Got Stealth? JASDF Orders Additional F-35's

This week it was announced in Japan Today that the JASDF will be purchassing an addition 20 F-35A 5th Generation Stealth Fighters. Unlike the previous 42 advanced fighter planes whose final assembly is done by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, these will come directly from Lockheed Martin in the United States. Sources state issues with production time tables for this reason and not trade tarrifs imposed by the Trump Regime. The going pricetag for Japan is $100 Million each. Buying direct will save Japan an estimated $30 million per plane. How that works out is not so readily explained but then again we know Beijing is reading and watching. Any realist will tell you that such an upgrade should not be the cause of alarm due to the lack of significant numbers of orders. This generation of Stealth fighters replaces 50 year old F-4 Phantoms and the first of many aging F-15 fighters. Japan will eventually have it's new home grown Stealth Fighter people are calling the F-3 (aka the ATX-D-F3) but that won't be available for another decade. In the meantime, Japan must have a ready force to meet the growing threats from North Korea and troubles on the South China Seas. We hope they will keep Japan safe and contribute to stability in the region.

The PRC's New J-31: A Stealth Contender or Just Another Chinese Knockoff?

Coinciding with President Obama's visit to the PRC for the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit and to urge officials in Beijing to halt cyber attacks and outright cyber theft, the PLA's Air Force deliberately conducted test flights of its new J-31 Stealth Fighter at an arms show in Zuhai. Its alleged that the design of this 5th Generation fighter is the result of Chinese hackers breaking into Lockheed Martin and stealing the plans for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to which the PLA appears to have produced their own knockoff copy that is missing some key elements or as Lockheed Martin calls "The Crown Jewels" of it's performance ratio & thrust vectoring capability.

While on the surface, the plane looks strangely like an American Stealth fighter (Gee, wonder how that happened?), it is their second Stealth fighter. The earlier J-20 also the product of Chinese hacking also bears a remarkable resemblance to the F-22 & canceled YF-23. Worse, like it's older brother the J-20, the J-31 is powered by a pair of Russian made Klimov RD-93 engines, the same power plant for the MIG-29. The rumor has it that a group of rogue Russian technicians helped them reconfigure these engines for the new plane but Chinese officials deny this. Surprised? Its been observed that this plane bleeds too much power and has to engage its afterburners at low altitude in order to avoid stalling. Nice Try but no fortune cookie!

The mentality behind this lack of originality on the part of the Chinese is difficult to ascertain. You would figure that the people who brought you 4000 years of complex mathematics and medicine could come up with something on their own without stealing someone else s ideas. You would think they would take more pride in their own ingenuity and not ride on the accomplishments of others. But No. If Japan can come up with their own Stealth Fighter (See Mitsubishi ATX-D F3 Shinshin), China has no excuse. This is not being competitive, this is being lazy! ばか!

A New Zero for the Heisei Generation

Introducing Japan's first Generation 5 Stealth Fighter: The Mitsubishi ATX-D F3 Shinshin. It is not only Japan's first Stealth fighter but it's the third fighter built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries since the end of WWII. This is bound to rattle some nerves in the PRC but this is a new era where Japan must meet the challenges to which the PRC and the DPRK have given rise to. 

Born out of necessity to replace Japan's aging fleet of 4th Generation fighters, the "Shinshin" as it will be called was developed after the U.S. Congress nixed Japan's desire to purchase F-22 Raptors in fear of compromising any Stealth Technological advantages. The F-3 is powered by two IHI X51 Turbofans and will have afterburners with thrust vectoring (a key component on the F-22). This will be a true Air Superiority single seat fighter with one two seat variant for training. They are expected to go into production in 2017 and into service by 2027. 

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries who once brought you the legendary A6M Zero had given this new multibillion yen Zero for the Heisei Generation the name ATD-X which is an acronym meaning "Advanced Technology Demonstrator – X". The aircraft is widely known in Japan as Shinshin (心神^?, meaning "Spirit of the Heart"). We at American Mishima look forward to learning more about her over the coming years.

がんばれ 日本!