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9th Air Wing (JASDF)
The 9th Air Wing () is a wing of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It comes under the authority of the Southwestern Air Defense Force. It is based at Naha Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. As of 2017 it has two squadrons, both equipped with Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ and Kawasaki T-4 The Kawasaki T-4 is a Japanese subsonic intermediate jet trainer aircraft developed and manufactured by the commercial conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its sole operator is the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), in part due to historic ... aircraft: * 204th Tactical Fighter Squadron * 304th Tactical Fighter Squadron Gallery File:F-15J (843, 907, 955) of 204 Sqn fly through the air, -17 Dec. 2010 a.jpg, F-15Js of 204 Sqn in flight (2010) File:F-15J (945, 865) at Tsuiki.jpg, F-15Js of 304 Sqn in flight (2008) See also * Fighter units of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force References Units of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force {{Japan-mil-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and List of islands of Japan, thousands of smaller islands, covering . Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and List of cities in Japan, its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the List of largest cities, largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 Prefectures of Japan, administrative prefectures and List of regions of Japan, eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of Geography of Japan, the countr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan Air Self-Defense Force
The , , also referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the Aerial warfare, air and space warfare, space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare. 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 United Nations, UN peacekeeping missions. The JASDF had an estimated 49,913 personnel as of 2018, and as of 2023 operates about 712 aircraft, approximately 321 of them being fighter aircraft. The service will be renamed in 2027 to the , in recognition of the increasing importance of the space domain. History 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 Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southwestern Air Defense Force (JASDF)
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest—each located halfway between two cardinal directions. Some disciplines such as meteorology and navigation further divide the compass with additional azimuths. Within European tradition, a fully defined compass has 32 "points" (and any finer subdivisions are described in fractions of points). Compass points or compass directions are valuable in that they allow a user to refer to a specific azimuth in a colloquial fashion, without having to compute or remember degrees. Designations The names of the compass point directions follow these rules: 8-wind compass rose * The four cardinal directio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naha Airport
is an international airport located west of the city hallAIS Japan in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is Japan's sixth busiest airport and the primary air terminal for passengers and cargo traveling to and from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It handles scheduled international traffic to Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and mainland China. The airport is also home to Naha Air Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Naha Airport is the hub for Japan Transocean Air, which connects Okinawa Prefecture with other prefectures of Japan, and Ryukyu Air Commuter, which connects Okinawa main island with surrounding islands. Naha Airport is a 24-hour airport, and served 21.5 million passengers in 2018, an increase of roughly three million passengers in two years. It’s the sixth busiest airport in Japan after New Chitose Airport in S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsubishi F-15J
The McDonnell Douglas - Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter based on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in use by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The F-15J was produced under license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries along with McDonnell Douglas. The subsequent F-15DJ and F-15J J-MSIP (MSIP Configuration II Aircraft) variants were also produced. Japan is the largest customer of the F-15 Eagle outside the United States. In addition to combat, F-15DJ roles include training. The F-15J Kai is a modernized version of the F-15J. Kai was an early designation that has gradually subdivided; nowadays, Japan no longer uses 'kai' to refer to newly upgraded F-15Js. Instead, Japanese predominantly use J-MSIP or F-15MJ. Development In June–July1975, the Japan Defense Agency (JDA, now Ministry of Defense) examined the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle as one of the 13 candidates for the replacement of the F-104J/DJ Starfighter and F-4EJ Phantom II ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kawasaki T-4
The Kawasaki T-4 is a Japanese subsonic intermediate jet trainer aircraft developed and manufactured by the commercial conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its sole operator is the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), in part due to historic restrictions on the exporting of military hardware. In addition to its primary training mission, the T-4 has been used by the JASDF's Blue Impulse aerobatic team as well as liaison duties with most fighter units. The first XT-4 prototype flew on 29 July 1985, while the first production aircraft was delivered during September 1988. Development Origins During November 1981, Kawasaki was selected as the main contractor to design and manufacture a suitable trainer aircraft, which was initially designated as the ''KA-850'', to meet the needs of Japan's ''MT-X'' program, having beaten out rival bids from Mitsubishi and Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd., Fuji. The MT-X program had been launched to procure a replacement for the aging Lockheed T-33 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wing (military Aviation Unit)
In military aviation, a wing is a unit of command. In most military aviation services, a wing is a relatively large formation of planes. In Commonwealth countries a wing usually comprises three squadrons, with several wings forming a group (around 10 squadrons). Each squadron will contain around 20 planes. Commonwealth usage Origins On its establishment in 1912, the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was intended to be an inter-service, combined force of the British Army and Royal Navy. Given the rivalry that existed between the army and navy, new terminology was used, in order to avoid marking the corps out as having an army or navy ethos. While the term "wing" had been used in the cavalry, its more general use predominated. Accordingly, the word "wing", with its allusion of flight, was chosen as the term of subdivision and the corps was split into a "Military Wing" (i.e. an army wing) and a "Naval Wing". Each wing consisted of a number of squadrons (the term "squad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okinawa Prefecture
is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west and 400 kilometers north to south. Despite a modest land area of 2,281 km² (880 sq mi), Okinawa’s territorial extent over surrounding seas makes its total area nearly half the combined size of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Of its 160 Island, islands, 49 are inhabited. The largest and most populous island is Okinawa Island, which hosts the capital city, Naha, as well as major urban centers such as Okinawa (city), Okinawa, Uruma, and Urasoe, Okinawa, Urasoe. The prefecture has a subtropical climate, characterized by warm temperatures and high rainfall throughout the year. People from the Ryukyu Islands, Nansei Islands, including Okinawa Island, Okinawa, the Sakishima Islands, and parts of Kagoshima Prefecture, are often collectively referred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a bilingual news magazine, ''Mainichi Weekly''. It also publishes paperbacks, books and other magazines, including a weekly news magazine, ''Sunday Mainichi''. It is one of the four national newspapers in Japan; the other three are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' and the '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun''. The '' Sankei Shimbun'' and the ''Chunichi Shimbun'' are not currently in the position of a national newspaper despite a large circulation for both. History The history of the ''Mainichi Shimbun'' began with the founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The '' Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun'' was founded first, in 1872. The ''Mainichi'' claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper with its 136-year history. The Osaka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force. In most armed forces, two or more squadrons will form a group or a wing. Some military forces (including the United States Air Force, United States Space Force, French Air and Space Force, Royal Air Force, German Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, Belgian Air Component and Republic of Singapore Air Force) also use the term "squadron" for non-flying ground units (e.g. radar squadrons, missile squadrons, air defense squadrons, aircraft maintenance squadrons, security forces squadrons, civil engineering squadrons, range operations squadrons, range management squadrons, weather squadrons, medical squadrons, etc.). Comparative organization Germany In World War I, the Imperial Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
204th Tactical Fighter Squadron (JASDF)
The 204th Tactical Fighter Squadron () is a squadron of the 9th Air Wing of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It is based at Naha Air Base, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is equipped with Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ and Kawasaki T-4 aircraft.Thompson, PauJASDF - Squadron Histories''J-HangarSpace'' Retrieved September 20, 2017 History The squadron was founded as part of the 5th Air Wing on December 1, 1964 at Nyutabaru Air Base as a Lockheed F-104J/DJ squadron. It began as a conversion squadron under Lieutenant Colonel Tadashi Matsuzaki, former commander of the 201st Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Chitose Air Base in Hokkaido. It took on Quick Reaction Alert duties from October 1968. It was temporarily based at Komatsu Air Base in 1980 and 1981 before returning to Nyutabaru. In 1985 it upgraded to the F-15J/DJ and became part of the 7th Air Wing at Hyakuri Air Base in Ibaraki Prefecture. It was partly responsible for the air defense of Tokyo. This move prompted the 301st Tac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
304th Tactical Fighter Squadron (JASDF)
The 304th Tactical Fighter Squadron () is a squadron of the 9th Air Wing of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It is based at Naha Air Base, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is equipped with Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ and Kawasaki T-4 aircraft. Thompson, PauJASDF – Squadron Histories''J-HangarSpace'' Retrieved September 21, 2017 History The squadron was founded on August 1, 1977 at Tsuiki Air Base in Fukuoka Prefecture flying the McDonnell Douglas F-4EJ. A number of the early pilots had previously flown the North American F-86F Sabre with 10th Squadron, which had just been disbanded. During this period the JASDF still followed a system in which the numbering of a squadron was dependent on the type of aircraft it operated. Single digit squadrons operated the F-86F, 100-numbered squadrons operated the F-86D, 200-numbered squadrons operated the F-104J and the new squadrons operating the F-4 were numbered in the 300s. The pilots retrained on the F-4 and from 1978 were responsible for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
