Japan Weighs Options for Pricey Fighter Jets

The Wall Street Journal ^ | DECEMBER 5, 2011 | CHESTER DAWSON

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Japan Weighs Options for Pricey Fighter Jets

By CHESTER DAWSON

TOKYO—Japan is upgrading air defenses increasingly tested by China and Russia, and officials are wrestling with a fundamental question: Can the country still afford to pay for the most advanced technology and nurture its domestic industry?

In a move expected as soon as this month, Japan's Defense Ministry will pick a replacement for its aging squadrons of Vietnam-era F-4 fighters from among three finalists, two American and one European. The order for a new fighter is expected to total 40 to 60 planes valued at an estimated $4 billion. It is Japan's biggest fighter contract yet and one of the world's largest military contracts this year.

The decision comes as China is overshadowing Japan on many fronts, including overtaking it last year as the world's second-largest economy. Beijing has also ratcheted up its military spending, which is rising 12.7% this year to 601.1 billion yuan ($94.3 billion). Meanwhile, Japan's defense budget—at 4.6 trillion yen ($59 billion) this year—has declined for nearly a decade, and the country now faces mounting bills for its post-earthquake and nuclear-crisis cleanup.

Of Japan's fighter-jet options, the pricey, cutting-edge choice—Lockheed Martin Corp.'s new F-35 Lightning II JSF—is seen as the favorite because it incorporates the latest, so-called fifth-generation, stealth technology, providing radar-evading capability both in front of and behind the aircraft.

But a pair of lower-cost, combat-tested fighters—Boeing Co.'s F-18 Super Hornet and the European consortium Eurofighter GmbH's Typhoon fighter—are getting serious consideration.

"Japan always wants the latest technology, so that means the F-35 has an edge, but the F-18 is a viable option in the current budgetary environment," said Toshiyuki Shikata, a professor at Teikyo

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Chester Dawson/The Wall Street Journal

Recent aerial sorties by China and Russia have forced Japanese fighters to scramble to intercept them. Pictured, an Air SelfDefense Force F2.