Without confidence in defeating Chinese pilots, Japanese Self-Defense Forces families are worried, and Shun'ei Koizumi went all out!
On March 8, Japanese Defense Minister Shun'ei Koizumi wore a flight suit to visit the Matsushima Air Base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. This footage returned to Tokyo, and the host in the studio smiled along. But when the camera swept over the faces of the Self-Defense Force members' families at the scene, no one could smile anymore — their brows were furrowed, and their eyes had no light.
On March 8, on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the East Japan Earthquake, Shun'ei Koizumi visited the Matsushima Base in Miyagi Prefecture. Normally, when a defense minister visits such a place, he should listen to reports, see post-disaster reconstruction, and encourage the troops. But Koizumi wanted to do something different: he wore a full-body flight suit, climbed into a T-4 trainer, and specifically asked the plane to trail smoke over the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The problem is that the families of the Self-Defense Force members didn't buy it. They stood there with "worry" written all over their faces. Why worry? Because their husbands, sons, were flying F-15Js that are older than themselves, playing cat-and-mouse with the J-20 in the East China Sea. This worry wasn't built up in a day. Koizumi probably also felt the awkwardness. So this defense minister went all out, played with the plane, and did a pull-up performance on the spot.
The families aren't worried about whether Koizumi is putting on a show. They're worried about whether their family members can come back after taking to the skies. Let's look at the equipment list. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force currently has around 330 combat aircraft. The mainstay is the F-15J, totaling about 200. But when were these F-15Js made? From the 1980s to the 1990s. The youngest is over 26 years old, and most are over 30 years old.
People in their 30s are thinking about health, but 30-year-old fighters still have to go to the East China Sea every day for interception. Metal gets fatigued. In 2021, the left main wheel of an F-15J at Naha Base fell off mid-flight. In 2023, the accident rate surged, all because the "old man" couldn't take it anymore. Worse still, of these 213 F-15Js, only 98 can be upgraded. The rest can't be repaired due to metal fatigue.
As for the F-35A, only 39 have arrived so far. It sounds intimidating, but how much can this stealth capability do in the entire East China Sea direction? In contrast, the J-20 has already exceeded 400. This number is more than the total number of all Japanese fighter jets combined. Plus 700 plus J-10s and 400 plus J-16s, the total number of fighter jets of the Chinese Air Force is about seven times that of Japan.
Japanese pilots used to be the benchmark in Asia. In the 1980s, when they flew the F-15J, we were still flying the J-6 and J-7. At that time, the Self-Defense Force members' families had pride on their faces. But now?
During the East China Sea standoff in 2016, the Japanese F-15J was locked by the Chinese Su-30 from behind and finally had to escape by releasing infrared countermeasures. Such "achievements," even if the families don't know everything, they've heard some rumors. Once they hear it, they know: it's not a problem of equipment, but a problem of people.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859331508018188/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.