You Have To Watch This Crazy Cool Video Of The Last JASDF F-4EJ “OJIRO” Phantoms Of The 302nd Squadron

Published on: April 6, 2019 at 3:43 PM

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!



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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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