Japan seeks leverage in joint development with own stealth jet

The X-2 takes off from Nagoya Airport on its maiden flight.

TOKYO -- Japan's first homegrown stealth fighter embodies the country's desire to raise its status in international collaboration on defense technology development.
     An X-2 demonstrator built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries took its roughly 25-minute maiden flight Friday morning from Aichi Prefecture to Gifu Prefecture, going through basic maneuvers that included ascending and descending. The jet clocked in at about 400kph. Japan became the fourth country to fly a manned stealth aircraft, after the U.S., Russia and China.


     The radar-evading aircraft boasts paddles behind each engine that can deflect the jet's exhaust at different angles, lending to its high maneuverability. Some 220 Japanese companies took part in its development. Mitsubishi Heavy will deliver the fighter to the Ministry of Defense's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency as early as May for data collection through fiscal 2017.
     The F-2 fighter now in service is slated to be retired around fiscal 2028. The ministry plans to decide by fiscal 2018 whether to develop a successor domestically or with foreign partners, according to a medium-term plan. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters Friday that the first flight was a key step toward acquiring necessary technologies.
Bargaining chip
But in reality, purely domestic development is a far-fetched idea. International collaboration on defense hardware is commonplace to save costs.
     The government has worked to facilitate participation in joint development, lifting in 2014 its self-imposed ban on exports of military hardware.
     The agency is mainly considering joint development and is already in contact with potential partners. Boeing is interested in working with Japanese companies, according to an official at the U.S. aircraft giant.
     For Japan, catching up with the U.S. and other countries far more advanced in stealth technologies is practically impossible. But it is cultivating its own expertise anyway, likely to gain bargaining power vis-a-vis the Americans. "If Japan has no stealth technologies, development would proceed on terms favorable to the U.S.," a Defense Ministry official explained.
     Japan's last substantial involvement in developing a fighter was working with the U.S. on the F-2 back in the 1980s and '90s. Tokyo likely wants engineers who took part in that project to pass on their skills to the next generation before they retire, helping the country gain cutting-edge stealth technologies.