Japanese Stealth Fighter Mitsubishi ATD-X

TOKYO — Japan will develop its own stealth fighter jets to compete against the rapidly advancing Chinese air force and other threats to its air defenses, officials said.
Japan’s air force has been searching for replacements for its aging fleet of F-4s and F-15s. But its hopes to purchase F-22s from Washington have been hindered by a U.S. Congress export ban and its reluctance to share sensitive military technology with foreign governments.

The key part of the six-year project, to be launched officially next April, involves developing an XF5-1 engine that would allow a fighter jet to be both highly maneuverable and cruise at supersonic speeds, according to the Japanese defense ministry.

“We need fighters that are fitted with highly advanced technology, considering what’s been developed in other countries,” the ministry said in a recent statement. “It is a crucial project in developing fighters that will play a key role in our future fleet and build our space defense.”
Defense officials hope to have a test flight of the prototype, unofficially nicknamed “Shinshin,” or Spirit, by the end of March 2014. The entire project is expected to cost $419.8 million.

The ministry has requested a $141.4 million budget for the initial year, pending government approval, a spokesman said Thursday, on condition he not be named.

Maneuverability and supersonic speeds mean that a jet can go faster, longer, and a radar-evading stealth design makes it harder to detect.
Having homegrown stealth capabilities, rather than relying on foreign imports for key military technology, would also serve as a deterrent and boost national security “in the face of stealth development in China and Russia,” the spokesman said.
Russia is aiming to create a fifth-generation attack fighter by around 2015 as part of its modernization and restructuring of its military.
China has already unveiled its J-10 fighter, which is believed to be one of the most advanced used by any air force in the world today. Beijing is believed to be developing upgraded models, the J-12 and J-14, with stealth capabilities.

Stealth development is part of Japan’s efforts in recent years to build up its air defenses.

Comments

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF...

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite...

ASIAN DEFENCE

Search This Blog