Posted on 05/01/2007 8:10:40 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Japan asks U.S. for more data on F-22 fighter
WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma has asked U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates for more information about the F-22 fighter jet built by Lockheed Martin Corp. , a senior Japanese official said on Tuesday.
U.S. law currently bans any exports of the F-22 Raptor, but some lawmakers and defense officials say there is growing interest in making it possible to export a modified version of the advanced fighter to close allies such as Japan.
"If we make the F-22 a candidate, we need full information on this air fighter," said the official, who asked not to be named.
Japanese military officials are eyeing the supersonic F-22, the U.S. Air Force's main air superiority fighter, as part of their response to growing regional missile threats.
The Japanese official said Kyuma discussed the F-22 with Gates during their meeting on Monday, saying Japan would need more data on the fighter jet's specifications so it could be formally considered in an upcoming competition.
Kyuma asked Gates "to provide us with more information so that we may proceed," the official said.
Japan is aware of U.S. congressional concerns about protecting the F-22's classified technologies, he added.
But resistance to exports appears to be weakening, according to U.S. congressional officials and analysts.
The House of Representatives last year voted to remove the export ban on the F-22, which is attached to the annual defense appropriations legislation, but the measure was reinserted during conference negotiations with the Senate.
The issue is important to Lockheed and its F-22 partners -- Boeing Co. and United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit -- because overseas sales could extend the production line beyond 2011, when the last of the 183 Raptors currently planned is due to be sent to the U.S. Air Force.
One senior U.S. defense official told Reuters on Tuesday that there was a growing feeling "that this be the right time to look at it," although he cautioned that there were no concrete plans to move ahead at this point.
Advocates for foreign sales had not yet reached "a critical mass," said the official, who asked not to be named.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, who heads the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, also warned last week that designing an export version of the F-22 could cost more than $1 billion and be "prohibitively expensive" for any would-be foreign buyer.
The aircraft, which entered the U.S. combat fleet in December 2005 after 20 years of development, currently costs $136 million per copy, not including development costs.
The first F-22 overseas deployment was to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan, this year. Twelve are still in the region.
Loren Thompson, a defense analyst close to the Pentagon and to military contractors, said the F-22's ability to fly at supersonic speeds meant it was uniquely suited to chasing down cruise missiles that could be directed at Japan.
The F-22 would be an integral part of any future missile defense architecture involving Japan, said Thompson, of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.
Israel is also widely reported to have shown interest in acquiring the F-22.
Maybe we should send a copy of the data to Kim Jong Il too?
Yeah now Chia Pet is off Dubya axis of evil list send these stuff to CHIA PET
The Japanese are excellent allies and our interests in the region are closely aligned. They also have an excellent record at protecting classified data - not perfect, but frankly better than our government’s. They aren’t the best trading partner in the world but I view that as a separate issue.
I took some graduate engineering courses at GE Medical Systems in the mid 80's. At that time GE was trying to export its new CAT Scanners to markets in Japan to no avail.
The Japanese government claimed that the Japanese race were different physiologically from Americans and could not accept test data from US sources, further to do their own tests the Japanese government had to have complete plans of the GE equipment.
As you can guess that information made its way into the hands of GE's Japanese competitors which had a late start in these machines, but made up ground quickly.
Bullshit. There is a case on record of a Japanese military man leaking aegis technology to his chinese plant wife. Thank the lord you aren’t in charge of our secrets
I don't.
They just want to steal the technology. The US is the only country that should be allowed the F22!
Companies in business to make money is a fact. Japan is a good ally. More dependable than western Europe.
Sell it to em. Any luck and they might use them to bomb chicom food processing plants and my two poor cats might have a shot at dying of old age....
We don't know that, hasn't been much time between WWII and today. On the other hand, Western Europe has shown again and again to be a trustworthy ally. Americans and Europeans have the same world view and same faith, by and large. Japanese are still angry about Hiroshima/Nagasaki. They were an extremely brutal people throughout their history, especially during WWII. They were taught a lesson and they learned it well, but this does not make them an ally equal to say, GB, Italy, Australia, etc.
And by the way, though companies are in business to make money, that's no excuse to sell our best best jet, the F22, to any foreign nation. Once on foreign soil, its technology and design will be in the hands of the enemy in no time at all.
errr! Recent global politics indicate that, Japan is a good ally.
If there is no reduction in our price, and the only benefit is to LM's bottom line then it becomes much harder to justify.
We have sold quite a lot of advanced military hardware to the Japanese and overall they have been pretty responsible with it. Nothing is perfect.
Can you name even one other nation which has actually attacked America?...
WWII was only one generation ago.
Japan was a very good ally then too.
Right up until the time those (Mitsubishi) Zeros came flying into Pearl Harbor.
Time changes things. As I said, there hasn't been enough time between 1945 and now to claim they are a stalwart ally, equal to W. Europe. They are a current ally, but we still have thousands of troops on their soil and we strongly discourage them from building a powerful military. We should give NOBODY our best technology, no matter what the dollar figure is.
Snort - like their great support for the Iraq war?
Ever been to Japan? I lived there for 2 years working in the US Embassy (off Roppongi). I would have to rate Japan as a better ally than Italy sorry. Japan is a large nation with many and varied political views, but their overall opinion of the US is very favorable.
Are they perfect - heck no - they are still fundamentally racist - but so is everyone else is Asia.
I once was at a dinner party in Tokyo. There was an old Japanese gentleman there who was very badly disfigured. He didn't have much of a face. I don't know how it came up but he told us that he was in Nagasaki as a boy when we dropped the bomb. The room suddenly got quiet and uncomfortable. He went on to say that he understood perfectly why we used the bomb and that he SUPPORTED the decision - in spite of the personal cost to himself. Japan is a complex nation - stereotyping anything is foolish.
Sorry amigo - Japan was not a good ally before WWII and the Japan of today is a different country. Who are the Japanese going to ally with against us anyway? The Chinese - give me a break.
Yes, the UK is our best ally. Selling a stripped down version of the F 22 makes sense. My friends tell me they have even more exotic technology than that already test flying. Frankly we need something to sell on the world market!
The world’s finest technical capabilites are all.
Let’s consider that: all.
Moving one after the other, to Asia.
America’s entire manufacturing base, that portion we hadn’t already ceded to Japan and other Asian tigers, has now been taken completely over, by China.
Our national treasure now belongs to Asians. Our educational excellence. Our research and development. Our technology. Our programming. Our automobile industry. And soon our geopolitical influence.
All gone.
We don’t make much of anything anymore — soon we will have forgotten how. And yet there are people on this board, ready to give away one of the few things we’re still the best at?
For what??
It boggles the mind.
In such a short time, we have squandered our own national future. We really have.
For inexpensive trinkets. At Walmart?
Military technology is one of the few items we have left to sell along with entertainment and financial services. Sad but true.
Sell off Hollywood.
The entire corrupt, useless leftist town.
Who needs it? They’re a bunch of unpatriotic socialists anyway. Dump them.
Why in the world do we keep pampering Hollywood, yet we do nothing for our Auto industry. Our electronics manufacturers. Good solid employers of Reagan Democrats.
Sold.
And we wonder, why Democrats are making a comeback.
Industry after industry, sold and moved offshore.
I say — sell Hollywood. Tomorrow.
Keep our aerospace American.
Then, we can get back some of the industries we have squandered.
It’s time to start looking out for ourselves.
It’s time for Republicans to get in front of this issue, before it gets in front of Republicans.
There’s not much time left.
How's Christianity, democracy, and capitalism for starters?
As for "war plans against England up until 1930", please, give me a break. We fought with them against the Kaiser in WWI. And afterwards nobody was sitting at home in the U.S. chewing their fingernails, worrying about a war with England. Italy? Another very poor example. Italy had no chance to stand up to Hitler, though they hated him. They were also under the iron fist of Musolini, but they soon fought alongside the U.S. against the Nazis, (who occupied their land). Yeah, I know, Europe is crumbling, rampant decadence, latent cultural changes. But Europeans are still our best allies when things get really bad, and that's because we have similar world views.
Anyway, if you read my earlier post you'd have found that I think selling the F-22 to any other nation, (including Europe), would be a big mistake.
Yes, and isn't it time we pulled out of that quagmire and just admit defeat?
Yes, I have been to Japan. I also know that many Japanese still deeply resent the U.S. for nuking their cities. I further know that most Japanese are not pleased with the U.S. bases that remain on their soil, and they dislike our troops. They have refused many U.S. pleas to loosen their import tax structure to create a fair, balanced trade with the U.S. So it doesn't matter to me a whit that Japan is a new-age "ally" of America, just look to their entire history. They are a warlike, brutal people. Get back to me in 50 years and then maybe we can discuss whether or not Japan is as good an ally as Italy. There hasn't been nearly enough time to commit to believing that Japan is a strong, long-lasting ally.
BTW, how has Japan helped us in the WOT as compared to Silvio Berlusconi, who is a staunch U.S. ally? Italy sent 3,000 troops into Iraq and 2,000 to Afghanistan. How many did Japan, (with their tremendous economy), send?
The article mentions Japan and Israel as being interested in getting the F22. Does that mean the Chinese and Iranians are no longer interested?
Though a Democrat, Truman had more spine and character than any modern day politician, from either side of the isle. Truman used massive force for only one reason, he wanted to prevent an estimated one million American casualties that would have occurred in a protracted war on Japanese soil. There isn't a politician alive today who possesses that kind of patriotism and balls.
Some of our admirals were contemplating war with the UK in the 20's. It's a fact. They were terrified that the UK would transfer much of their battlefleet to the Japanese no less. The situation was much relieved after the 1922 Naval treaty limiting battleship fleet size. True, the public didn't know much about this.
Mussolini joined the attack on France a few days before they surrendered. There is no evidence Hitler forced him into the war. Hitler couldn't even cajole Franco to join. Italians have a great culture though. Most of it is in Roma and points North. Christianity is now only embraced by the peasants of the South there.
Look, I agree that Hollywood is a cesspool and we need a strong aerospace industry but they need to sell their products and services to keep soldvent. Are you saying they should just be subsidized by the goverment? We are only going to build 183 F-22’s for our military. That is all they need. If we sell export versions of the F-22 we keep Americans employed and their industry strong. Do you understand that?
I agree, besides, Isreal is known to improve on most the platforms we sell/give to them. They're likely to make the F-22 an even better performer then it is now.
In protecting our own interests in the area, we provide a great deal of security for countries in the region freeing up money they would have had to spend to protect themselves. The Japanese have some of the most talented design and engineering talent in the world and are one of the wealthiest countries in the world. If the Japanese truly want something as capable, then let them design one of their own.
Scale of one to ten, I'd rate Japan an eight or a nine and western europe no better than about a four.
Yup we can always count on the French.
And, at over a billion dollars a copy, the 22 has the same basic flaw. Selling them to the Japanese would go a long way towards fixing the problem.
The F-35 is the moneymaker. That’s what it was designed for.
The Raptor is America’s. Just ours.
Don’t sell even one. To anyone.
I agree, besides, Isreal is known to improve on most the platforms we sell/give to them. They’re likely to make the F-22 an even better performer then it is now.
-
Or sell it to China.
Like they do everything else.
Terrible idea.
If Hillary gets elected, then the F-22 surely will make it’s way to China under some new Loral Satellite deal. Think about that 3rd Party doomers.
Ya know, it would be really fun to see Japan design its own fighter.
After the Zero, Raiden, Shinden, etc., they ought to be able to design a heck of a 21 century fighter.
Since when is that Japan's decision to make? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here.
People here mistake the primary advantage of the Japanese culture is racial harmony, it's actually negotiation as evidenced here.
I don't believe we can count on the French government at all, but they have been a wartime ally while the Japanese were barbaric wartime emenies in recent history. So why would we want to sell France, or Japan, our best jets? Why would we want to sell anyone our latest and best technology war machines? Is money that important to us that we'd risk an enemy getting their hands on our best jet fighters? If the F-22 is what they say it is, then it's one very scarey jet fighter. The U.S. and Britain recently had a joint fighter exercise. The Brits brought their best jets and best pilots to spar with the U.S. F-22's. One Brit pilot said: "the F-22 is impossible to target, you can't fix a weapons system on them", (because of their incredible electronic technology). This is a jet that only the U.S. should possess.
As I already said, give it some time. My father fought against the Japanese for two years in the S. Pacific; that's recent history. Only time will determine if Japan has become a true ally. In any case, I don't think the U.S. should sell the F-22 to any foreign government, it's just too good a weapon.
I think that's a ridiculous statement. There is great evidence that Hitler intimidated Mussolini to either join him or be destroyed. In spite of becoming a false "ally" of Hitler, Italy was occupied by German storm troopers for years. Because Italy chose not to confront Hitler their country was spared the destruction that befell France, Austria, Poland, etc.
Just curious, if the U.S. government was afraid that England would invade or confront us with their Royal Navy, why on earth did we send tens of thousands of troops to Europe to fight for them in WWI? Why, in the 1930's, did the U.S. Congress decide to sell England every weapon and materiel that they needed to defend against an aggressive Germany, including warships?
Pure, unadulterated B.S.
Mussolini dreamed of being a hero on the battlefield and after Hitler's bloodless conquests attacks what country? Albania after already attacking Ethiopia in 1936.
His stupid failed attack on Greece is probably what cost Hitler Russia by delaying Hitler's attack by at least a month.
Mussolini didn't like being the junior partner in the end but to say he was 'forced' into attacking France, please. BTW, I believe his troops only made penetration measured in yards before the armistice.
I never stated that we were afraid that Britain would invade us. You are not very honest in stating the facts. We were afraid that they would combine with the Japanese in an effort to cripple our fleet so as to insure continued British hegemony at sea.
We sent millions to fight on the Western Front not tens of thousnads. You seems to be incredibly ignorant of basic facts. We declared war on Germany because of the Zimmerman telegram and their continued use of unrestricted submarine warfare. We entered World War I as a cobelligerent and not as treaty bound ally with the UK. Do you understand the difference?
What was the evidence that Mussolini was intimidated? Mussolini wanted to create another Roman empire. He wanted to get the spoils before Germany took everything. Look at his actions in Ethiopia, Albania and Spain before WW II. He was threatening Yugoslavia and Greece as well. he was a willing partner and the Italian people supported him as long as he could procure easy victories. Even after Mussolini fell, some Italian troops (Republic of Salo)continued to fight with the Axis
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.