Japan's Stealth Era Starts Now

Seen here is the JASDF's brand new F-35A Stealth Fighter at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture. It is the first of ten planes to be deployed between now and April 2018 that will complete a full squadron of these controversial multi-role single engine Generation 5 fighter planes built by U.S. Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin. The JASDF plans to have 42 of these high performance fighters that will carry the long range JSM missiles to counter the growing threats posed by North Korea and those posed in the South China Sea. The F-35A is scheduled to replace Japan's remaining Generation 3 F-4 Phantoms which have been in service for over 40 years. Thier arrival officially brings Japan's Air Self Defense Force into the Stealth Era.

Japan's F-35A Rollout

In a recent lavish celebration held in Texas, American Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin and the Japanese Ministry of Defense has announced the official roll out of the first of 42 F-35A Lightning Stealth Fighter planes for Japan's Air Self Defense Force.Lockheed has partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other Japanese Contractors to tailor the new Joint Strike Fighter to Japan's specific defense needs.Initial assembly will take place at Fort Worth while final assembly will take place in Nagoya Japan. Japanese pilots will train with other pilots and maintenance personnel from Norway and Italy at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The planes will eventually be based at Misawa which is home to the USAF's 35th Fighter Wing flying older F-16's.

All fanfare aside, it is our hope that Mitsubishi will resolve the issues plaguing this controversial 5th Generation fighter plane. While it has its stealth and vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, it's two missile and 1200 round gun limitations are cause for great concerns. It will be up to Japanese engineers to make this work. We at American Mishima wish them all the success. がんばって ください!

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!