Managing a Big, Rough Neighborhood.

An interview with Lieutenant General Hidetoshi Hirata, commander of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Southwestern Composite Air Division based in Okinawa, Japan is presented. When asked whether the Japan Air Self-Defense Force will adopt the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars for its F-15s, he states that they will upgrade nearly 90 F-15Js, but AESA is not part of it. He notes that since they can only have limited number of fighters, they should have stealth for survivability and a good radar for cruise missile detection.