Concept of F-15J Stealth Fighter

F-15J Stealth Fighter

F-15J Stealth Fighter

The concept of stealth fighter F-15J for the Japanese Air Force. The aircraft features many advanced technologies and systems including semi- stealth capability, conformal fuel tanks, and enclosed weapons pods.

Japan Set to Launch Its First Fighter Jet Since World War II to Counter China

The Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD – X), a stealth jet fighter, which has been in the making for four years, is expected to take to the skies for the first time in January next year, according to the sources of ASIAN DEFENCE NEWS.
Japan's World War II defence manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is currently undertaking a final ground test of the prototype fighter also referred to as 'Shinshin', which it will deliver to Japan's Defence Ministry in April next year.

Mitsubishi ATD-X Fighter

The government is expected to conduct further tests to verify the jet's capabilities before it decides on production of the aircraft's in 2018.

China Needs Single-Hulled Submarines: Chinese Expert

The single-hull submarine is much more suitable for the combat environment China faces today than the double-hull submarines currently used by the PLA Navy, said Ma Ling, an expert in submarine development.

PLA Navy Type 094 double-hull Submarine

The double-hull submarine's numerous ballast chambers make it harder to sink than its single-hulled cousin. In addition, the double-hull can endure more torpedo strikes, according to Ma. China has moved in this direction when making purchases or constructing to ensure the survival of its submarine fleet. The double-hull however, may not end up giving PLA Navy any measurable advantage when operating in the Far East.

As Ma said, the Yellow and East China Seas are both too shallow for larger double-hull submarines to hide from enemy attack. Also, the ballast chambers leave no space to install noise reduction equipment, making them far easier to detect. They are only suitable for operation in some parts of the First Island Chain, extending from Alaska to the Philippines.

China Media Claims Successful EMP Attack on Japanese Spy Satellite

Chinese media and internet claims, that the space intelligence section of Japan Self-defence Forces revealed in its newest intelligence that China has destroyed the control chip of a Japanese spy satellite with a secret weapon.

The attack reportedly happened when the satellite was tracking a Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jet in northwestern China. The satellite is the third Japanese spy satellite launched from Kagoshima, Japan.

There are also claims by China that analysis by US military, like the previous incident of Chinese military blinding a US spy satellite with laser, is that this was China’s move to display its military strength in space.

Chinese media goes on to claim that US analysts believe that China used the electromagnetic pulse weapon Poacher One in the attack. That is China’s top secret military research and development project.

The PLA’s electromagnetic weapon Poacher One is able to transmit an electromagnetic pulse of several megawatt continuously for one minute to destroy all military and civil electronic information and communications systems operating within a few kilometres. It can also destroy an enemy’s internal chips.

Japan's Indigenous Stealth Fighter Prototype ATD-X To Fly By the End Of 2014

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera has reaffirmed the nation's plan for a 2014 first flight of the Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) fighter: a prototype for a future fighter to replace the Japan Air Self-Defence Force's Mitsubishi F-2.

"In February I myself visited at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' (MHI's) Komaki Minami plant where the ATD-X is being built," Onodera told the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Upper House on 10 April. "There I was briefed that the first flight will take place this year."

The ATD-X, also known as Shinshin ('Heart of God'), is being developed by the ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI), with the main contractor of the project being MHI. It has been designed to be a stealthy air-superiority fighter with enhanced manoeuvrability. The Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) will use it to research advanced technologies and system integration, after which it plans to produce a 'sixth-generation' fighter encompassing i3 (informed, intelligent and instantaneous) concepts and counter-stealth capabilities.

Japan ATD-X Stealth Fighter

"Originally MHI planned to roll-out the ATD-X before the media in May, soon after Japan's Golden Week holidays, followed by the first test fight."Now it is several months behind schedule."

China To Increase Defense Budget By 12.2% In 2014

China plans to raise its defense budget by 12.2% to 808.2 billion yuan (US$132 billion) this year, according to a budget report to be reviewed by the national legislature on Wednesday.

In 2013, the country spent 720.2 billion yuan (US$117.4 billion) on national defense, a 10.7% increase from the previous year.

Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Geng Yansheng

Double-digit growth in China's defense budget in recent years has caused some concerns from western countries. But experts said China's military expenditure is moderate and in line with the country's economic conditions.

Yin Zhuo, director of the Expert Consultation Committee of the People's Liberation Army Navy, said the country's military spending is still far from the level it needs to be as it faces increasingly severe security challenges.

Although the rise in the defense budget in the past three years has surpassed GDP growth, the spending's share in GDP, which came in at 1.4%, is still far below the world average of 3%, Yin said.

China To Built Two More Aircraft Carriers Between 2014 To 2015

China will construct two conventionally powered aircraft carriers in Dalian and Shanghai between 2014 and 2015, a source from China's Central Military Commission has told.

Under the Commission's Project 048, China aims to establish three carrier battle groups by 2020 so that all three major fleets of the PLA Navy will be able to carry out missions with the full support of an aircraft carrier. The two new Type 001A indigenous carriers will be updated versions of China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was originally a Soviet-era Admiral Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier purchased from Ukraine in 1998. They will also likely be designed with a ski-jump ramp.

Sources said that the General Equipment Department of the PLA has already signed a contract with the Beijing-based China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation to build the two carriers. The price of the two vessels is estimated to be worth US$9 billion.

US Navy Deploys New P-8A Surveillance Aircraft to Japan

The US Navy has deployed sophisticated surveillance aircraft to Japan, officials said Monday, amid rising tension over China's territorial claims in the region.

Two P-8A Poseidon patrol jets departed Jacksonville, Florida on Friday and arrived later at Kadena air base in Okinawa, in a move that was planned before Beijing declared an air defense zone last month covering disputed islands in the East China Sea, a navy official told AFP.

"This was scheduled for a long time," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity."It's a rotational deployment."Four more Poseidon aircraft are due to deploy at Okinawa later this month, the official said.

The assignment to Japan marks the first mission for the new plane, which is replacing the propeller-driven P-3 Orion aircraft that dates back to the 1960s.

US Navy P-8A

The P-8A planes, converted Boeing 737s equipped with advanced radar and anti-ship missiles, are designed to hunt submarines and track other vessels at sea.

On November 23, China announced an expanded air defense identification zone and said aircraft would have to submit flight plans before entering the area, home to disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States have each sent planes into the zone without informing the Chinese, signalling their refusal to recognize Beijing's declaration.

China Test Fired High-Speed Precision-Guided Torpedo

China’s navy recently conducted a test of a new high-speed maneuvering torpedo that poses a threat to U.S. ships and submarines.

Defense officials said the new torpedo is the latest example of what the Pentagon calls Beijing’s anti-access, area-denial, or AA/AD, high-tech weaponry.

Other new weapons include China’s recently deployed anti-ship ballistic missile, the DF-21D, which is designed to sink U.S. aircraft carriers far from China’s shores.

China’s military showcased last month another high-tech weapon designed to target Navy ships and submarines. U.S. submarines are considered one of the U.S. military’s most important counter weapons to the AA/AD threat.

China's New High-Speed Precision-Guided Torpedo

The torpedo test was disclosed on a Chinese blog, a frequent outlet for official leaks of new weapons systems in the Chinese arsenal.

The blog Tencent, one of China’s largest online outlets, revealed Oct. 15 that China’s navy conducted an underwater test launch of a new precision-guided, maneuvering torpedo in the South China Sea.

China has been blamed for growing tensions in the South China Sea region over the past several months by asserting claim to nearly 90 percent of the waters, bringing it into potential conflict with Vietnam and Philippines and raising concerns in Indonesia and Malaysia about growing Chinese hegemony.

The blog post included a series of photos revealing what was described as a new type of high-speed “intelligent” torpedo that sank a 1,000-ton target ship in the test firing.

“The new-type torpedo that was launched from a long distance and at a great depth nimbly skirted around the jamming ‘acoustic decoy’ and struck right in the middle of the 1,000-ton-plus target ship, sinking it with a loud boom,” the posting reported.

The report said the new torpedo represents a “leap” for the People’s Liberation Army Navy to “the front ranks of the world.”

Rick Fisher, a China military affairs expert, said the new torpedo signals a shift in China’s past practice of relying on Soviet-Russian and stolen American technology to build torpedoes.

China also is said to be using Russian underwater warfare know-how to build a torpedo-killing anti-torpedo. The killer torpedoes are launched against incoming underwater torpedoes that, like the reported new Chinese weapon, are immune to U.S. electronic countermeasures.

PLA Navy Preparing Counter Strategy Against US, Japanese Submarines

The challenge of facing US and Japanese submarines operating within disputed territorial waters, the People's Liberation Army Navy is preparing for a three-dimensional anti-submarine system consisted of aircraft, surface combat vessels and submarines, according to the Chinese Internet.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force plans to increase the number of its submarines from 16 to 22 by 2021. Using Soryu-class diesel-electric submarines as an example, the paper stated that the size of the new Japanese submarines will become larger. As the first class of Japanese submarines to be equipped with air-independent propulsion system, the Soryu-class diesel-electric submarine can operate under water for nearly two weeks.

The Soryu-class is also much more powerful than its predecessors, the Harushio and Narushio-class submarines, as it is equipped with Type 89 torpedoes and UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Even though Japan is not permitted under its constitution to have its own nuclear-powered submarine, conventional submarines like the Soryu-class are already a dangerous threat to China's maritime communication lines, the paper said, adding that Japanese submarines have a longer patrol range and more powerful weapons systems.

 Gaoxin-6 anti-submarine aircraft

In addition, the United States is deploying more submarines to the Asia-Pacific region. At the US military base in Yokosuka, there are between five and six submarines under the command of the Seventh Fleet. Next year, the US will deploy four more nuclear-powered submarines to Guam, while strategic targets in China are in range of the 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles equipped by a single Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine.

To counter Chinese submarines in a potential conflict, Japan recently purchased 70 P-1 jet planes from Kawasaki Heavy Industries to replace its US-built P-3C jet. The delivery of the first two P-1 aircraft to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force took place on Mar. 26. In addition to fixed-wing aircraft, the country's new helicopter carrier, the Izumo, is able to carry 14 SH-60K anti-submarine helicopters into battle.

Japan Unveils Largest Warship Since World War II

Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier.

The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense — particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions — and to bolster the nation's ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Though the ship — dubbed "Izumo" — has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China.

Japan Largest Warship

The tensions over the islands, along with China's heavy spending on defense and military modernization, have heightened calls in Japan for beefed-up naval and air forces. China recently began operating an aircraft carrier that it refurbished after purchasing from Russia, and is reportedly moving forward with the construction of another that is domestically built.

Japan, China and Taiwan all claim the islands.

Though technically a destroyer, some experts believe the new Japanese ship could potentially be used in the future to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically. That would be a departure for Japan, which has one of the best equipped and best trained naval forces in the Pacific but which has not sought to build aircraft carriers of its own because of constitutional restrictions that limit its military forces to a defensive role.

India To Get US-2 Military Plane From Japan

ShinMaywa US-2

Japan is close to signing an agreement to supply amphibious planes to India, a report said Monday, in what would be the first sale of hardware used by the military since a weapons export ban was imposed.

During a four-day visit to Tokyo by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, starting Monday, the two sides are setting up firm plans for Delhi to purchase the US-2, a domestically-developed aircraft used by Japan’s armed forces.

The sale, reported by the Nikkei business daily, would be the first of a finished product made by Japan’s homegrown defence industry since rules were imposed restricting the export of weapons systems and other equipment.

It would also mark a strengthening of the alliance between Japan and India, which both see rising China as a threat to regional stability.

China PLAAF To Shoot US Anti-Submarine Warfare Plane P3 Orion

J-10B Fighter Jet Takes Off

US aircraft were shadowed by Chinese fighters in airspace near the border between China and Japan on Jan. 10, reports the Global Times, a nationalist Chinese tabloid.

A US Navy P-3C patrol plane based at Misawa Air Base and a US Air Force C-130 cargo plane based at Yokota Air Base were tailed by Chinese J-7 and J-10 fighters last week. When both American aircraft reached the air border between China and Japan on Jan. 10, Chinese fighters were scrambled to intercept them, according to Tokyo's Sankei Shimbun newspaper. The report said the PLA Air Force's move was an apparent overreaction to movement of aircraft taking off from Japanese bases.

On the same day, PLA fighters also appeared near the disputed Diaoyutai islands (Diaoyu in China or Senkaku in Japan). P-3C, EP-3 and OP-3 reconnaissance aircraft attached to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force were dispatched to collect data on the Chinese aircraft. Two E-2C early warning aircraft were also deployed to prevent a direct confrontation between the PLA Air Force and Japan's Air Self-Defense Force.

On Jan. 11, China's defense ministry said that as Chinese aircraft were followed by two Japanese F-15J fighters first, the two PLA J-10 fighters were only sent as a response to observe Japanese jets close to Chinese airspace.

Japan to develop missile detection UAV system

Japan Helicopter UAV

Japan is trying to develop a UAV system that could help detect a North Korean nuclear missile attack and also to monitor Chinese military buildup, according to a Japanese newspaper report.

The Japanese defense ministry has demanded 372 million dollar over the next five years to develop the drone, which would come into operation in 2018.

The drone will be equipped with infrared sensors to detect out low-altitude missiles. The UAV program started after Japan failed to detect North Korea’s failed rocket launch in April.

The North Korea’s rocket launch is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit but describe by world leaders as a hidden ballistic missile test. The rocket disintegrates over the Yellow Sea just two minutes after being launched.

Chinese KJ-2000 AWACS Aircraft From Inside

Chinese KJ-2000 AWACS Aircraft From Inside 

Chinese KJ-2000 AWACS Aircraft From Inside 

Japan, S.Korea To Sign First Military Pact

South Korea will soon sign a military agreement with Japan for the first time since Tokyo's brutal colonial rule ended in 1945, a report said Wednesday.

The pact  named the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA)  calls for the two countries to exchange intelligence about North Korea and its nuclear and missile programmes, Yonhap news agency said.

It cited a government source for its information. A foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment.

Citing lingering anti-Japan hostility, South Korea last month suspended the signing of the agreement and of another military accord on sharing logistics excluding weapons and cooperating in peacekeeping operations abroad.

Seoul has decided to go ahead with the intelligence agreement while shelving the more sensitive logistics accord, which could allow Japan's troops to enter the South's territory in times of crisis, the report said.

"The two governments will officially sign the deal as early as this week, or sometime next week at the latest," the source told Yonhap, adding that Seoul's cabinet approved the move Tuesday.

New Photos OF Japanese Fifth Generation Shinshin Stealth Fighter

New photos have appeared showing the wingless full-scale radar cross section model of Japan's Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin. 

  The ATD-X is a demonstrator scheduled to fly in 2014, possibly leading to a Japanese-built stealth fighter entering service after 2020.

First Flight OF Japanese Stealth Fighter ATD-X in 2014

Tokyo has reaffirmed its plan for a 2014 first flight of its experimental Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin stealth demonstrator, while it also considers three fighters for its F-X requirement.

"The first flight of the ATD-X is scheduled in Japan fiscal year 2014," said Japan's defence ministry.

"The ATD-X is a trial product of a high-manoeuvrability stealth aircraft adopting various state-of-the-art technologies that may be applied to future fighters, and confirm and verify the practicality and operational effectiveness of systems under various flight conditions," said the ministry.

"It is also intended for the study of air defence against stealth fighters that might be deployed in the neighbouring region in the future."

 

Japan unveiled the first full-sized mock-up of the ATD-X at Japan Aerospace 2008. Many observers, noting the immense costs and risks in developing an indigenous fighter, have speculated that the project was a bargaining chip to help Tokyo gain access to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which Washington steadfastly refused to sell to its Pacific ally.

Japan Launches F-X Fighter Jet Competition

Japan has formally launched its F-X fighter competition by sending a request for proposals to three potential bidders.

Boeing and Lockheed Martin have confirmed a US government representative has received Japan's RFP on behalf of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35 Lightning II, respectively.

A UK representative is also understood to have picked up the RFP for a possible bid by the Eurofighter Typhoon. 

Each bidder should receive a copy of the solicitation soon.

Japan has released the RFP just a few weeks after the country was hit by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, leaving an estimated 26,000 people dead and public safety still at risk.

Russian Military Considers the United States Its Main Enemy

Moscow has been hoping that the earthquake and tsunami disaster that hit Japan on March 11, may help overcome the acute crisis in its relations with Tokyo over the South Kurile Islands. President Dmitry Medvedev promptly telephoned Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to express his condolences and offered support. Russian emergency workers were sent to help earthquake survivors and to offer advice in dealing with the Fukushima nuclear power reactor disaster. Moscow agreed to increase shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas to help Japan overcome energy shortages caused by nuclear power shutdowns. Russian diplomats expressed hope that the outpouring of sympathy by the Russian public may help improve relations and lessen tensions (Kommersant, March 14).

Moscow needs Japanese capital and technology to develop its Far East and is keen to improve relations while sidelining the territorial dispute over the Kuriles. Sources in the General Staff have been quoted as saying that Russia plans to deploy its newest weapons to the Kuriles: the S-400 anti-aircraft missiles, Bastion-P mobile coastal anti-ship cruise missile systems, Tor-M2 short-range anti-aircraft missiles and Mi-28N attack helicopters (Interfax, March 1). The report seems to be largely exaggerated, since such a deployment does not make much strategic sense and the Russian military does not physically have these weapons for deployment in the Kuriles.

Russia today has only four S-400 systems or “divisions,” each having eight mobile launchers with four rocket tubes, radars and command centers. The S-400 “division” is the smallest deployable tactical unit of the antiaircraft system. Only two S-400 “divisions” are at present operational, forming one anti-aircraft missile regiment. The second two-divisional regiment is in the process of being formed. Both S-400 regiments will be deployed near Moscow. By 2020 Moscow hopes to have 28 S-400 regiments or 56 “divisions” (VPK, March 2).