January 6, 2008: The recent grounding of 670 elderly U.S. F-15C fighters, to check for metal fatigue, led to the grounding ofJapanese and Israeli F-15s, just to be on the safe side, and to check for any problems. This was a particularly difficult for the Japanese, as they had, at about the same time, grounded their F-2 (enlarged F-16) fighters because of a recent unexplained crash. That has left only elderly F-4EJ Phantom jets to guard Japanese air space for a week or so late last year.