Japan is spending billions of dollars on the latest fifth-generation fighters. As a Foreign Military Sales participant, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has now requested a total of 147 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning Ils - 105 F-35As and 42 F-35B variants -from the US Department of State. The full sale has yet to be finalised by US Congress, but, once approved, Japan will become the largest operator of the F-35 outside the United States. This major investment in air defence has been determined by two sets of retirements. On November 20, 2020, the JASDF's 301st Fighter Squadron retired its 18 McDonnell Douglas F-4EJ Phantoms after 48 years of combat duty, while eight months earlier, on March 9, 2020, it bid farewell to its last RF-4E/EJs, after disbanding the 501st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. The 501st Hikotai, which was the only tactical reconnaissance squadron in the JASDF, had started its service life on December 1, 1961. Its initial fleet consisted of just ten North American RF-86F Sabre tactical reconnaissance jets, stationed at Matsushima Air Base in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture.
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