Japan Chooses F-35 For Next Generation Fighter Jet

TOKYO—Japan's Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said Tuesday that Tokyo has selected Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter as its next-generation jet, capping a multiyear vetting process to upgrade its aging fleet.

The contract for the new fighter, dubbed the FX, totals 40 to 50 planes, according to Lockheed Martin, valued at an estimated $4 billion. It is Japan's most expensive fighter procurement ever and one of the world's largest military contracts this year.

The Lockheed Martin jet won the contract over two lower-cost, combat-tested aircraft—Boeing Co.'s F-18 Super Hornet and the European consortium Eurofighter GmbH's Typhoon fighter. But those planes were seen to lack the stealth capabilities of the more advanced F-35.

Washington, Japan's chief security ally, had quietly pushed the case for a U.S. jet by highlighting the importance of interoperability and the ability to share critical parts and conduct joint maintenance.

In their decision, Japanese officials cited the F-35's cutting edge technology, such as its so-called fifth-generation stealth design that provides radar-evading capability both in front of and behind the aircraft.

"We chose the F-35 based on its superior capabilities," Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said following the decision.

Japan sees the jet's advanced technology as a way of both deterring potential aggressors such as China and Russia, and also to help foster the development of Japan's own aviation industry. A concession came in the form of partial licensed F-35 production, which is expected to be handled by a consortium of Japanese companies including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

One potential source of controversy is the F-35's checkered development history, as the yet-to-be-deployed fighter has been dogged by repeated delays and cost overruns. Lockheed Martin has assured Japan that it can meet the country's procurement schedule,

The V-22 was in much the same situation as the F-35. I see the Osprey takeoff and land here in Afghanistan (Marine FOB) almost every day....very functional now.

The F-35, with it's super-cruise capabilities, is very suited to Japan's island status. The F-35 can project air-dominance a lot further out with more loiter time in an AO. I doubt if the fighter will be called upon for ground support, that being the case, I believe the F-35, in the role of air-superiority, will be a hindrance, and a re-planning by China, which will probably coast China too much time and money before their collective economy collapses.

China will push into southwest Asia and go for the oil. The Mongolian Hulagu, subjected a large portion of southwest Asia in the mid 1200’s.

A logical move for China is to go for the oil to prevent their grand communist run capitalism from collapsing.

The F-35, might be a portion of the puzzle that turns China's vision southwestward.

Just my thoughts.

The JSF project (of which the X-35, which became the F-35 won) never included the ability to super-cruise. If you recall the JSF project was supposed to be secondary to the ATF project (of which the YF-22 won, which became the F-22). The ATF project was to have super-agility (both in terms of its airframe as well as thrust-vectoring nozzles, and to be able to be agile both in the sub-sonic and supersonic regimes), it was to have high kinematics (e.g. its ability to supercruise, how high it can fly, etc), to have a very high level of stealth (since it would be a deep-IADS penetrator), and to be able to dominate any current or anticipated Soviet bloc fighter. The JSF project, on the other hand, was aimed at producing a cheaper fighter that would have limited kinematics (the aim was to match what a F-16 can do), no super-cruise, limited stealth (mostly frontal and mainly limited to X-band), and to end up with an aircraft that would be able to step in once the F-22 and B-2 took out the most lethal threats.

The ATF was to have stealth (high level), supercruise, maneuverability and integrated avionics to produce an airframe that would have total dominance. The JSF was to have stealth (a good level but a magnitude below the F-22), sensors and integrated avionics to have 'lethal and survivable strike.'

According to the Airforce Association, the F-22 can:

􀂄 F-22A carries twice as many air-to-air missiles as the F-35A

􀂄 F-22A tactically employs at nearly twice the altitude and at 50% greater airspeed than the F-35A

􀂄 Gives air-to-air missiles a 40% greater employment range and increased lethality

􀂄 Increases air-to-ground weapons employment range

􀂄 F-22A can control more than twice the battle space of the F-35A

􀂄 F-22A AESA radar has more T/R elements than F-35 radar

􀂄 Only the F-22 features vectored thrust, giving it twice the maneuverability of an F-35

􀂄 Supercruise expands potential kill zones; half as many F-22s needed as F- 35 to cover same area

􀂄 The F-22 can turn at twice the rate of an F-35

Supercruise is not just about engine thrust or internal carriage of weapons - it is also about the airframe. The F-35 simply doesn't have the airframe for super-cruise. This is because it was never meant to have that.

(On another note - The F-35 doesn't meet the standards of a '5th generation fighter' stipulated by the ATF competition, which led to the YF-22 and YF-23. This is a point that has been brought up several times by Boeing and the Eurofighter Consortium, with the Eurofighter guys even going as far to show that the Typhoon is more of a '5th generation fighter' than the F-35 is. But as I said, that is a whole other conversation ....)

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