Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ Eagle
Japan's licence-built Eagle — the backbone of the JASDF's air defence · First flight 1980 · In service 1981
The F-15J and two-seat F-15DJ are Japan's versions of the F-15C/D. The first two F-15Js and twelve F-15DJs were built in St. Louis — the first F-15J flew there on 4 June 1980 — while the rest were assembled and then licence-built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at Komaki, where the first Japanese-assembled aircraft flew on 26 August 1981. Production in Japan ran until 1997, making Japan the largest F-15 customer outside the United States.
The airframe matches the F-15C/D, but the defensive and nuclear-related equipment differs: the J/ALQ-8 jammer replaces the AN/ALQ-135 and the J/APR-4 radar-warning receiver replaces the AN/ALR-56, and the jets use an indigenous data link rather than Link 16. Japanese-built AAM-3, AAM-4 and AAM-5 missiles joined the US AIM-7 and AIM-9. From 1987 Mitsubishi applied the multi-stage improvement programme (MSIP), and from 1997 Mitsubishi Electric licence-built the APG-63(V)1 radar for upgraded aircraft.
F-15Js equip fighter squadrons at Chitose, Komatsu, Nyutabaru and Naha, while F-15DJs in distinctive camouflage serve with the Tactical Fighter Training Group, the JASDF's aggressor unit at Komatsu. In 2022 Japan's defence ministry confirmed that 68 F-15Js would be modernised under the Japan Super Interceptor (JSI) programme with new radar, electronics and weapons.
