The Government of Japan has announced that it has plans to build a high-tech stealth fighter.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Japan, the fighter will be of the sixth generation and its production will start in 2031. The future fighters will replace the fleet of F-2 fighters (F-16 modified by the Japanese).
The fighter program is known as FX and more than $261 million of Japan's 2020 war budget has been earmarked for the futuristic fighter project.
According to the CNN publication based on data from the Japan Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Agency (ALTA), some characteristics of the fighter will be:
– ability to synchronize missile targets between multiple aircraft, known as integrated fire control or network fire;
– internal weapons bays, like those seen on American F-22 stealth jets;
– the use of thrust vectoring nozzles, devices that use engine thrust to turn more sharply.
It is worth ing that the US authorized the sale of 105 F-35 stealth fighters to Japan. The country already operates some units of the Lockheed Martin fighter, if the sale actually takes place, Japan will be the nation with the most units of this fighter after the USA.
The JASDF (Self Defense Force) has as spearhead fighters the F-2 fighters that reach almost 100 units, and the F-15J, a version of the F-15 exclusive to the Japanese, in addition to some F-35A already mentioned above.
