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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Japan's indigenous stealth jet prototype 'to fly this year' | |
| 2014-04-17 | |
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.
Spare parts have got to be an issue along with the coming defense cutbacks. The Japanese don't want to be tied to a loser, so they are going on their own, apparently... 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. "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," an official at TRDI told IHS Jane's on 15 April. "Now it is several months behind schedule." Onodera also said in the Diet that the MoD will decide by FY18 whether to build its future stealth fighter domestically or by international joint development, based on parameters such as technological achievements and cost effectiveness. | |
| Posted by:Ebbang Uluque6305 |
| #8 If they can keep the same sort of schedule fidelity on this that MHI is on the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, it is safe to say that the bird won't fly for at least 4 years. That bird I already 3+ years late and they finally joined ac 1's wing and fuselage earlier this month |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2014-04-17 23:13 |
| #7 Not a drone? Given their skill in robotics, I'd expect the Japanese to be the first to field a drone capable of autonomous air combat maneuvering. Drones flying in support of their controller would be both a force multiplyer and a natural evolution. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-04-17 13:40 |
| #6 Any bets on whether it's gonna be a nuke delivery capable platform? (As the F-22 isn't.) The Japanese are worried about supply line issues, particularly the probability the there's built in faults in Chinese supplied chips in what we're selling. And, no, not a drone, but it's probably set up to be a drone controller. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-04-17 07:13 |
| #5 Not a drone? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-04-17 05:57 |
| #4 They won't say he's helping them because the ability to feel gratitude is not part of their cultural-genetic matrix. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-04-17 04:34 |
| #3 But g(r)omgoru, I'm not sure you can really say that Obama's helping them though. He gives them enough crap to make an absolute mess of things, then goes and plays golf while whoever he just 'helped' winds up in a far worse mess than before. Just look at how well Libya and Syria have turned out. The Obama touch - Whatever he touches turns to stinky brown stuff. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2014-04-17 04:27 |
| #2 The world is realizing that right now, America is nobody's ally. Except "Palestinians", Bruderbund, Iran, etc...? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-04-17 03:54 |
| #1 I suspect this is also pushed along by the fact the Japanese know that the only sense that Obama has their back is the one that it's handy to stick a knife in if he feels like it. Poland is also arming itself heavily. The world is realizing that right now, America is nobody's ally. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2014-04-17 03:20 |