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Japan shed a little bit of history this week as the last of the country’s RF-4E/J Phantom II reconnaissance jets, part of a fleet that has served for more than 50 years, flew for the last time. The last six recon Phantoms flew for the last time on March 9, and the country will retire its entire Phantom fleet by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Tokyo is pursuing the development of a new fighter jet it will design with help from the U.S.. The six jets, part of the 501 Hikotai squadron, were RF-4 photoreconnaissance variants of the iconic...

Japan is at a strategic crossroads of sorts. The days of strict adherence to Article Nine of the country's constitution are coming to an end as threats both new and old grow and evolve. Tokyo seems to be willing and able to move beyond the strategic confines of its post WWII past to become a more capable and longer-reaching military force that can project power well beyond its own territory and even its region. But considering what seems like an exponentially expanding threat posed by North Korea, as well as an increasingly hostile dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands,...

TOKYO -- Japan's Defense Ministry is likely to request a budgetary allocation so the country's air force, which is responding more frequently to Chinese provocations, can load more missiles on its F-15 fighter jets, sources said. The ministry wants to double the number of air-to-air missiles to be loaded on the mainstay jets, operated by the Air Self-Defense Force. It also plans to lengthen the jets' lifespans. The ministry would like the money to be allocated in the budget for the fiscal year beginning in April. There has been a surge in the number of Chinese warplanes as well as...

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...

NAGOYA, Japan—Japan on Thursday unveiled its first radar-evading stealth aircraft, aiming to close a gap with neighbors such as China and Russia, which have been flying fighter planes equipped with the technology for more than five years. Confronted with regional challenges such as China building artificial islands in the South China Sea and North Korea testing nuclear devices, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has eased postwar restrictions on the country’s military and is trying to bolster its limited weapons-building capabilities. In the latest move, the Ministry of Defense showed off a test aircraft called X-2 in a heavily guarded hangar...

Japan's Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that it will conduct a live fire experiment of the new XASM-3 supersonic anti-ship missile in the Sea of Japan next year. The missile will be tested against a decommissioned Destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). XASM-3 is currently in development by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japanese MoD to replace the existing ASM-1 and ASM-2 missiles. XASM-3 missile fitted on a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2 Fighter The test-firing will be done at a firing range designated “G airspace” close to Komatsu air base. According to the Japanese MoD aerodynamic and...

Just months after being rejected by South Korea and weeks after first flight, Boeing’s KC-46A has been selected by Japan to supplement the nation’s KC-767 tanker fleet. The announcement came from Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani on Friday, and constitutes a significant win for Boeing after a troubled start to the next-generation tanker development programme with the US Air Force. The Pegasus tanker can almost see the end of its development phase, after achieving first flight 25 September from Paine Field in Washington, following a roughly nine-month delay. According to Boeing, KC-46 is particularly attractive to Japan as it will...

Japan is preparing to test its first ever domestically built stealth fighter jet, Chinese and Taiwanese media are reporting. “The highly anticipated F-3, Japan's first domestically-made stealth jet, is aiming to conduct test flights this summer,” the Taiwan-based Want China Times reported, citing a story in the PLA Daily, the official publication of the Chinese military. Japan has been building a prototype stealth fighter as part of its advanced technology demonstrator-experimental (ATD-X) program. Some of the first images of the prototype were first published on the web last year. The ATD-X program, which is being run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries...

...Under its nationalistic prime minister, Shinzo Abe, Japan has embarked on the most sweeping overhaul of its defense posture in recent memory. Not only has Mr. Abe reversed a decade-long decline in military spending as part of what he calls “proactive pacifism,” but his government is also rewriting laws to lift restrictions on Japan’s armed forces, which are already taking a more active role as far afield as the Gulf of Aden.

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...

Faced with China’s increasingly assertive military posture, as well as a continuing ballistic missile threat from North Korea, Japan plans to spend more on defense, boosting its air and maritime forces. The plan commits to buying 28 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft, 17 Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, and three Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAVs over the next five years. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) will also upgrade existing fleets of F-2 and F-15 fighters. The National Security Strategy that was published last December adjusts the Japanese force structure to create an amphibious brigade–promoting the plan to buy...

Japan should reach a decision “within months” on whether to pursue a modernisation programme for its oldest Boeing/Mitsubishi F-15 combat aircraft, or replace them with a new type, a senior air force official has revealed. Tokyo is already upgrading its youngest F-15Js to an enhanced MJ configuration and modernising its indigenous Mitsubishi F-2 fighters, and will replace its McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms with 42 Lockheed Martin F-35As from 2016. US Department of Defense “Beyond the horizon, planners are looking at options,” says Col Koji Imaki, head of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force’s F-35A programme office. “A plan which will go...

Japan's military chief says F-35 is "best fighter" (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighters are the best choice for Japan's future operational needs, the nation's highest-ranking uniformed officer said on Wednesday, in a vote of confidence for the state-of-the-art U.S. warplane. His comments follow reports that some nations that have placed orders for the F-35s may reconsider their plans. Shigeru Iwasaki, chief of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces' Joint Staff, also said advancement of North Korea's arms technology in a series of nuclear and missile tests posed a serious threat to Japan, but its missile defense system should provide the country...

Assembly starts on Japan's next-generation fighter jet Work started on March 28 on a prototype of the nation's next-generation fighter jet, which will be produced entirely in Japan. The project, ordered by the Defense Ministry, is being carried out at a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plant in Aichi Prefecture. Mitsubishi Heavy is producing the fuselage and is in charge of overall assembly. IHI Corp. is building the engine, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. is manufacturing the wings, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. is responsible for cockpit equipment. The Defense Ministry plans to have the prototype, equipped with stealth and other state-of-the-art...

Japan Making Its F-2 Fighter Fleet More Lethal In a move destined to give Japanese defense manufacturers hope for the future, Aviation Week reported in late February that Japan plans to upgrade 60 F-2 fighters with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation’s AAM-4B missile, a $468 million deal. This enhancement is expected to dramatically improve the lethality of the F-2 when engaging enemy aircraft. A number of Japan’s Boeing F-15J fighter aircraft were equipped with AAM-4 missiles in 2007. This version of the missile featured an advanced active radar seeker and integrated data link that allowed the pilot to fire and guide the...

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Feb. 16 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Japan to provide regeneration, overhaul, modifications and support for 6 KC-130R aircraft and associated engines for an estimated cost of $170 million. The Government of Japan has requested a possible sale to provide 6 KC-130R and 30 T-56-A-16 engines being provided as Excess Defense Articles (EDA), along with the regeneration, overhaul, modifications, and logistics support for those engines. Also included are 6 non-EDA spare T-56-A-16 engines, 6 AN/APS-133 Radars, 9 AN/APX-119 Transponder Systems (6 installed and 3 spares), transportation, aircraft ferry support, repair and...

Japan tells U.S. it may halt F-35 purchase if prices rise TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Defense Ministry has indicated to the U.S. Department of Defense the possibility of halting purchases of the F-35 stealth jet, which Japan has picked as its next-generation mainstay fighter, if prices skyrocket, sources close to Japan-U.S. ties said Wednesday. In a letter dated Feb. 13, the ministry expressed its concern to the Pentagon over a rise in the price tag of the F-35, which is being developed by an international consortium led by U.S. aircraft maker Lockheed Martin Corp., the sources said. The ministry also...

Japan likely to pick F-35 fighter - Nikkei (Reuters) - Japan is likely to pick Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jets to replace its ageing fleet of F-4 Phantom fighters, Japanese media reported on Tuesday, reaffirming strong security ties with the United States. The government will choose between two U.S. models -- the F-35 and the Boeing (BA.N) F/A-18 Super Hornet -- and a European third contender, the four-nation Eurofighter Typhoon, at a meeting of the national security council on Friday, the Nikkei business daily said. Analysts say the purchase is potentially worth $8 billion. The F-35 or Joint Strike...

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...

Eurofighter best option for Japan's ASDF David Warren / Special to The Yomiuri Shimbun The international security environment is evolving. Particularly in terms of air defence, new technology is constantly being developed, including fifth generation fighter aircraft with high stealth performance that prevents targets from being detected easily by a radar. The Japanese Air Self-Defence Force, therefore, needs to take measures to ensure it can meet any challenge in the future. Which aircraft to select as a successor of ASDF's F-4 fighter aircraft that has become obsolete will be a critical decision for Japan's air defence for the next 20...