A research flight at Ozuki

The team began in 1998 as a flight-technique research group within the JMSDF’s training command at Ozuki, in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Its aims were better instructing, keener students and publicity for naval aviation. It flew as Blanc Aile (French for “white wing”) and as Rookie Flight, after the 201st Air Training Squadron’s call sign. It displayed at Ozuki and, for a time, at Kanoya and Shimofusa, but student training later limited it to Ozuki’s own events. After Chief of Staff Yutaka Murakawa praised its publicity value, it was relaunched in October 2018 as the service’s official aerobatic team. A staff competition chose the name White Arrows.

Four white trainers

The pilots are about a dozen senior instructors of the 201st Air Training Squadron, which trains every JMSDF pilot, and they fly displays alongside that work. They fly four Fuji T-5 primary trainers straight from the training fleet, without smoke generators or special paint. The slow turboprop can turn tightly at low level close to the crowd. The first display for the general public was at the Red Bull Air Race exhibition in Chiba on 7 September 2019. On 28 April 2024 at Kanoya the team shared a programme with Blue Impulse for the first time.