Rank 37 in the Aviation Heroes collection, this print treats the Mitsubishi F-2A Support Fighter as Japan's indigenous maritime-strike answer to the F-16 lineage — not as a generic grey jet lost in a white background. Co-developed with the United States under the FS-X programme and entering JASDF service around 2000, the F-2A enlarged the Viper's wing area, hardened the structure for anti-ship stores, and fielded avionics tuned for island-chain defence. The 3rd Squadron at Matsushima Air Base is among the oldest fighter units in the JASDF, and its F-2A line carries the squadron's strike identity across northern Honshu training cycles and deployment workups that collectors still hunt in tail-up profile catalogues.