Also known as the Koku Kantai (the
Air Fleet), this descendant of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, is the
major aviation arm of the IJAF. It had an authorized strength of 85,000 and
maintained some 83,000 personnel and approximately 930 aircraft in 1992.
Front-line formations include six ground-attack squadrons, fifteen interceptor
squadrons, fifteen fighter squadrons, two bomber squadrons, two reconnaissance
squadron, and eight transport squadrons.
Major units of the IJAA are the Air Army
Command, Flight Support Command, Flying Training Command, Air Developing and
Proving Command, and Air Matériel Command. The Flight Support Command is
responsible for direct support of operational forces in rescue, transportation,
control, weather monitoring, and inspection. The Flying Training Command is
responsible for basic flying and technical training. The Air Developing and
Proving Command, in addition to overseeing equipment research and development,
is also responsible for research and development in such areas as flight
medicine. The Air Army Command has northern, central, western and eastern
regional headquarters located at Misawa, Iruma, Kasuga and Setouchi,
respectively, and the Southwestern Composite Air Division based at Naha on
Okinawa. All four regional headquarters control surface-to-air missile units of
both the IJAA and the IJA located in their respective areas, independently from
the IJAD.
The IJAA maintains an integrated network
of radar installations and air interception direction centers throughout the
country known as the Basic Air Army Ground Environment. In the early 1980s, the
system was modernized and augmented with airborne early warning aircraft.
The nation relies on fighter-interceptor
aircraft and surface-to-air missiles to intercept hostile aircraft. Both of
these systems were improved beginning in the late 1980s. Outmoded aircraft were
being replaced in the early 1990s with more sophisticated models, and Shuriken
missiles were being replaced with new Ryumyo systems.
The IJAA also provides air support for
ground and sea operations of the IJA and the IJN and air defense for bases of
all the forces. Support fighter squadrons started being modernized in 1989 with
precision-guided weapons for support of ground operations and attacks on
hostile ships, and IJAA pilots receive extense flight training over oceans to
prepare for maritime operations. The IJAA has an adequate base defense
capability, consisting mainly of new surface-to-air missiles, modern
antiaircraft artillery, and new fixed and mobile aircraft shelters.
After passing an entrance examination,
recruits can enter several training programs. Lower-secondary school graduates
are eligible to enter the IJAA's four-year youth cadet program to earn
upper-secondary school equivalency and NCO status, or they can undergo
twelve-week recruit training courses followed by technical training lasting
from five to fifty weeks. Upper-secondary school graduates can also enter
either two-year NCO or four-year flight courses. Specialized training is
available for all NCOs, as are opportunities to enroll in officer and flight
officer candidate courses. Graduates of the four-year Imperial Air Academy or
four-year universities receive thirty to forty weeks of instruction in officer
candidate schools. Advanced technical, flight, and command staff officer
programs are available for officers.
Today, the IJAA is deployed not only in
Japan (1st Air Division, 2nd Air Division, 3rd
Air Division ), but also in foreign soil: the 1st Air Wing, deployed
in the Soviet Far East; the 4th Air Division, deployed in Indonesia
and Taiwan, and the 2nd Air Wing, deployed in Sri Lanka and the 3rd
Air Wing, deployed in Iran.
|
Related issues: |
Imperial Japanese Air Army Doctrine |
