When all F-104
deliveries were temporarily suspended during the investigation of a
rash of in-flight breakups in August 1962, Japan issued an urgent requirement
for a stopgap fighter.
The British proposal to immediately lease 24 RAF Hunter FGA.9s, with an option
to license Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build a further 88 was
selected in November 1962.
The first of the ex-RAF FGA.9s arrived two months later in January 1963.
The type proved popular with the JASDF, and the option to license build
was exercised in December 1963, with the original 24 RAF machines being
purchased outright at the end of their lease in 1965. The Hunter was
seen as an ideal aircraft by the JSDF. It was rugged and simple, had
room for local improvements, and at a time when public opinion in Japan was
strongly against any armed forces at all, the graceful, subsonic Hunter
presented a better public image than the Flaming Tubes of Death being offered
by Dassault, Lockheed, English Electric, McDonnell, and Convair.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The Hunter was
known in JASDF service as the 'Ryoushi', a direct translation of
'Hunter'. The JASDF took delivery of a total of 111 Hunters,
including the original 24 from Britain. The FGA.9 was optimized for
offensive ground attack operations, but to comply with the strict constraints
of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution the only weapons fitted initially
were the ADEN cannon and the US AIM-9B Sidewinder AAM. As these
restrictions eased through the life of the Ryoushi other weapons were added to
the inventory, and by the end of its service life in 1984 the Ryoushi was
capable of carrying bombs unguided rockets, and AGM-65 Maverick missiles in
the anti-shipping role.
This Ryoushi, one of the original RAF FGA.9s was the eighth example delivered
in 1963. It is shown in late 1965 wearing the new pattern camouflage and
the markings of 4th Sqn, 6th Air Wing. It has been upgraded with
Japanese avionics. This aircraft served until May 1975 when it was lost
over the Sea of Japan due to a catastrophic engine failure. The pilot
ejected safely, and was rescued by a fishing vessel.
The model is
Academy's 1/48 Hunter FGA.9 with no mods other than a few new antennae and a
new ejection seat to replace the tiny thing in the kit. I didn’t have
a Mk.2 seat in the spares box, so I modified a Monogram Mk.10 from a Mirage
2000 to look like a Mk.2. It's not perfect, but with a pilot and a
closed canopy it looks OK. The decals and pilot came from a Hasegawa
JASDF F-86F.
Nick
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