Blue Impulse

Blue Impulse 11 Squadron 4th Air Wing
Blue Impulse (T-4)
Active	April 12, 1960 – present
Country	Japan
Branch	Japan Air Self-Defense Force
Type	Aerobatics
Role	Aerobatic maneuver
Garrison/HQ	Matsushima Air Base
Motto(s)	Challenge for the Creation.
Colors	Blue White
Insignia
Identification symbol
Aircraft flown
Trainer	9 Kawasaki T-4s *Note: two aircraft are spares

Blue Impulse (ブルーインパルス, Burū Inparusu^?), (currently 11 Squadron 4th Air Wing, previously 21 Squadron 4th Air Wing), is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The team was founded in 1960 as a team of six F-86 Sabres. They changed mounts to the Mitsubishi T-2 in 1980 and then to the Kawasaki T-4 in 1995. They are based at Matsushima Air Base, which was heavily damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

* Number of aircraft used by the Blue Impulse acrobatic team.
** Aircraft service with the Blue Impulse acrobatic team.

The first unofficial Japanese aerobatic team was formed in 1958 at Hamamatsu Air Base, flying Mitsubishi-built North American F-86F Sabres without a special colour scheme, disbanded after four demonstrations.

In 1959 the USAF Thunderbirds visited Japan and inspired JASDF commanders to establish an official aerobatic team. In 1960 the new team was formed at Hamamatsu airbase flying five F-86Fs, with three of the pilots coming from the 1958 team.

The first demonstration of the "Tenryū" team, (named after the Tenryū River near the air base), was on 4 March 1960 at Hamamatsu, the name was found to be hard to pronounce in western languages, so the team was renamed Blue Impulse. The aircraft were equipped with smoke generators using five different colours for each aircraft: white, red, blue, green and yellow and painted in silver, light blue, blue and pink; on the leader's aircraft, the blue is replaced by gold. Later, in 1961, all five aircraft received a special paint scheme of overall white with blue flashes.