Japan asks US, UK to save F-3 stealth aircraft

Hãng thông tấn Reuters ngày 8/3 dẫn nguồn tin quân sự Nhật Bản cho biết, trong tháng này Tokyo đã gửi yêu cầu thông tin (RFI) lần thứ 3 cho các nhà thầu quốc phòng để tìm kiếm các đề xuất cho dự án máy bay chiến đấu tàng hình F-3.

Không giống như hai đợt trước, RFI lần này chỉ được gửi cho các công ty ở Mỹ và châu Âu, với một tài liệu chi tiết hơn cho London và Washington. Vị quan chức quốc phòng Nhật cho biết:

“Japan expects to receive specific design proposals based on an existing aircraft model.” The previous two RFIs did not yield any detailed proposals.

F-3 stealth aircraft test flight.

The representative said that the existing fighter aircraft frames that Japan can use include the F-35 Lightning II of Lockheed Martin Corp, or the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet (Boeing); and the Eurofighter Typhoon of Europe...

British news agency said that Japan's urgent call for cooperation between the US and UK to jointly develop the F-3 stealth aircraft program stems from the fact that this project is facing the risk of being terminated at any time due to many different reasons.

The F-3 fighter jet is considered one of the world's most attractive military programs in the near future because it is estimated that it will cost about 40 billion USD to complete this program.

However, the Japanese government is currently considering the possibility of postponing this program despite the country's high demand for stealth aircraft. "The decision on the F-3 project will be postponed," a source from the Japanese Ministry of Defense said.

In addition to having to postpone the F-3 aircraft program, Japan is also considering two options: relying entirely on internal resources or seeking international cooperation. And the international cooperation option has been quietly implemented by Tokyo.

This information was reported by Jane's Defence Weekly magazine, currently Japan and the UK have reached a related agreement at the intergovernmental committee level. This deal will accelerate Tokyo's stealth aircraft program ATD-X (Advanced Technology Demonstrator - X or also known as F-3) with the first prototype X-2 taking off for the first time in April 2016.

Before agreeing to develop the F-3 program with Japan, in 2014, the UK and Japan established the Joint New Air-to-Air Missile (JNAAM) Joint Development Center based on MBDA Meteor missile technology.

The UK and Japan plan to use a new joint missile on the F-35 and ATD-X fighters. Although Japan has not specifically stated the reason for the delay in the F-3 aircraft program, according to Jane's, Tokyo is at a standstill with this ambitious aircraft program.

The British magazine quoted a source from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. saying that, up until the time of completing the first takeoff, the company's F-3 program had been repeatedly delayed in testing due to a number of reasons.

The delay is due to further testing of the aircraft’s restart system in the event of a sudden stop in flight, the source said. In addition to changes to testing plans, the manufacturer may also be forced to seek additional funding to complete the project, the source added.

It is known that the F-3 aircraft program was born to replace the aging F-2 fighter jet line currently operating in Japan's air defense force.

According to the plan, the first test flights of the F-3 aircraft model should have been carried out from 2014, but then it was moved to March 2015 and finally to April 2016.

Although the Japanese manufacturer said that the delay in testing was just a matter of further testing the starting system, according to Jane's magazine, this is actually a serious problem that Japan is facing.

Specifically, if the aircraft's starting system does not work properly, the aircraft will lack the necessary maneuverability in air combat situations (such as diving, suddenly descending, changing direction, etc.).

If the starting system has problems, the plane is very likely to crash, not to mention being shot down by the enemy.

According to the little information revealed by Japan, the F-3 stealth aircraft program is built using stealth technology, including radar-scattering aerodynamic shapes, electromagnetic wave absorbing materials and the use of composite materials.

In addition, Japan's future fighter will be equipped with multi-mode radar with active phased array antenna, remote control system, electronic warfare system and unified information exchange system.

According to many experts, Japan's F-3 fighter is more than capable of making China's J-20 stealth fighter fail when confronted.