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.

F-15J/DJs are identical to F-15C/Ds aside from the ECM, radar warning system, and nuclear equipment. The AN/ALQ-135 Internal Countermeasures System is replaced by the indigenous J/ALQ-8 and the AN/ALR-56 Radar warning receiver is replaced by the J/APR-4. The engine is the Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan, produced under license by IHI Corporation. Some aircraft still have an inertial measurement unit, an old type of the inertial navigation system. All F-15J/DJs have two UHF radios, which are also VHF capable.

The F-15J is characterized by an indigenous data link, but they do not support Link 16 FDL mounted by USAF F-15Cs. It works as a basic bidirectional link with the Japanese ground-controlled intercept network, and it is limited because it is not a true network.

Mitsubishi received the F-15C/D Multistage Improvement Program (MSIP) and in 1987 began upgrading the F-15J/DJs. Improvements included an uprated central computer, engines, armament control set and added the J/APQ-1 countermeasures set. The F100-PW-220 (IHI-220) was upgraded to the F100-PW-220E (IHI-220E) with a digital engine electronic control retrofit. Differences in appearance from earlier F-15Js include the J/ALQ-8 ICS with an ICS antenna mounted under the intake. The J/APQ-4 RWR antenna position on the F-15J/DJs is the same as F-15C/Ds, but the lens of F-15J/DJ MSIPs is black rather than white for F-15C/Ds.

Pictured here is a stunning 1:72 scale diecast replica of a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force Mitsubishi F-15J Eagle multirole fighter painted in a 50th Anniversary of the JASDF scheme. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-inches
Length: 10-1/2-inches

Release Date: May 2019

Historical Account: "Key to the Defense" - The Japan Air Self-Defense Force, JASDF, also referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace and for other aerospace operations. It is the de facto air force of Japan. 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 UN peacekeeping missions.

The JASDF had an estimated 50,324 personnel as of 2013, and as of 2013 operated 777 aircraft, approximately 373 of them fighter aircraft.

Japan did not have a separate air force before World War II. Aviation operations were carried out by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (Kōkūtai). Following World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were dissolved and later replaced by the JSDF with the passing of the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Law, with the JASDF as the aviation branch.

Until 2015, women were banned from becoming fighter jet and reconnaissance aircraft pilots, with the first female pilot of a F-15s set to join the ranks, along with three other female pilots currently in training, in 2018