Posted on 09/22/2014 12:43:12 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The Defense Ministry is set to start research aimed at domestically manufacturing early-warning aircraft for the first time, with the aim of increasing surveillance on possible incursions into the nation’s territorial airspace, according to ministry sources.
The move is part of an effort to boost the ministry’s preparedness to deal with the increasingly severe security environment in areas surrounding this nation, largely due to China’s increasing military spending in recent years.
The ministry will seek to build the country’s first domestically produced early-warning plane by the mid-2020s, hoping to see it replace the aging U.S.-made aircraft model currently used by the Air Self-Defense Force for similar purposes, the sources said.
Airborne early-warning (AEW) aircraft are outfitted with radar equipment on top of the fuselage, allowing them to monitor distant and low-elevation areas outside the range of stationary ground radar.
When aircraft that could invade Japanese airspace are spotted, fighters from the Air Self-Defense Force are scrambled.
The ASDF currently has 13 U.S.-made E-2C early-warning planes, which perform observation and surveillance together with E-767 airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft that also have command capabilities.
The E-2C planes have been in use for some time. Finding a successor aircraft is urgently required.
In addition to the U.S.-made successor to the E-2C, the ministry hopes to introduce a domestically made AEW aircraft and plans to request ¥80 million in the budget for next fiscal year to study the matter, the sources said.
The ministry is planning to cooperate with private-sector companies to make a prototype aircraft next fiscal year, the sources said.
The ministry plans to base the fuselage on the P-1, a state-of-the-art antisubmarine patrol aircraft it developed, the sources said. This would be outfitted with radar that employs domestic technology such as that used in stationary ground radar.
But ¥252.8 billion has already been spent over 12 years to develop the P-1, so additional domestic development could present problems in terms of cost.
With Chinese and Russian armed forces expanding their activities, ASDF fighters were scrambled more than 800 times last fiscal year for the first time since the Cold War ended in 1989.
In November last year, China unilaterally declared an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.
Then in May and June, Chinese fighters flew unusually close to SDF aircraft several times over the East China Sea, and a Chinese fighter drew close to a U.S. military plane over the South China Sea in August.
The ministry sees incidents such as these as having increased the importance of AEW aircraft.
One of the government’s goals in creating a made-in-Japan early-warning aircraft is to develop domestically as much the cutting-edge technology necessary as possible for national defense.
Realizing a domestic AEW aircraft, with the advanced radar technology such planes require, would allow the Self-Defense Forces to make necessary improvements and modifications more flexibly without having to go overseas for them.
Speech
And for some reason, the aircraft in the old black and white Godzilla movies popped to mind.
I wonder what is driving this decision. I suspect that it’s a loss of faith in the special relationship with the United States. The US’s increasing wishy-washiness on nuclear weapons and the issues of China must surely play a role. To make this craft at a reasonable cost, Japan will need to sell it to others, which will hurt the US in terms of lost revenue, prestige and political clout. On the other hand, it’s about time Japan stood on its own defense-wise. Now they’ll either have to give up some of their socialism or debase their currency further to pay for their military.
Japan is already on the verge of selling submarines to Australia, so making enough for export will not be a radical step. The prohibition of selling defense-related equipment abroad has long been a sore spot with the zaibatsus because Japanese fit and finish is generally higher than American produced, even when working from American designs. Given the opportunity, Japan could be a major player in the international arms market.
Another part of the equation is the uneasiness Japan is experiencing towards the US now as a reliable partner, and the need to forge deeper and friendly defense ties with other Asian capitals. Japan also has a lot of decommissioned, but still usable and potent, military hardware that could be refurbished and supplied to other Asian nations.
This is an interesting development.
From the article:
“But ¥252.8 billion has already been spent over 12 years to develop the P-1, so additional domestic development could present problems in terms of cost.”
The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_P-1) states total procurement is 13 P-1 aircraft ending in FY 2014. Japan already operates US-manufactured AEW aircraft based on the B707 and B767 airframes. Developing an AEW version using the P-1 airframe is a way of extending the domestic production run for another couple of years. By that time, there maybe other military missions identified for the aircraft. In addition, the P-1 might be adaptable for use as a airliner given its range and payload.
As for development cost, all the technology is developed. So this is really more of a systems integration problem. Not simple (or necessarily cheap), but nowhere as complex (or expensive) as developing a new airframe (actually two airframes since there was a new cargo aircraft using common technology in parallel development with the XP-1 at the time).
I think Japan is just trying to justify their expenditures on the P-1/C-1 aircraft program.
Boeing Wedgetail:
That's an obvious factor, but don't mistake Tokyo's interest in international defense sales, and the logic behind it. The way Japan sees it, it's policy of not exporting its superior defense technology has brought very little in the way of dividends and is a policy that has little utility anymore.
Trying to convince the rest of Asia that they are pacifistic in nature is not going to work because Beijing will never stop beating the "WW-II Guilt" gong no matter what they do, and the lack of any real bilateral defense relations outside the US Japan Security Treaty has put Tokyo -- and a lot of Southeast Asian nations, at a disadvantage in terms of a mutual interlocking defense arrangements.
As I mentioned above, the Aussies are on the verge of buying top flight Japanese SSKs, while in other news, India is on the verge of buying ShinMaywa Industries (7224.T) amphibious aircraft. An export AEW&C version of the P-1 would fit neatly into the budgets of a number of smaller countries and give Tokyo leverage for other defense related agreements. I'm not saying it's a sure thing, but I am sure it's being looked at.
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