F-2 fighters collide in midair above west Japan
April 23, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
F-2 fighter airplanes are seen landing at Tsuiki Air Base after training, in Chikujo, Fukuoka Prefecture. (Mainichi/Hiroya Miyagi) TOKYO Two Japan Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) F-2 fighters came in contact with each other in midair above northern Yamaguchi Prefecture in west Japan on April 22. The two fighters belong to the ASDF s Tsuiki Air Base, which straddles the town of Chikujo and other municipalities in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Fukuoka. About an hour after the incident, which occurred just after 3:05 p.m., the fighters returned to the base. The two pilots and a photographer aboard were not injured.
21 Japan SDF members in Africa have coronavirus, 130 attended base party in March
April 9, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
The Ministry of Defense is seen in Tokyo s Shinjuku Ward. (Mainichi/Masahiro Ogawa) TOKYO A total of 21 Japan Self-Defense Force (SDF) personnel at a base of operations in Djibouti in East Africa have been confirmed infected with the coronavirus, the Ministry of Defense reported on April 7. The personnel, aged between their 20s and 40s, are in the region to support activities against piracy off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. It emerged April 8 that at the end of March around 130 of the approximately 180 staff at the SDF base attended a sports event and a subsequent social gathering where alcohol was served.