At the beginning of March, it was reported that Japan’s Defense Ministry has been limiting the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s (JASDF) scrambling of aircraft. The JASDF has been scrambling its aircraft many times more than the U.S. Air Force and the air forces of NATO do, raising the possibility that this relatively small air force would exhaust its pilots and aircraft. Therefore, limiting the JASDF’s scrambling of aircraft is a prudent measure to preserve the force, but it will not solve Japan’s predicament.
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