Tokyo also planned to develop an RF-15 reconnaissance jet with surface-scanning synthetic aperture radars, but this program was canceled in 2010.
The first F-15J flew in 1980, and the aircraft entered operational service in 1982—at the time, by far the most capable jet flown by an East Asian air force. The later half of the 213 F-15Js built were Multi-Stage Improvement Package models (F-15MJs), featuring more powerful computers and digital displays, improved air conditioning, an additional J/APQ-1 radar warning system, and compatibility with Japanese missiles. Those include the short-range heat-seeking AAM-3 missile and the radar-guided AAM-4 with a range of sixty-two to seventy-five miles.