The ATD-X prototype
Posted on 03/25/2016 5:00:06 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Japan has opened talks with Western defense contractors about building a new generation of fighter jets, sources say, in what would mark an important milestone in Tokyo’s strategy to maintain its air superiority over rival China.
The discussions with defense companies including Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Ltd. come as Japan readies its ATD-X experimental aircraft for its first test flights within days.
Stealth fighter technologies being tested on the ATD-X, being developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japanese Ministry of Defense’s Technical Research and Development Institute, would also be incorporated into the new fighter, dubbed the F-3, industry and government sources said.
“They have begun exploratory engagement to look at our capabilities,” said a source with a Western defense contractor. “There is no policy decision and no program of record for the next fighter. There is only some discussion that, logically, there will be a fighter at some point.”
Analysts estimate the cost of such a program at $40 billion or more, a price tag that could yet prove prohibitive.
Japan has already committed to buying 42 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. But that aircraft’s perceived shortcomings in air-to-air combat and the United States’ refusal to sell its Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor have encouraged Japan to consider a domestic-led program to replace its fleet of aging Boeing F-15J warplanes.
Plans are likely to be firmed by end-2017 or early 2018, which would enable the F-3 program to secure funding in Japan’s 2018-2022 five-year plan and be in service by around 2030, the sources added.
Upgrades to a large portion of more than 150 aging Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15Js, to incorporate new engines and radars among other advanced capabilities, could proceed while research into the F-3 program continues, said the sources.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
The ATD-X prototype
So - they couldn’t afford an F/A-18 and had to clone one?
Prototype or mockup?
Get started on the Veri-Tech Valkyrie or Alpha.
I think the prototype is more about learning assembly than the actual design, which likely will be something much different - more F-22-like. Whatever it is it will have to compete with China’s version of the F-22/35.
May I suggest the F-22. Best military jet ever built.
Interesting that they perceive the F-35 to be bad enough at air-to-air that they want an entirely different fighter for air superiority. Yet we're told the F-35 is good enough to fight it's way in....
Most sources call this one a “prototype,” but I’ve not seen it taxi.
My personal belief is that the pure domestic development and production decision has been made and this talk about considering a foreign partner is just an attempt to get advanced foreign weapons tutoring. For free.
Looks half F-18, half Sukhoi...
Needs a canard.
HA!
The problem is that Japan needs a pure air superiority fighter then a multirole aircraft. That said, in the end the F-35 is too good for them to pass up. Even though it’s expensive, it’s still off the shelf for them. It’s stealth makes up for a lot of it’s short comings along with it’s sensors and electronic warfare capabilities.
Obama’s Generals are only interest in career and not country.
Somebody might want to tell them that the war's been over for over 70 years.
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