Japan again looks to get domestic fighter jet off ground

[curupira]

TOKYO -- The Japanese government is embarking on an ambitious quest to develop an entirely domestic fighter jet for the first time since the end of World War II.

It will work with major defense contractors such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and IHI on the project, which is a milestone in Japan's defense procurement policy. The project will start in earnest in fiscal 2015, with work on a prototype engine and assessments of the aircraft's stealth capabilities. The outlook for the costly undertaking is murky, however, given that the U.S. has never supported Japan's efforts to develop a fighter on its own.

The first big step in the project will take place in January, when an aircraft mounted with a test engine is scheduled to fly for the first time. The engine was developed jointly by the Ministry of Defense and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and will serve as the basis for the fighter's prototype engine.

The goal is to develop a light and powerful engine by combining components that have been developed separately, including a high-pressure turbine and a fuel system.

IHI, which is helping to develop the engine, is using ceramic composites for the turbine in an industry first. The composite is lighter than the nickel alloy traditionally used in turbines and can withstand temperatures up to 1,400 C. The manufacturer hopes to use the material for engines on passenger jets in the future.

Bitter memories

The defense ministry's decision to develop the engine first is a reflection of Japan's unhappy history when it comes to indigenous fighter jets. A previous project was abandoned in the face of U.S. opposition in 1987. The U.S. balked at Japan developing its own fighter to replace the F-1, arguing that Japan lacked the technology to develop its own jet engine. It insisted on joint development based on the U.S. F-16.

With the Soviet threat in mind, the Defense Agency -- now the Ministry of Defense -- had envisioned a high-performance fighter that could skim the surface of the sea to avoid detection and knock out enemy ships. But U.S. Air Force officers pressured officials from Japan's Defense Agency to abandon the idea.

Mitsubishi Heavy and other Japanese defense contractors had the technology to produce sophisticated radars, fuselages and missiles. The only component Japan was unable to develop on its own was the engine. The agency considered using U.S.-made engines for the jet. Japanese defense officials interpreted U.S. coolness to the initiative as a signal that it would not supply engines for the aircraft if it went ahead on its own. In the end, they opted for joint development.

"Back then, we thought the U.S. was urging us to drop the project simply because Japan didn't have the necessary technology," said Masahiro Yasue, who was director general of the defense ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute at the time. "But later we realized the U.S. was worried about Japan's acquisition of advanced technology for fighter jets," said Yasue, who is now an adviser with Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Staying on top

At that time, Japan's relations with the U.S. were warm, thanks to the strong personal ties between Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and President Ronald Reagan. Even so, Washington didn't allow Japan, its key security ally, to develop its own fighter. Washington was determined to maintain its supremacy in fighter aircraft, which are crammed with state-of-the-art technology.

Many U.S. officials also subscribed to the idea that the U.S.-Japan security treaty prevented Japan from becoming a major military power, and they wanted to keep it that way.

Japan again came under pressure from Washington in its choice of a successor to the aging F-4 fighter in the early 2000s. Japan had asked to buy the F-22, which has cutting-edge stealth features. But the U.S. feared leaks of sensitive technologies and offered Japan the less powerful F-35 instead.

Our turn

These episodes have fired Japanese defense officials' desire for a 100% Japanese fighter. Harukazu Saito, chief of staff at the Air Self-Defense Force, voiced hopes for the new fighter project, saying, "We can respond more quickly to an unpredictable situation that might happen to our fighters if they are made domestically than in the case of foreign-made fighters, and we can operate domestically made fighters more smoothly."

The ASDF recently set up a task force to consider the specifications for a successor to the F-2. Although the envisioned Japanese fighter would not match the F-22 in terms of stealth capabilities, it should outperform the F-35, which the ASDF now has in its fleet.

Stealth aircraft avoid detection using a variety of advanced technologies that reduce their radar signature. The shape of the fuselage and body coating technology are crucial to making planes stealthy.

If it develops its own technologies for stealth aircraft, the Japanese defense industry could export related equipment and improve its leverage in joint development projects with foreign manufacturers. Technologies developed for military purposes could also be applied to civilian commercial use.

The joint development of the F-2 fighter by Japan and the U.S. has produced the radar technology used in collision-avoidance systems for cars and electronic toll collection (ETC) systems. The carbon fiber composite material developed for the fighter is used in Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner.

But if a purely Japanese fighter is to take to the sky, other hurdles must be overcome. One is the huge development cost, which has been estimated at more than 1 trillion yen ($9.1 billion).

As drones have become more and more widespread, some experts argue pouring resources into developing a conventional fighter is anachronistic.

"It would not be realistic for Japan to try to develop a fighter on its own," said Masato Nagase, president of Global Insight, a defense consulting firm in Tokyo. "Japan should instead seek an international joint development project under its own initiative," he said.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Japan-again-looks-to-get-domestic-fighter-jet-off-ground

[Sacrificed Ram]

Japan is capable to do anything, they even did their own Gospel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJuexdl_c5s

[Furnace]

The problem is that Japan is bankrupt, so how are they gonna fund it?

[curupira]

November 2, 2014 1:00 pm JST
China concerns fuel Japan's drive for homegrown fighter jets


TOKYO -- Japan's first homegrown fighter jet since the end of World War II will soon take to the skies as the country looks to counter China's growing military might.

The Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) aircraft, or Shinshin as the prototype fighter is known, is scheduled to make its maiden flight in January, fulfilling a long-held dream in Japan's defense circles.

Afterburner

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries unit Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works turned out some 18,000 planes, including Zero fighters and Type 10 carrier-launched fighters, before and during World War II. In the postwar period, the company based in central Japan's Aiichi Prefecture has continued to be a leader in Japan's defense industry, painstakingly honing its skills and technology, in large part through licensed production of U.S. fighters.

A final ground test of the Shinshin, including measuring the strength of the fuselage and checking its maneuvering system, is now underway at the MHI unit's flagship Komaki Minami plant in the town of Toyoyama. Top-level engineers are on hand from major defense contractors, including IHI, Fuji Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Electric as well as MHI, the lead contractor for the Shinshin.

Because of Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works' history, the Shinshin is often called "the Zero of the Heisei era, referring to the current era in Japan that began in 1989. The Shinshin is positioned as a demonstration aircraft and a successor to Japan's current mainstay F-2 fighter. It is to be delivered to the Defense Ministry in the fiscal year starting April 2015.

The government will make a decision on whether to bring the jet into production in fiscal 2018, after conducting tests to verify the aircraft's stealth capability and maneuverability. If everything goes smoothly, the new plane will be fully deployed sometime between the early and mid-2030s.

U.S. plays hardball

"We have bided our time and persevered to get even with them," said Masataka Ikeyama, head of IHI's defense systems division. IHI developed the Shinshin's engine.

The "them" he speaks of is Washington. Many in Japan's defense industry have bitter memories of how the U.S. quashed their earlier drive to develop the F-2 domestically. In 1987, Japan stated its intention to develop the fighter on its own. But the U.S. leaned on Tokyo to go for joint development instead. A modern fighter is packed with state-of-the-art technologies, including electronic equipment and materials. The U.S. feared its huge lead in military technology could crumble if Japan succeeded in creating its own fighter jet.

At that time, Japan already had many of the basic technologies it needed, including missiles and radar; its Achilles' heel was engines. The government wanted to buy a U.S.-made engine for the F-2, but the U.S. refused to do so unless Japan agreed to joint development.

Some within Japan's Defense Agency -- now the Defense Ministry -- and IHI reacted angrily and called for Japanese company to develop its own engine. But there were concerns at the time that if IHI failed, Japan's defense capabilities, and the company itself, would suffer. Tokyo eventually abandoned the idea of an indigenous F-2 and agreed to develop the jet together with the U.S. in return for engines from U.S.-based General Electric.

For three decades, IHI has wanted to prove it could build an engine for a fighter jet. "We have put as many up-to-date technologies as possible into the development," IHI's Ikeyama said. The company has focused especially on advanced materials for the aircraft's turbines and fans, using a highly heat-resistant titanium-aluminum alloy and a lightweight ceramic matrix composite. The result is an engine for the Shinshin that weighs in at just 640kg but delivers up to 5 tons of thrust.

The Shinshin will have two engines. The integrated flight and propulsion control technology is expected to boost the jet's combat capability. The aircraft is an echo of the legendary Zero, which won many dogfights thanks to its light weight and high maneuverability.

Insurance policy

National prestige aside, the biggest reason for Japan's wanting a homegrown fighter is to defend against possible Chinese aggression.

In today's aerial combat, true dogfights involving an exchange of missiles and machine gun fire are rare. Information networks determine the winner, especially in clashes between stealth fighters.

Stealthy fighters need information on enemy planes collected from ground-based air-defense radars and high-flying surveillance aircraft.

"Given the threat posed by China, Japan will be able to boost its defense capabilities to higher levels by fostering its own technologies, rather than by depending completely on the U.S. for the development of fighter jets," said a senior official at the Defense Ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute.

A senior Air Self-Defense Force official said Japan will "benefit significantly" from the development of a homegrown plane because it will allow the country to "modify the fighter jet flexibly in accordance with changes in the security environment." This is harder with a development project involving more than one country: If one partner wants to improve the performance of a specific component, for example, it must get approval from the country where the part was made.

There are concerns in Japan about the country's radar capabilities, given China's rapid military buildup. "If we cannot update (radars) as we like, we could lag behind in terms of performance," said the Air Self-Defense Force official.

China currently has about 670 fighter jets, while Japan has about 260. The numbers do not tell the whole story, however. Japan still thought to have the edge in air power, based on its qualitative advantages and the other types of aircraft at its disposal. But China is steadily improving the stealth capabilities of its aircraft, as seen in its new fifth-generation fighter, the J-20.

In addition to the Shinshin, Japan's Defense Ministry is also developing other defense equipment, including a telecommunications system that allows multiple fighter jets to share information on the locations of enemy planes collected through ground-based radar networks and other means. Japan has so far depended on the U.S. for such gear."We want to have a higher degree of freedom regarding the system upgrade time and investment," said a senior Air Self-Defense Force official.

That is a recurring theme in Japan's defense industry. In the 2000s, Japan asked the U.S. to sell it state-of-the-art F-22 stealth fighters but Washington refused, fearing technology leaks. Many people in Japan's defense industry say there is no guarantee the U.S. will continue supplying advanced military equipment. Japan, the thinking goes, has no choice but to make its own gear.

Drone wars

The U.S. appears content, for now, to wait and see whether Japan's indigenous fighter project will succeed. An official in charge of equipment policy at the Defense Ministry said, "The U.S. has not approached Japan for possible joint development of a fighter jet based on the Shinshin."

Development trends in the next generation of U.S. fighter jets may explain Washington's apparent lack of interest in the Japanese project. Design work on a sixth-generation fighter is already underway in the U.S., with an unmanned aircraft emerging as an important option. Research is ongoing into a "morphing" plane whose main wing and other parts adjust to fit combat conditions, according to Masahiro Yasue, a former director-general of the Defense Ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute. The American sixth-generation fighter "is very likely to be considerably different from the current stealth fighters," said Yasue, who is now an adviser at Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Buy Japanese?

The U.S. has cut defense spending and development costs for fighter jets have risen. Some military analysts say the U.S. may even ask Japan for help with some jet fighter technologies in the future.

Meanwhile, Japanese government officials are not yet sold on developing a purely domestic fighter jet. Finance Ministry officials, among others, are calling for international cooperation, citing budgetary constraints.

A budget of more than 1 trillion yen ($9.06 billion) is said to be needed to develop a fighter aircraft. Given that Japan's total defense budget is just under 5 trillion yen, it will not be easy to shoulder those costs by itself.

Exports of defense equipment could go a long way toward helping Japan raise the money needed to get its new fighter off the ground. The Japanese government adopted new rules on the transfer of defense equipment at a cabinet meeting in April, relaxing a decades-old ban on sales of weapons. The new regulations could allow Japan to export fighters developed jointly with foreign countries in the future. "There is a strong likelihood that the U.S. and Europe will propose joint development of a fighter jet with Japan, which lifted its ban on exports," said a senior Defense Ministry official.

Major Japanese defense contractors are already working hard to develop technologies, with an eye toward joint development. "The important thing is to boost our fighter jet technologies and bargaining power," said MHI Chairman Hideaki Omiya.

In fact, Japanese manufacturers' military technologies are already drawing attention.

The cutting-edge U.S. F-22 stealth fighter is operating in the Middle East. It made its combat debut Sept. 22, conducting airstrikes on Islamic State positions, as the U.S. and its allies battle Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria.

Japan's Ube Industries supplies Tyranno fiber for the F-22. The fiber is a key radar wave-absorbing material that contributes to the fighter's unsurpassed stealth capabilities.

Mitsubishi Electric and MBDA, a major British defense contractor, decided this past summer to jointly develop a new air-to-air missile. MBDA approached Mitsubishi Electric, aware of its highly advanced missile technology.
http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/China-concerns-fuel-Japan-s-drive-for-homegrown-fighter-jets

[Sacrificed Ram]

A japanese jet engine could be an alternative of engine for our future Jets, but Japan is famous because doens't share none thing of his military industry, if it changes, a joint venture could be possible.