What an incredible footage of the 302nd Squadron Phantoms!
On Mar. 19, 2019, the 302nd Squadron of the Japan Air Self Defense Force made its last flight with the F-4EJ “Kai” Phantom.
The 302nd was established in 1974 as an F-4EJ Phantom unit. The vertical tail of the Squandron’s Phantoms were marked with a special large mark of OJIROWASI “White-tailed Eagle”: the spotters around Hyakuri base called these aircraft OJIRO (“White-tailed”).
The F-4EJ “Kai” (“extra”) is the latest Japanese variant of the Phantom that has been modernized from the EJ version in the mid-1980s with the installation of a new AN/APG-66J pulse-Doppler radar, a new central computer, a Kaiser HUD (Head Up Display), an AN/APZ-79 IFF system, as well as the ability to carry an AN/ALQ-131 advanced multimode electronic countermeasures pod and to launch the AIM-7E/F Sparrow and the AIM-9L/P Sidewinder AAMs (air-to-air missiles).
The video below pays a tribute to the 302nd Squadron “OJIRO” Phantoms: it includes some really stunning slow motion footage too.
From March 26, 2019, the 302 squadron moved to Misawa air base to operate the JASDF F-35A 5th generation aircraft.
The only remaining F-4 Phantoms left at Hyakuri Base are the 301 Squadron and 501 Reconnaissance Squadron. They will complete their mission in about a year or so.
H/T to Akihiro Kanai for sending us this awesome video!
