[AmericanInTokyo]

Ping and heads up.

[AmericanInTokyo]

This also links to the page that links to the short streaming VIDEO: (Follow the orange button to load clip).

Video might be good for another 12 hours or so.

[Glenn]

It’s good practice, but I doubt NK is insane enough to start something serious.

[bill1952]

The Japanese sound pretty fired up over this.

I dearly hope that they aren’t counting on Hussein to do anything about it. - other than wasting fuel dispatching warships that he will never allow to be used...

[DTogo]

Will they actually authorize a select few individuals to launch defensive measures, or circulate a document for the entire committee to 検討 and put their 印鑑 on?

日本＊ピング＊ (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)

[DuncanWaring]

PAC-3 Patriot missile batteries out in the open in downtown Tokyo these days.

Wouldn't the exhaust blast from a missile launch in downtown Tokyo be somewhat "messy"?

Or are they just driving through town?

Emplacing the radar anywhere town would also produce all manner of RF unpleasantness.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Ping.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

I’ve been reading your posts on FR for quite some time.

Your posts are always interesting and provide an unique perspective about the events in the Far East.

I live in New England, and the media here seems to ignore the important stories from your part of the world on a consistent basis.

I’d like to thank-you for posting, and I hope you continue to do so.

[SevenofNine]

OH OH

[Candor7]

The Japanese have interesting Fighter cap capability: the FS-X is not an F16, its quite a bit bigger, an F-16 on steroids:

It has guns

The FS-X is quite similar in appearance to the F-16, but structural modifications include:

Japanese-designed co-cured composite wing of greater span (1.7m wider) and root chord, with slightly less leading edge sweep. The composites give the wing added strength while reducing the weight;

increased span tailplane;

slightly reshaped and enlarged radome and forward fuselage (fuselage length has increased by 0.5m);

slightly altered Leading-Edge Root Extensions (LERX).

Overall, the FS-X is substantially larger than the F-16, resulting in a maximum take-off weight of 49,000lb, compared to the F-16C's 42,000lb, although both are powered by the same 129kN (29,000lb)-thrust General Electric F110-129 turbofan engine. Other FSX structural-design changes include radar-absorbent material (RAM) applied to the aircraft's nose, wing leading-edges and engine inlet, the use of titanium in the tail and fuselage, the addition of a braking parachute and a two-piece canopy reinforced against large bird strikes.

The primary difference, although less conspicuous than the structural modifications, between the FS-X and the F-16 is in the use of Japanese domestic technology for much of the avionics, including:

a new Mitsubishi Electric (Melco)-designed active phased-array radar comprising 800 3W gallium-arsenide transmit/receive modules;

Yokogawa LCD multi-function display (MFD);

Shimadzu holographic head-up display (HUD);

internal Mitsubishi Electric integrated electronic warfare system;

Japan Aviation Electronics laser inertial-navigation system backed-up with four conventional gyros;

Japan has also been forced to develop its own fly-by-wire software by the US Government's refusal to release the F-16s computer source codes. The FS-X's software is based on MHI's control-configured vehicle (CCV) research program flown in the early 1980's using a modified Mitsubishi T-2 trainer.

Will the Norkies come up and play with the JSDAF?

Nah! They would be nuts!

Source:

http://www.airforceworld.com/fighter/eng/f2.htm