Lockheed offers Japan F-35 final assembly

Lockheed Martin has dangled the possibility of final assembly of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in front of Japan as part of its plan to win the country's F-X fighter competition.

The US airframer confirmed that final assembly and check out, component manufacture, and F-35 maintenance, repair and overhaul have been included in its response to Tokyo's request for proposals.

"These key fifth-generation production technologies are state-of-the art for the aerospace industry, and will provide Japan with a cornerstone for building long-term industrial leadership," said Lockheed.

Industrial participation is an important component of the requirement, which is to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's fleet of McDonnell Douglas/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries F-4 Phantoms.

Flightglobal's MiliCAS database lists Japan as having an active fleet of 90 F-4s, including 14 reconnaissance-configured examples.

Japan's first preference was to buy the Lockheed F-22 Raptor, but that has not been possible because of restrictions imposed by the US Congress on exports of the fifth-generation fighter's stealth technology.

Industry sources believe this has pushed the F-35 slightly ahead, even though programme delays have some in Tokyo worried.

That would open the competition up to the other contenders - Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block II and Eurofighter's Typhoon.

Boeing sees Japan as the second possible export customer for the Block II Super Hornet after Australia, which itself purchased the F/A-18 as a stop-gap because of concerns over delays to the F-35.

Boeing is touting the F/A-18's multi-role capabilities as a potential discriminator in the contest, citing the Super Hornet's "proven operational capability to seamlessly conduct air dominance or precision strike missions across the combined air, ground, maritime and electronic battlespace".

The rivals, it adds, specialise in "either air-to-air or air-to-ground operations".

Taking a thinly-veiled swipe at the F-35, Boeing Japan president Mike Denton said that when its proposal was submitted, the company provided Tokyo with "guaranteed pricing and a guaranteed delivery timeline".

BAE Systems, which is leading the Eurofighter consortium's campaign, said its aircraft was a "cost-effective" solution and "the most capable deterrent to regional threats". It is also offering Tokyo licensed production, maintenance and technology transfer. The last issue is important to some officials in Japan, who worry about the US willingness to give full access to the F-35's source codes.

"Japan can have sovereign control of manufacture, support and upgrade of Typhoon aircraft in Japan by Japanese industry," BAE said.

"We are also able to offer software source codes and other data, giving Japan the ability to develop the aircraft itself to meet its own unique needs, now and in the future."

will provide Japan with a cornerstone for building long-term industrial leadership,” said Lockheed.

More jobs going overseas, reducing the US leadership even further. Nice going Lockheed!

More jobs going overseas, reducing the US leadership even further. Nice going Lockheed!

You need to look at this from a bigger perspective.

Next, when I wander the parking garage around here, all but maybe three cars (not counting trucks) are foreign badged vehicles. In a very informal survey when I simply stated my observation, it was almost universally answered by "American made cars are junk."

Whether that is actually true or not is immaterial in a world that makes its decisions based on perception, in this case Japanese manufactured goods are universally seen as superior in fit and finish to American badged products.

So put yourself in the cockpit of a new F-35 aircraft as you approach the speed of sound and are preparing to simulate dog fighting or SAM defense tactics. Do you want to have images of your typical Detroit goonion thug, high on drugs and alcohol as the last guy to put your flight controls in place, or a high precision Japanese robot?

The F-35 isn't supposed to be just a US plane, rather the idea was to make it as standard as the NATO 7.62 round

And this, IMO, was a stupid idea from the start, like giving missiles and other sophisticated weaponry to our third world "friends".

The F-35 isn't supposed to be just a US plane, rather the idea was to make it as standard as the NATO 7.62 round. Credibility and other countries having skin the game go a long way in assuring that goal.

The need for NATO went away twenty years ago, now it is another useless government program that keeps trying to justify itself. An alliance fighter is throwing away good money after bad on our forward deployed Maginot Line alliance structure that divides our offensive potential. All of our bases on the continent of Europe were useless when it came time for the Yom Kippur War airlift of 1973. The F-35 is a New World Order affirmative action scheme for militarily useless nations that were unable to defeat fourth rate Libya on their own, but are somehow to be the cornerstone of our own defense. I'd like to go back to the "law of the jungle" world, and make sure we're the toughest mutha in the jungle.

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