Kawasaki P-1 Landing Practice 川崎P-1 海上自衛隊 厚木基地

When I got stationed in Atsugi it didn't take long to notice this quite beautiful blue airplane taking to the sky in and around the area. When I got my first good look at it, and saw the same Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) package in the tail as the P-3C Orion has, I knew immediately what it was for. This lead me into a little bit of research into the airplane. I knew with the MAD that it can detect submarines, but I also found out that any offensive weapon employable by the P-3 can also be employed by the P-1. A Chinese news broadcast states that the Government of Japan put in an order for 20 aircraft for the JMSDF.

I was fortunate enough to get three good passes and make this cut.