facilities and air traffic control facilities of the JSDF. U-4 [40] 5 [24] [40]  
British Aerospace 125   United Kingdom Inspecting the air navigation facilities and air traffic control facilities of the JSDF. U-125A 2 [41]  
Cessna Citation Latitude   United States Inspecting the air navigation facilities and air traffic control facilities of the JSDF. U-680A 2 [42] + 1 UNIFIS 3000-G2 flight-inspection equipment [43]  
Search and rescue
Hawker 800   United Kingdom SAR U-125A 26 [24] To be retired [44]  
Trainer Aircraft
Fuji T-7   Japan Basic trainer Aka

T-3 KAI

49 [24] Succeeded to the T-3.  
Kawasaki T-4   Japan Advanced trainer 198 [24] To be replaced likely by the T-7A Red Hawk.[45]  
Raytheon T-1 Jayhawk   United States Jet trainer T-400 13 [24]  
Kawasaki C-1   Japan Trainer aircraft for

ECM and ELINT

EC-1 1 [29][24] Replaced by the RC-2, used for training.[39]  

Rotary wing edit

Aircraft Role Type Variant In service On order Notes Image
Combat helicopters
Boeing CH-47 Chinook   United States

  Japan

Transport

/ Utility

CH-47J 15 [29] Licensed built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries  
Mitsubishi H-60   United States

  Japan

Utility

/ SAR

UH-60J 37 [29] Licensed built by Mitsubishi, 40 ordered in 2010 to replace 40 older variants of the UH-60J [46]

1 at least crashed [47]

 

UAV edit

Aircraft Origin Role Variant In service On order Notes Image
RQ-4 Global Hawk   United States Surveillance RQ-4B 1 [48] + 2 [48]  

Future aircraft edit

Aircraft / Programme Origin Type On order Notes Image
Combat Aircraft
Advanced fighter jet programme

"Global Combat Air Programme"

  Japan

  United Kingdom

  Italy

6th generation jet fighter 0 Treaty signed in December 2023.

Successor of the F-2. To be in service by 2035.[49]

Bomber
Kawasaki C-2   Japan Jet bomber 0 Japan is considering to mount the Rapid Dragon system on the C-2 aircraft to make it a lang-range bomber at a low cost.[50]
Trainer
T-7A Red Hawk   United States

  Sweden

Advanced trainer 0 Japan expressed interest in the replacement of the Kawasaki T-4 with the T-7A.[45]  

Culture and traditions edit

JASDF Flag edit

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force flag was first adopted in 1955 after the JASDF was created in 1954. It is based on a cap badge made in 1954. The flag is cobalt blue with a gold winged eagle on top of a combined star, the moon, the Hinomaru sun disc and clouds.[51] The latest version of the JASDF flag was re-adopted on 19 March 2001.[52] The JASDF flag is different from the JSDF flag and the JGSDF flag. It is determined by a directive regarding the flags of the JSDF.

Food edit

The dish of the JASDF is deep-fried chicken karaage,[53] such as Okinawan-style deep-fried chicken.[53] The JASDF tried to increase its popularity by promoting its fried chicken recipe since 2018.[53] There were competitions between the JMSDF's popular curry.[53]

See also edit

References edit

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  3. ^ "Mission". JASDF. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
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  6. ^ Takei, Tomohisa (2008). "Japan Maritime Self Defense Force in the New Maritime Era" (PDF). Hatou. 34: 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2018.
  7. ^ 武居智久 (2008). 海洋新時代における海上自衛隊 [Japan Maritime Self Defense Force in the New Maritime Era] (PDF). 波涛 (in Japanese). 34. 波涛編集委員会: 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Jap Air Force Will Get 85 U. S. Planes". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 28 (137). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Associated Press: 2. 7 January 1955.
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  23. ^ @jasdf_hyakuri (18 March 2019). "皆さんこんにちは!本日はVADSの空包射撃訓練の模様をお伝えします。VADSとは、Vulcan Air Defense Systemの頭文字を取った呼び方です。VADSは射手と分隊長の2人1組で射撃を行います。眼差しから、訓練への真剣さが伝わってきます!" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 February 2022 – via Twitter.
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External links edit