A report by RAND last month concluded that “resource constraints and limited inventories of fighter aircraft pose formidable obstacles to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s ability to match Chinese air activity” in the East China Sea.
日本防衛省·統合幕僚監部 [CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The authors of the report says given “China’s quantitative advantage in fighter aircraft, Japan’s current approach may not be sustainable.”
The research found that while responding to Chinese air activities have help expose JASDF fighter pilots to real-world experience. It has an impact on training as the pilots cannot devote more time to train for other types of mission.