The 3rd Tactical Fighter Squadron () is a squadron of the 7th Air Wing of the

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 ...

(JASDF) based at

Hyakuri Air Base is an airport in the city of Omitama, Ibaraki, Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It also serves as an air base for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) under the name Hyakuri Air Base, and is the closest fighter base to Tokyo. The airpo ...

, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is equipped with

Mitsubishi F-2 The Mitsubishi F-2 is a multirole fighter derived from the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, and manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Lockheed Martin for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, with a 60/40 split in manufacturing betw ...

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. It is currently the longest-serving JASDF squadron, as the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and 2nd Squadrons have been disbanded.Thompson, Pau
JASDF – Squadron Histories
''J-HangarSpace'' Retrieved September 14, 2017

History

On October 1, 1956 the squadron was formed at Hamamatsu Air Base in Shizuoka Prefecture as part of the 2nd Air Wing, equipped with the F-86F Sabre. On September 2, 1957 it relocated to

Chitose Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in Chitose, Hokkaidō, adjacent to New Chitose Airport. It is the JASDF's primary base in northern Japan and tasked with monitoring Japan's maritime borders with Russia. It was also Hokkaidō's ...

in Hokkaido Prefecture. On March 5, 1963 it moved to Matsushima Air Base in Miyagi Prefecture and was transferred to the 4th Air Wing. On February 1, 1964, as part of the 81st Air Group, the squadron moved again to Hachinohe Air Base in Aomori Prefecture. On December 12, 1971 it relocated to

Misawa Air Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), List of United States Air Force installations, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, Aomori, in the northern p ...

, also in Aomori Prefecture. On March 31, 1978 it updated from the F-86F to the

Mitsubishi F-1 The Mitsubishi F-1 is a Japanese swept-wing, single-seat, twin-engine supersonic strike aircraft that was in service with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) from 1978 to 2006. It was Japan's first domestically designed and built supersonic ...

and was transferred to the 3rd Air Wing. From late March 2001 the squadron started replacing its F-1 aircraft with

s. It was the first operational F-2 squadron. On March 19, 2004 it started flying the F-2. In October 2016 the squadron conducted Exercise "Guardian North 2016" at Misawa. This was a joint exercise with four Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 aircraft of 2 Squadron of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. It was the first time British and Japanese fighter aircraft had trained together, the first time fighters from the two countries had met since World War II, and the first time the JASDF had trained in Japan with non-US military forces. On March 26, 2020 unit officially transitioned from Misawa Air Base to Hyakuri Air Base.

Tail marking

The squadron's current tail marking is a

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

's helmeted head in profile. A colorful design was adopted in 1983 when the squadron still operated F-1 aircraft. Since the squadron began operating the F-2s in maritime camouflage the tail marking design has been made smaller and less colorful.

Aircraft operated

Fighter aircraft

North American F-86F Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

（1956–1978） *

(1978–2002） *

(2001–present)

Liaison aircraft

Lockheed T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

A (1956–1992) *

Mitsubishi T-2 The Mitsubishi T-2 was a supersonic jet trainer aircraft used by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Introduced in 1975, it was the first Japanese-designed aircraft to break the sound barrier. It was the basis of the Mitsubishi F-1 strike fighter ...

(1978–2002) *

(1990–present)

References