Top official denies claim that Chinese fighter was close to firing on ASDF jet
A senior government official on Wednesday flatly denied allegations written on a news website claiming that a Chinese fighter was close to firing on an Air Self-Defense Force jet that had been scrambled over the East China Sea. Koichi Hagiuda, deputy chief Cabinet secretary and ...
Tamogami pleads not guilty to paying his campaign staff
Former Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami tells the Tokyo District Court he's innocent.
Bodies of four ASDF jet crewmen found; search for remaining two, wreckage ongoing
The bodies of four crew members of a Japanese military airplane that went missing Wednesday were found Thursday on Mount Takakuma in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, defense officers in Tokyo said. Thursday's search for the remaining two crewmen was suspended in the evening, as was the ...
An Air Self-Defense Force jet carrying six people disappeared from radar over Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday afternoon, the ASDF announced. The U-125 disappeared from radar at around 2:35 p.m. while it was flying about 10 km north of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kanoya base in ...
Toshio Tamogami, a former Air Self-Defense Force chief whose office was searched on suspicion of using political funds for private purposes, told reporters Tuesday the accusation was false. "I have not used political funds for private purposes. I hope they will investigate thoroughly," he said. Prosecutors ...
Chinese bombers fly over Miyako Strait for first time; fighters scrambled
China's air force said Thursday its planes flew over the Miyako Strait, near Okinawa Island, to the Western Pacific Ocean for training for the first time, amid heightened Asian maritime tensions. It said the one-day training, aimed at improving aircraft maneuverability above the open sea, ...
A new E-2C early warning patrol plane unit was launched Sunday at an Air Self-Defense Force base in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, to bolster surveillance amid repeated intrusions by Chinese vessels into Japanese territorial waters. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told ASDF members at a ceremony commemorating ...
Tamogami finds some support in younger generation
He may have lost the Tokyo gubernatorial election Sunday, but Toshio Tamogami appears to have won over younger voters who favored the hawkish former Air Self-Defense Force general more than middle-aged and elderly voters did, according to media exit polls. However, experts caution it's too ...
Japan scrambled jets against Chinese planes 138 times from October to December
Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets scrambled against Chinese aircraft 138 times in the last three months of 2013, second only to first three months of last year, when they scrambled 146 times, the Defense Ministry's Joint Staff said Tuesday. The ministry has been closely monitoring ...
Tamogami pledges SDF disaster prep
Toshio Tamogami, a former top officer in the Air Self-Defense Force cashiered for historical revisionist comments, formally announces he will run for Tokyo governor, pledging to build a stronger disaster response system with the SDF to brace for terrorist attacks during the 2020 Olympics ...
