iscover
The venerable F-104J still serves in two squadrons with the front-line fighter forces of the JASDF. A total of 210 such aircraft were licence built by Mitsubishi from 1962 onwards. The type is progressively being phased out in favour of F-15Js and refurbished F-4 Phantoms Japan is hoping to eventually acquire a total of 45 P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft which are being locally built by Kawasaki. Japan's commitment to defending its sea lanes out to a 1000nm radius of its territories ensures the P-3 a special place in the inventory of the JASDF.
Asian Air Power, Japan
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No. 4: Japan
Koku Jieitai – the Japanese Air Self Defence Force – is part of the Japanese Self Defence Forces. These forces are restricted in personnel numbers, equipment types and budgetary allocation by the Japanese Constitution which was drawn up after World War 2 with Allied ‘guidance’. In fact, if one takes the literal meaning of the Japanese Constitution, there should be no Japanese armed forces.
The key to understanding the politics of defence in Japan is the ninth article of the 1947 Constitution. This article states that Japan renounces ‘war as a sovereign right of the nation’. ‘In order to accomplish the aim (of an international society based on justice and order) . . . . land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained’. This article of the Japanese Constitution sits rather awkwardly alongside the fact that Japan has armed forces including 14 front-line aircraft squadrons. Reconciling the Constitution with the need to provide for the defence of the nation has provided Japanese politicians with a lot of difficulties and a hard task for Japanese constitutional lawyers.
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