Air Self Defense Forces

Air Self-Defense Forces Koku jieitai
Flag of the Air Self Defense Forces
Lineup	July 1, 1954
Country	Japan
Armed forces	Self Defense Forces
Type	Air Force
insignia
Aircraft cockade

The Air Self-Defense Forces ( Japanese 航空 自衛隊 , Kōkū Jieitai , English Japan Air Self-Defense Force , abbreviated JASDF ) are the de facto air force of Japan and a branch of the self-defense forces . They have almost 46,000 men and are about the size of the country's navy .

The Air Self-Defense Forces were founded on July 1, 1954 and became the first independent air force that Japan had at its disposal. Previously, the air forces were always subordinate to the Navy ( Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force ) and the Army ( Imperial Japanese Army Air Force ).

assignment

The Air Self-Defense Forces are committed to three higher-level missions. The top priority is the defense of Japanese airspace against possible invaders. To this end, the JASDF maintain modern interceptors and a dense information gathering network on the ground with radar stations and anti-aircraft missiles . The offensive capacities are severely limited due to the peace imperative of the country's constitution .

The deployment in the event of a disaster follows this priority . The Japanese topography predestines the air force to support the population in this case with reconnaissance flights , the transport of disaster relief workers and the necessary material.

Current equipment

An F-2 at Andersen AFB

An F-15J on the Yokota AB

A C-1 dropping parachutists

A practice E-767 took part in Alaska

A CH-47JA of the Air Self Defense Forces

Air Self-Defense Forces decreed the end of 2012 over 796 predominantly modern military aircraft from American production or Japanese under license . 357 of them were fighter planes .

As part of a technology demonstration program, Mitsubishi is developing a cloak - air superiority fighter ( Mitsubishi ATD-X ). The aim is to develop a prototype in order to gain experience in this area. The importance of stealth technology became evident when the People's Republic of China announced the first test flight of a Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter in January 2011 .

In December 2011, the Japanese government decided to buy 42 F-35 fighter aircraft from the US manufacturer Lockheed Martin . It decided against the Eurofighter and the F / A-18 Hornet from Boeing . The F-35s are set to replace Japan's aging fleet of McDonnell F-4s .

Status: end of 2012

Aircraft	origin	use	version	active	Ordered	Remarks
Warplanes
Mitsubishi F-2	Japan	Multipurpose attack aircraft trainer	F-2A F-2B	63 16
McDonnell F-4 Phantom II	Japan / United States	Multipurpose fighter	F-4EJ Kai EF-4EJ RF-4EJ	80		Is determined by the F-35 replaced
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle	Japan / United States	Air superiority fighter trainer	F-15J F-15DJ	153 45		Built under license by Mitsubishi
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II	United States	Multipurpose fighter	F-35A		42
Tanker, transport and reconnaissance aircraft
BAe 125	United Kingdom	VIP transporter SAR aircraft		3 27
Boeing E-767	United States	AWACS - Recon		4th
Boeing 747	United States	VIP transporter	747-400	2		Will be replaced by the 777
Boeing KC-767	United States	Tanker aircraft	KC-767J	4th
Boeing 777	United States	VIP transporter	777-300ER		2
Kawasaki C-1	Japan	Tactical transport aircraft Electronic reconnaissance	C-1A EC-1	26 1		Is the C-2 substituted
Kawasaki C-2	Japan	Tactical transport aircraft		2	20th
Lockheed C-130 Hercules	United States	Tactical transport aircraft	C-130H	15th		Is the C-2 substituted
Lockheed KC-130	United States	Tanker aircraft	KC-130R	1
Grumman E-2	United States	AWACS scout	E-2C	13
Gulfstream IV	United States	VIP transporter		5
NAMC YS-11	Japan	VIP-Transporter Trainer Electronic Reconnaissance Strategic Transporter		3 3 4 4
Training aircraft
Beechjet 400	United States			13
Kawasaki T-4	Japan			203
Fuji T-7	Japan			48
helicopter
Boeing CH-47 Chinook	United States	Transport helicopter	CH-47J	19th
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk	Japan / United States	Transport helicopter	UH-60J	41	40	Is built by Mitsubishi under license

Organization and bases

Air
Self- Defense Forces bases and zones: NADF: Northern Zone
CADF: Central Zone
WADF: Western Zone
SCAD: Southwest Zone

Hyakuri airfield

The following overview also applies to 2012

Air Defense Command ( 航空 総 隊 , kōkū sōtai )

• North area ( 北部 航空 方面 隊 , hokubu kōkū hōmentai ), headquarters in Misawa
  • Chitose , 2nd Squadron, 201st and 203rd Squadron ( F-15J / DJ )
  • Misawa , 3rd Squadron with 3rd and 8th Squadrons ( F-2A / B , F-4EJ )
• Central area ( 中部 航空 方面 隊 , chūbu kōkū hōmentai ), headquarters in Iruma
  • Hyakuri , 7th Squadron with the 302nd ( F-4EJ ; from 2019 F-35A in Misawa) and 305th Squadron (F-15J / DJ)
  • Komatsu , 6th Squadron with 303rd and 306th Squadrons (F-15J / DJ)
• West area ( 西部 航空 方面 隊 , seibu kōkū hōmentai ), headquarters in Kasuga
  • Nyutabaru , 5th Squadron with 301st Squadron (F-4EJ), in future with F-35A in Misawa
  • Tsuiki , 8th Squadron with 6th ( F-2 ) and 304th Squadron (F-15J / DJ) - the latter relocated to Naha in 2016
• Southwest area ( 南西 航空 混成 団 , nansei kōkū konseidan ), headquarters in Naha , Okinawa
  • Naha, 83rd Squadron with the 204th Squadron (F-15J / DJ) - from 2016: 9th Squadron with the 204th and 304th Squadron (F-15J / DJ)

Support command ( 航空 支援 集 団 , kōkū shien jūdan )

• Komaki , 1st Tactical Transport Squadron ( 輸送 航空 団 , yusō kōkūtai ) with the 401st and 404th Squadron ( C-130H , KC-767J )
• Iruma , 2nd Tactical Transport Squadron with 402nd Squadron ( C-1 )
• Miho , 3rd Tactical Transport Squadron with the 403rd Squadron ( C-1 / C-2 ) and the 41st Training Squadron ( T-400 )

Training command ( 航空 教育 集 団 , kōkū kyōiku jūdan )

• Komatsu, 1st Squadron with the 31st and 32nd Training Squadrons ( T-4 )
• Matsushima , 4th Squadron with the 21st ( F-2 and T-4) and 11th training squadron ( Blue Impulse aerobatic squadron ; T-4)

Aerobatic team

The Blue Impulse are the aerobatic team of the Air Self-Defense Forces.

Web links

Commons : Air Self-Defense Forces  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Air Self-Defense Forces (English) (Japanese)
• The Air Self-Defense Force at GlobalSecurity.org (Engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} World Air Forces 2013 ( English , PDF; 4.0 MB) In: Flightglobal Insight . 2013. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved on April 12, 2013.
2. ↑ Japan buys stealth jets made in USA. Spiegel Online , December 20, 2011, accessed February 8, 2014 . 
3. ^ A farewell to the Phantom fleet, as Japan transitions to the F-35, Defense News, December 5, 2018
4. ↑ Japan Shifts Air Force Posture South, Unveils Stealth Demonstrator, Defense News, Jan. 31, 2016
5. ↑ JASDF deploys C-2 transports to Miho Air Base, Janes, April 3, 2017 ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.