Japan’s Air Force Will Include 100 Stealth Fighters

Japan Air Self-Defense Force | X-2 In Flight | Stealthy, for everything but eyeballs.

 

A small fleet, growing below the radar

Only a few nations have ever built stealth fighters. The United States dominates in that arena, with the retired F-117, the in-service F-22, and the soon-to-be-in-service F-35, but it’s not alone. Russia and China are both developing stealthy fighters of their own, and several nations, including Israel and the United Kingdom, joined with the United States to develop and field the F-35. Japan is slowly joining the exclusive stealth club, and it might turn to an indigenously designed plane to do it.

Japan succeeds in test flight of first stealth fighter jet

The X-2 advanced technological demonstrator plane of the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force takes off at Komaki Airport in Komaki, Aichi prefecture on April 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/)

 

Japan’s first stealth fighter jet successfully took to the skies on Friday as the country joins a select group of world military powers wielding the radar-dodging technology.

Technological super power Japan, despite strict constitutional constraints on the use of military force imposed after World War II, has one of the world’s most advanced defence forces and the development of the stealth fighter comes as it faces new security challenges in the form of China’s expanding force posture.

Japanese Defense: Stealth fighter prototype unveiled

A prototype of the X-2 advanced stealth fighter.

 

TOKYO — A demonstration unit of the X-2 stealth fighter made its debut Thursday, with the Japanese-built experimental aircraft promising greater maneuverability than other stealth planes.

The jet will take its maiden flight the week of Feb. 15 or Feb. 22. Designer and builder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will hand it over to the Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency at the end of March. The X-2 is under development as the government prepares to replace the F-2 fighter, due for retirement around fiscal 2028.