Red threat
Despite territorial disputes with Russia over the Kuril Islands, Japan's main regional adversary is well known. This is the Celestial Empire. Here everything is mixed into one heap: historical grievances, China's aim at absolute leadership in Asia, the interests of the United States. And, of course, there is the usual political populism, which is typical in general for all countries of the world, including highly developed ones. Japan is accustomed to very actively defending its interests in the diplomatic arena. However, if passions get out of control, the stake will be placed on the air force and, of course, the navy, without which Japan's existence as a real power in the region is impossible.
The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, despite its "modest" name, is very numerous and represents a real force. From open sources it can be seen that the Air Force has about 200 F-15J and F-15DJ fighters built under license. The Japanese began to withdraw various modifications of the F-4 Phantom II from the air fleet a long time ago, and the new American fifth-generation F-35 fighters had just begun to receive. The basis of the combat aviation of the Land of the Rising Sun is Mitsubishi F-2 fighters.
Many are confused by its visual resemblance to the F-16. Of course, the "Japanese" was built on its base, but in fact we have in front of us a completely new plane. Suffice it to say that the F-2 is considered the world's first serial fighter equipped with an active phased array radar (AFAR) - the Japanese-designed J / APG-1. The relatively small fighter has as many as thirteen weapon attachment points and is capable of carrying weapons weighing more than eight tons. It is difficult to find another version of the F-16 with the same capabilities. However, all good things come at a price. The price of one Mitsubishi F-2 is reportedly $ 110 million. This is the cost of the top fighters of the 4 ++ generation (to which, with some reservations, the F-2 itself can be attributed), as well as the average price of the F-35, although now the cost of the particular version of the F-35A has dropped to an "indecent" level of $ 90 million … What threatens the positions of the "fours" in the world market, but this is not about that.
Destination - uncertainty
For all its merits, the F-2 is also aging. Sooner or later it will have to be changed. The Japanese should receive 42 new American F-35A, but this is clearly not enough to maintain combat capability in the future. Back in 2004, in order to show the possibilities of creating advanced military developments, they decided to create their own fifth-generation fighter. That is, a combat aircraft built using stealth technology. The program was named ATD-X, and the device itself is known under the designation X-2 "Shinshin" ("soul" in Japanese). The full-size flight copy got its start in life after the notorious refusal of the Americans to sell the F-22 to Japan. It is a secret national treasure of the United States. The X-2 took to the skies for the first time on April 22, 2016. The media reported that the X-2's takeoff weight is thirteen tons, which is quite a lot. For comparison, the comparable in size Saab JAS 39 Gripen has a normal take-off weight of 8.5 tons. However, fifth-generation fighters have never been light at all. The empty weight of the F-35C, for example, is an immodest 14.5 tons.
But more important in this case are not the intended characteristics: they can vary greatly as the machine is developed. First of all, the approach matters. After the first flight of the X-2, many media were quick to call the aircraft "the prototype of the fifth generation fighter." But this is not true. Before us is a technology demonstrator. By its purpose, it can be compared with a rather unusual experimental Su-47, although this analogy will not be very correct.
The ATD-X program proceeded very slowly: it is not surprising that some experts began to perceive the X-2 not even as a means for working out promising technical solutions, but as a political lever of pressure on the United States in order to sell the coveted Raptors. Lockheed Martin's plans to create a hybrid of the F-22 and F-35 especially for the Japanese could finally "bury" the X-2 program. And don't forget that Northrop Grumman Corporation set out to resurrect the YF-23: now in a version for the self-defense forces.
Eastern stab in the back
All the more surprising was the news reported with reference to the Japanese newspaper "The Mainichi" by the bmpd blog, published under the auspices of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. The publication said that the Japanese Ministry of Defense nevertheless decided to develop a new fighter to replace the Mitshubishi F-2 fighter in the Air Force Self-Defense. The project for creating a new aircraft is planned to be included in the next five-year medium-term defense program, which will be adopted at the end of the year. Foreign companies will be able to take an active part in the development of a new aircraft, but it is important to take into account the fact that, apparently, it should be a Japanese fighter. The ministry hopes to use the main components of the Japanese design, for example, the engine, on the new aircraft. So the new aircraft should be much more national than the F-2.
Another thing is even more interesting. As the reason that Japan has taken up the active development of its own new generation fighter, named the fact that "the previously put forward proposals of three American and British companies did not meet the requirements of the ministry and planned costs." Of course, if the programs for creating a future national fighter go perfectly (which is almost impossible to imagine, since the technical risks are incredibly high), then the “native” fighter may indeed be cheaper for Japan than some hybrid from Lockheed Martin.
But in reality, developing an airplane can cost tens of billions in dollars. Let's not forget that the cost of the F-35 development program was a whopping $ 55 billion. But the Yankees had more experience than the Land of the Rising Sun. Frankly speaking, the promising fifth generation fighter should become the first full-fledged Japanese combat aircraft since the Second World War. At one time, Japan had a conditionally national Mitsubishi F-1, but this fighter-bomber was built on the basis of the training T-2. And it cannot be said that the F-1 was a popular car.
The reason why Japan decided to create its own fighter lies not at all in the shortcomings of existing (or promising) foreign aircraft. The future machine is designed to support the national aircraft industry and make Japan as independent as possible from US policy. That is, the country began to gradually "shovel" away from the United States and, one must assume, not least of all this is due to the protectionist rhetoric of Donald Trump.
What will happen when the power in America changes? It all depends on how far the heir to "Xingxing" will go. The Department of Defense reportedly invested approximately $ 2 billion in engine and electronics R&D for next-generation fighters between 2009 and 2018. A new IHI XF9-1 engine is currently undergoing bench tests, the design of which can serve as the basis for the engine of the new aircraft. In general, the promising Japanese fighter seems more realistic than the previously presented Tempest, created by the joint efforts of British and Italian specialists. Apparently, Japan is determined to get an uncompromising air fighter in addition to the F-35, which many see primarily as a fighter-bomber.
