Japan's war machine that isn't

[Hachiko]

In March 1999, when P-3C Orion aircraft from the Maritime Self-Defense Force dropped warning bombs near two suspicious trawlers in the Sea of Japan, it was the first time weapons had been used "in anger" by any SDF unit. The action followed the MSDF receiving its first-ever Cabinet order permitting it to use force if necessary in what was to prove a vain attempt to apprehend the unknown intruders -- this at a time of heightened tension after North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile that overflew Japan the previous August.

A pair of ASDF F-15J fighters

But this was to be overshadowed by a similar occurrence within Japan's 200-mile (320-km) exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea in December 2001. Another P-3C sighting set off a chain of events that culminated in a suspect vessel initiating a firefight with pursuing Japan Coast Guard vessels and sinking with the loss of all hands.

Japan Times

 

[thomas]

[smart mode]
The pic shows F-4J fighters, not F-15.
[/smart mode]