Japan seeks to move E-2Cs and another F-15J squadron to Okinawa

Naha-based 204 Hikotai F-15J Eagle. USAF Photo

Japan's government has indicated that it is planning to deploy a second squadron of Mistubishi F-15J/DJ Eagles to Naha Airbase in Okinawa. In addition, it has also revealed that a squadron of E-2 Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning aircraft could also be sent there.

The base is the primary airbase which the Japan Air Self-Defense Force uses to provide overwatch for the hotly disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. As I have mentioned before, the sole JASDF F-15 unit currently based in Naha has been in the thick of the action scrambling against Chinese aircraft entering Japan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) while patrolling in the East China Sea, or headed out into the Western Pacific. The recent declaration of an ADIZ in the East China Sea by China would also have added impetus to this decision.

Word is that the JASDF F-15 unit that will be relocated to Naha to join the overworked 204 Hikotai will be the 304 Hikotai from Tsuiki in southern Kyushu, with an Mitsubishi F-2 unit from Misawa moving to Tsuiki to form a second F-2 Hikotai in Tsuiki.

Relocating northern Kyushu's sole interceptor unit and replacing it with a unit operating the F-2 (primarily a maritime strike platform) at a base facing a sector of the East China Sea where Chinese aircraft have been known to penetrate Japan's ADIZ from strikes me as odd. If anything, I had expected that 305 Hikotai at Hyakuri would have been the most likely candidate for the move, given it's located at Japan's quiet eastern seaboard away from the usual hotspots of Japan's ADIZ.

VIDEO: Rafale, SuE and Hawkeye operations on board Charles de Gaulle

Libye : appareillage et montée en puissance du... by ministeredeladefense

The caption for this video reads: On Sunday, March 20, 2011 the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle departed its home port of Toulon to join its area of ​​operation off the coast of Libya. The aircraft joined him during his transit to Libya.

H/T: Roy RX

USS Harry S. Truman makes first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye launch

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye has made its first launch from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). The launch was part of suitability testing on the new aircraft carried out by the US Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20.

PHOTO: USS Abraham Lincoln sails in a tropical lightning storm

(Click on thumbnail for high res image)
101008-N-4856N-012 STRAIT OF MALACCA (Oct. 8, 2010) Lighting flashes as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transits the Strait of Malacca. Abraham Lincoln is underway on a scheduled deployment to the U.S. 7th and U.S. 5th Fleet areas of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Colby K. Neal/Released)

PHOTO: VAW-120 E-2C Hawkeye lands on USS George H W Bush

(Click on thumbnail for high res image)
100822-N-6632S-344 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Aug. 22, 2010) An E-2C Hawkeye assigned to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 120 lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is conducting training operations in the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kevin J. Steinberg/Released)