The crash, part of a troubling series of fatal accidents in recent years, has shaken public trust and underlined the recruitment challenges facing the country’s self-defence forces.
Analysts warn that the crash, which has prompted fresh scrutiny of the Air Self-Defence Force’s safety protocols and ageing equipment, is likely to make attracting new recruits to Japan’s already overstretched military even more difficult.
“If serious incidents continue to occur almost every year, the public’s trust in the SDF could be lost,” the Yomiuri Shimbun said in a May 16 editorial. The newspaper raised questions about possible maintenance lapses or pilot error and cautioned that such accidents could deepen the military’s manpower crisis.
A similar editorial from the Mainichi Shimbun echoed these concerns: “Unless the SDF does the utmost to prevent recurrences and works to alleviate the public’s concerns, trust in the forces could be shaken.”
