Posted on 07/24/2007 7:52:53 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Defense Ministry eyes domestic fighter jet The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Defense Ministry will include in its fiscal 2008 budgetary request funds to develop a manned prototype fifth-generation fighter jet equipped with stealth capabilities and other advanced technologies, sources said Monday.
With the production of F-2 support fighters, jointly developed by Japan and the United States, scheduled to end in fiscal 2011, the ministry apparently plans to maintain the foundations for future technological development, the sources said.
The sources also said the ministry, by showing interest in developing jet fighters domestically, hopes to gain an edge in negotiations with the United States next summer when it selects Japan's next main fighter jets (F-X fighters).
According to ministry officials, the envisioned prototype would be equipped with stealth technology and other advanced electronics that would make the plane difficult to detect by radar. As the prototype would not be installed with radars and weaponry, it is expected to be smaller than real fighter jets, the officials said.
The prototype is likely to be developed over about a 10-year period, at an estimated cost of several tens of billions of yen, the officials said.
The F-22 Raptor is considered to be one of the leading candidates for the ministry's next fighter jet request to the United States, though U.S. law currently prohibits export of the stealth fighter and the U.S. government therefore cannot provide information on the Raptor to the ministry.
According to the sources, the cost and capabilities of any domestically produced fighter would have to be thoroughly studied if full scale development is to take place. The ministry also would need to secure government support as well as understanding from the United States.
The government has not supported development of a domestic fighter aircraft since the F-1 support fighter jet in the 1970s.
The idea of developing a domestically produced fighter was originally floated while the government was selecting an F-X aircraft to succeed the F-1, but Japan-U.S. trade friction led the government to bend to U.S. wishes on the issue.
As a result, the two governments decided to jointly develop the F-2 support fighter jet.
F-15 fighter jets, which form the core of the country's fighter force, are being manufactured in the country under a license agreement by which the government pays patents fees to, and receives technical guidance from, the United States for production.
Against this backdrop, some ministry officials have called for the development of domestic fighter jets as domestic technological development would otherwise come to a standstill when production of F-2 fighter jets ceases.
Japan has expertise advanced electronics, stealth materials and aviation control equipment, but a senior ministry official said because Japan does not have experience in assembling fighter aircraft from scratch, its fighter jets would not be as effective as U.S. warplanes.
Some ministry officials argue that since domestic fighters have not been considered as a candidate for the next F-X fighter jet, the U.S. government would not be swayed by the ministry's negotiation strategy of parlaying its interest in developing domestic fighter jets to win concessions from the U.S. government, including discounts and a review of its domestic laws.
It also is unclear whether the production of a prototype would eventually lead to the development of domestic warplanes. Developing fighter jets is hugely expensive, as evidenced by the more than 320 billion yen allocated for the development of F-2 support fighter aircraft, a budget that far exceeded earlier estimates.
Furthermore, it is impossible to tell in advance whether the fighter jets manufactured would be suitable for combat.
As the U.S. government could be reluctant to see warplanes manufactured in Japan, some observers argue the ministry should only produce a prototype for the time being.
(Jul. 24, 2007)
Ping!
And they’ll get 500 mile per gallon to boot?..........
“As the U.S. government could be reluctant to see warplanes manufactured in Japan, some observers argue the ministry should only produce a prototype for the time being.”
This is such a joke. NIPPI has been overhauling all, I mean all, of our fighter jets for years. If you got the technology to overhaul, you got the tools and technology to build.
We send our stuff to Japan because their quality control is superior.
Any fool who thinks the Japanese can’t build a suitable fighter, that may compare and compete with the best, is just that, a fool.
It has an electric motor and batteries that spin the turbine when decending to save fuel too....
I agree, I just laughed when I read that statement about how they can’t assemble there. How stupid do they really think we are?
The soft drink holders in the cockpit are a nice touch........
You’re right. It is laughable.
Maybe they are trying to placate or baffle the Chinese?
Maybe they can bring back the WW II Mitsubishi A6M ‘Zero’ fighter. Very lightly armored, of wood and silk construction, they would have a very small radar “picture”.
The Zero could climb, maneuver, and dart in and out almost between the bursts of machine gun fire. If ever they were hit, they were down, but it was like trying to shoot a mosquito with a Colt .45 caliber handgun. And coming in two’s, they could hide in the sun, and descend on the unsuspecting squadron of Corsairs or Thunderbolts with devastating results.
Nobody realizes how very close America came to losing that war.
Don’t laugh, I hear they got a plane that lands itself and then parallel parks itself too!
With plush leather seating.
China or the North Koreans, if Japan ever decided to start building commercial planes I would feel a lot better about flying in them than in an Airbus product I can assure you.
Hey, like you I love Japan and I respect the hell out of their engineering, but have even more respect for their ability to pry basic research data out of the US taxpayer.
This is a standard negotiating tactic; they'll promise some lucrative CO-DEVELOPEMENT project, or maybe license manufacture, and when the US won't cough up ALL the secrets, well, then they declare they'll just build their own PURE DOMESTIC plane. And the prospect is that we'll get NOTHING.
Well, that's NOT nothing; we would get to keep our secrets, OK? And fighter aircraft aren't things you just womp up over night.
So, hey Japn, GO AHEAD, we all heard it..! Make your OWN plane...!!!
LOL,
A great gaijin rant. After 15 years in Tokyo I used to rant like that too! (gaijin torokusho was 3 year type!)
Maybe in your love/hate relationship, (now don’t lie, I KNOW you have it) maybe this is one of those hot button hate issues?
I’m rolling, becuase I know how you feel. I don’t think anyone else does though.
See you at Rope!
I love the place, hate the place....like an onion, peel back one layer, and...well, you know the rest....!
We did not come close to losing that war ... compare industrial outputs and it wasn't even close.
Japanese F-22 after they get done making it cheaper and smaller.....
Give me a flying AIBO :)
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