A Brief History of Asian Stealth So Far: Part 1 - Japan

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 12/21/2013 at 10:27 • Filed to: Planeopnik, waropnik, gizmodo, look at me gizmodo, stealth fighter, stealth technology, stealth development

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Asia is an arms race hotbed right now. China isn't exactly keen to play along with its neighbors, especially in regards to a bunch of small islands dotting the Asian continental shelf (particularly the island of Formosa, which in America we call "Taiwan"). Even that aside, they share an extensive border with another country called "India" that they tend to rub the wrong way, too. The Asian defense industry (and by extension, ours - and yes, that pronoun applies to you European and Russian Jalops too) is booming, and the holy grail of tactical technology right now is of course stealth. Dozens of nations are trying to obtain this technology one way or another, most of them taking the most straightforward option of buying it. Singapore is a partner in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter stealth program, and the People's Vietnam Air Force operated advanced Su-30s which incorporate various forms of passive and active (electronic countermeasure) stealth. The five big players in the Asian stealth game, however, are Japan, Korea, India, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). This article will focus on the nation closest to winning the stealth arms race right now, Japan.

Japanese Stealth Pre-History

The Japanese stopped making warplanes in 1945 due to this event called "losing WWII." About ten years later they started making armaments again due to this thing called "the Cold War." The first indigenously-assembled jet fighters in the Cold War period - licensed copies of the American F-86 Sabre - were delivered to units in the late 50s complimenting ex-USAF stock. At the same time production also started on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , brought to you by the parent company of Subaru. The T-1 was a (for the period) high-performance training aircraft designed to mimic the characteristics of a typical fighter jet. As such, and despite no American design input, being entirely designed by the Japanese, the T-1 absolutely looks like an F-86 stretched for a second seat. It was powered by an engine that was also entirely designed and manufactured in Japan.

The T-1 was replaced by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which again was designed to mimic the performance characteristics of jet fighters at the time (this time throwing in supersonic capability and radar). So much so, that it was itself turned into a fighter known as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and earned the distinction of being Japan's first indigenously-designed tactical combat aircraft since WWII. Actual air-to-air combat was very secondary on the F-1's list of priorities; it was primarily developed to counter enemy warships, which Japan saw as the major threat against its trade and commerce traffic (and the Mitsubishi-assembled F-4EJ and F-15J was available to handle air-to-air missions anyway). It also ended up looking a lot like another Western type, the British/French !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This time it might not have been a coincidence, as the Japanese contemplated joining the British and French instead of developing their own aircraft and technical information may have been traded.

The Vietnam-era T-2 and F-1 combo eventually needed replacement itself, especially since the F-1 was no longer seen as adequate for Japan's defense against sophisticated threats. The F-4EJ was also reaching obsolescence, and the F-15J fleet was far too small to pick up the slack. The requirement was thus drawn-up for a "multi-role" fighter that could handle sea, air, and ground threats including the advanced Soviet-block MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters along with improved defenses against very high-performance anti-aircraft systems such as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Thus, Japan's first interest in stealth technology was born.

The earliest "official" depiction of the original FS-X concept I could find is this image, originally taken from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

The original concept for what was then dubbed "FS-X" (Fighter, Strike, eXperimental) was a very radical departure from anything else then in production, as seen in the image above. The lines suggest some possible derivation from the F-15 (which Mitsubishi had extensive experience with the design from assembling them) but the design's most prominent features were a "reverse" configuration with canards up front and a surprisingly small planform wing at the rear, with twin engines and twin, likely canted tails. The canted tail feature is particularly interesting as it's a "low-hanging fruit" approach towards decreasing an aircraft's radar cross section (RCS) as seen on the F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. It's possible if not likely that the FS-X would've incorporated low/medium passive stealth characteristics commonly found throughout "4.5 Generation" tactical aircraft such as the aforementioned Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon.

As found on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! this is claimed to be a developmental study model from Mitsubishi, displaying further evolved stealth characteristics including redesigned air inlets.

This fantaciful CGI depiction from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! postulates what a fully-evolved, production FS-X may have looked like, displaying typical "4.5 gen" stealth features such as canted tails and semi-faceted air inlets akin to those found on the F-117 and F-22 stealth fighters.

Ultimately, FS-X was re-organized and Mitsubishi contracted with Lockheed-Martin to develop a cheaper alternative, an evolved version of the F-16 which would feature a larger wing and a host of construction and design innovations which, compared to a standard F-16 are mostly invisible. The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! reached operational status in the middle of the last decade, with the two-seat F-2B replacing the T-2.

Commitment to Stealth Technology

The desire to abandon the original FS-X concepts for a cheaper alternative are understandable; even the realized F-2 program ran into cost overruns and became an expensive enterprise, receiving much criticism regarding government expenditure. Another possible reason why the FS-X program was reorganized was the realization that the F-22 would soon be operational with the USAF. The F-22 would be a far more effective stealth platform than the FS-X in any form, and perhaps the Japanese assumed that the Americans would make the F-22 available to them, particularly as part of a licence production agreement.

Unfortunately, Congress passed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , otherwise known as the Obey Amendment (after its chief sponsor, Rep. David R. Obey) which expressly forbade the export of the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor to any nation, including close allies - let alone the production of F-22s on foreign soil.

In response, the Japanese government commissioned the development of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , or Advanced Technology Demonstrator-eXperimental. As the name implies, it's merely a, well, technology demonstrator. The design itself is far too small for a viable combat aircraft (smaller than even the F-35 and with no room for a weapons bay) and the shape of the aircraft is not meant to reveal any definitive production planform behind it. Rather, it is meant to demonstrate the development of Japanese technologies that would then lead to a full "Gen 5" tactical stealth aircraft. You can think of it as being similar to how the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! demonstrated supersonic flight - in other word it's meant to show that, Yes, Japan can build a stealth fighter.

Depending on who you ask, that's exactly the point - the project is meant to show the Americans how silly their little Obey Amendment is and in the end it protects exactly nothing. There are no secrets to hide, because the Japanese have the technology to copy those exact same secrets without even needing direct observation - so Congress might as well just hand over those F-22s and be done with it. Congress has yet to agree to that logic, and very certainly never will.

Meanwhile, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter exists as a probable option. As the title "Joint Strike Fighter" implies, the F-35 is designed to defeat air, land, and sea-borne threats, which is exactly what the Japanese are looking for. The F-35 also fully possesses "Gen 5" stealth technology, though not to the extent of the F-22. Best of all, it's fully designed to be export-friendly from the get-go, being designed not by a single nation but by an international consortium much like the Eurofighter Typhoon. Indeed, very late in 2011 the Japanese !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to compliment their F-2 fleet (which had suffered attrition from tsunami damage), partially replace the F-15J and help replace whatever F-4EJs were remaining. Coming this late to the party means Japan will see F-35s pretty late, though Lockheed-Martin promises deliveries can be expedited now that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! There are also concerns about the F-35's performance against the latest versions of the Su-27, namely the Su-30MKK (that last "K" is particularly significant - it stands for "Kommercheskiy" i.e. "Commercial Export" i.e. "A Lot Of Our Potential Enemies Will Be Using These Things") and Su-35. And if nothing else, there's something about wanting one thing and getting the runner-up. The Japanese wanted the F-22. Perhaps the Japanese still wanted the F-22. And the Japanese have already demonstrated that they can make their own F-22 . The Japanese love making their own things because it means domestic jobs programs and fighting off the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . And now that they will be (partially) making their own F-35s, it's almost a matter of asking, "why not?"

This concept image taken from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! shows the 23DMU (2011 Digital Mock-Up) and 24(2012)DMU. The 23DMU appears to be an "ultimate evolution" of the ATD-X, while the 24DMU bears strong resemblance to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (which was turned down in favor of the Lockheed Martin F-22) and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! reports that interest in the development of an indigenous stealth fighter may still be strong. However, there's a little bit more into this story. Sweetman himself reports that these "digital mock-ups" (illustrated and captioned above) are, like the ATD-X, mostly demonstrative and theoretical and are apparently used to evaluate F-2 upgrades rather than an actual stealth design.

This image, also from The Dragon's Tales , reveals "23DMU" has having an extremely strong resemblance to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! prototype stealth fighter. "24DMU" appears to have a nearly perfect side planform matching the Sukhio T-50, especially the radome and canopy. China, which hopes to field the J21 as one of its two premiere stealth fighters, is (aside from North Korea) the nation Japan most anticipates having armed confrontation against. Both the J21 and T-50 are also meant for possible export, which in turn raises the possibility of Chinese-aligned or unaligned "Red Force"/"OPFOR" nations obtaining these aircraft. The resemblance to these two specific aircraft supports the theory that "23DMU" and "24DMU" are "virtual aggressor aircraft" and not representative of Japanese stealth aircraft efforts...but you never know.

A fantaciful image on an "ultimate ATD-X evolution" which also bears strong resemblance to the "23DMU" concept. More images are available at the source, which is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

The above video shows that, if nothing else, Japan has its share of warhawks who imagine easy victory over any aggressor (implied to be China due to the inclusion of Su-30s/J-11s and what's presumably the Chinese carrier Liaoning). It also features an enlarged, production derivative of the ATD-X (logically called "F-3" in the video), carrier-launched(!) F-35Cs and a tail-less delta-wing design that bares a very strong resemblance to the cancelled FB-22 strategic strike fighter, perhaps yet another "ultimate evolution" of the ATD-X optimized for heavy strike (a role the delta wing is well-suited for, hence the FB-22 being redesigned around it). This heavy strike fighter features almost comically large engine bulges, which not only imply stealthy "s-ducts" (hiding the engine fan blades, which when spinning at peak RPM have a RCS somewhere between that of Fenway Park and the Empire State Building) but also possibly particularly large weapons bays and/or fuel cells (especially as the rest of the aircraft appears flush on the bottom). !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! has further discussion, as does !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

sliding-sideways > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 11:22

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Writes about history of Japanese stealth, doesn't talk about ninjas.

SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) > sliding-sideways 12/21/2013 at 11:39

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No ninjas?

0/10 would not read again

KirkyV > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 11:41

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Well, that was a good read. I doubt the Japanese will actually develop their own stealth fighter, simply because the amount of money required would likely be rather hard to justify to the voters - though, I suppose the potential threat of China could change that - but still, it's an interesting possibility to consider. Hey, if they do, maybe we (the UK) could buy some! As is, we're kinda getting screwed over with the F-35 programme.

*grumble* operational sovereignty, breaking agreements *grumble*

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 11:41

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Good article, I actually learned a lot with it.

P.S.: Is Part 2 going to be about Iran?

desertdog5051 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 11:45

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Interesting post. Thanks.

Wave Motion Gun > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 11:59

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Great article. As a footnote, way back in 2007/2008, we were scrubbing the SCIFs on a regular basis for Japanese delegates to review the F-35 development facilities They've been eyeballing it for a good long while.

SirUno > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 12:10

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Now this was a very enjoyable article. Thanks for posting, and good job.

MTY85 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 12:55

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most of them taking the most straightforward option of buying it.

As opposed to the Chinese method of acquiring technology, which is just plain stealing it.

Jwend392 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 12:58

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Menebrio > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 13:12

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Might have hidden transformation capabilities...

cartapacio > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 13:35

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I would still choose a fast and nimble aircraft built just for one purpose, over a multipurpose stealth aircraft.

MoarVroom > Menebrio 12/21/2013 at 14:07

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Totally what I was thinking. And I wouldnt ever say it wouldnt ever be done.

M.L. Lapid > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 14:24

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-> I love Japan. And I'm still hoping for this:

^ Me and my wishful thinking... :P

vc-10 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 14:37

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I just don't understand why the US wouldn't sell F-22s to Japan. It's not like the Japanese would sell the technology on, or use it against the US. Same with selling stuff to any other country like Japan, such as Canada or the UK or wherever.

Matt White > Menebrio 12/21/2013 at 14:51

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Probably more like this.

BigGatorChris > KirkyV 12/21/2013 at 15:14

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The shit sandwich that is the F-35 program is going to leave a pretty nasty taste in the USAF's mouth too, when fourth gen fighters start falling out of the sky from overuse.

KirkyV > BigGatorChris 12/21/2013 at 15:21

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At least you'll be able to fix your own shiny new wastes of money. We're stuck relying on American software upgrade centres, despite having received assurances from the President - I think it was Bush at the time - prior to dropping $2.5 billion on the programme, that we'd be able to upgrade and maintain our own aircraft without US involvement. That's a lot of money to pay for fighters that we won't really own.

hawkeye18 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 15:54

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FWIW, when the US navy holds its war and training exercises, the enemy is always the Garnetians (from the Garnet coast), but up until about 2008 they always had Russian ships and Russian fighters. Now they all have Chinese ships and Chinese fighters.

Signs of the times.

ColdWarKid > vc-10 12/21/2013 at 17:44

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Other considerations aside, if one were shot down in action, it could end up in Chinese hands. This happened with the Kosovo F-117, the tech was considered compromised, and the entire program was shut down, the 117's now gathering dust in hangars. Imagine the waste of money if the entire F22 fleet had to be binned!

FelixScout > vc-10 12/21/2013 at 18:22

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Possibly due to the potential risk of losing one over Russia, North Korea, or China or close enough to one of those countries for the tech to become assimilated and countered or used. Is it likely that this would have happened, possibly, but the risk was there.

Omnislash79 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 19:03

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Older Model

hessen > Menebrio 12/21/2013 at 19:13

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When I was a kid, I thought they already have flying robots...

Mark Lipsinic > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 19:28

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Japan should have just purchased the Northrop YF-23.

ToastedTires > Menebrio 12/21/2013 at 20:41

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That's so 90s.

Oblivion Toad > Menebrio 12/21/2013 at 21:29

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Discussion of future Japanese stealth aircraft requires mention of the FAF, notably the FFR-41MR... B503 for instance...

Kat Callahan > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 21:45

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I agree with our prime minister on very little, but expanding our military resources within the boundaries of Article 9 of the Constitution is definitely one of the exceptions. I'm not particularly pleased with China's new air defense zone, and Russia has been intentionally pissing us off lately with flybys near Hokkaido and buzzing JMSDF ships as well as commercial boats.

I certainly want Japan to remain a defense-only military power—but I want us to be able to obliterate anything that comes knocking with hostile intent.

BTW, my favorite Japanese airplane is a trainer, the Kawasaki T-4:

scaramanga10 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 22:01

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Japan's stealth fighter (pictured on the right-most above) is positively miniature compared to the F22 and Russian PAK-FA and expected Chinese fighter(left-most). Its wingspan is nearly half the Russian and Chinese designs.

Conceptually, its more a Lotus of air supremacy jets. Its size would help its stealth capabilities and keep costs down, but its max takeoff weight is significantly less than other 5th gen planes.

The design speaks volumes to its purpose. Japan doesn't need to project itself over a large area, and its main purpose is defense. Keeping the plane small, light, fast, and maneuverable should help volumes in air-to-air combat.

FelixScout > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/21/2013 at 22:54

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The problem with any Japanese go-it-alone stealth gen 5 fighter is that unless they can market it to a wider audience or change the constitution to have larger fighter force the per unit cost is going to really high. As the second linked article states:

The F-2 program is just one of many minimally effective Japanese domestic aerospace development programs. In 2008 Japan cancelled its order of licence built (Fuji Heavy Industries) AH-64D Apaches from 62 to just 14 as each helicopter had a unit price of $85 million dollars; Boeing produced AH-64D's cost less than $30 million per unit. The Japanese defense industry is ill-suited to take on an aerospace mega project like the ATD-X. The Japanese military budget is limited to 1% of GDP meaning the ATD-X is doomed if past aerospace projects are any indication.

And this is a consistent feature across Japanese aviation projects: see the F-2 and the excellent Shin Meiwa PS-1/US-1 for other examples of this.

With this in mind we can see that a domestic attempt is not going to work at this time. Now if it's just to goad Congress into providing F-22's well I think the article said it well enough: "very certainly never will."

Though stranger things have happened.

MaxxCraves: > M.L. Lapid 12/21/2013 at 22:54

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Perhaps this island that China and Japan are feuding over is home to the wrecked hulk of a transdimensional space super fortress.

kArno > Mark Lipsinic 12/22/2013 at 00:00

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Yes, they are going to do just that as the Japanese Government just approved the military budget that included 28 new F-35 fighters, three drones, 52 amphibious vehicles, 17 Osprey hybrid choppers and five submarines from the US between 2014-2019...

kArno > M.L. Lapid 12/22/2013 at 00:01

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these are still awesome !

BigGatorChris > KirkyV 12/22/2013 at 02:32

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What's a few billion amongst friends? We're into this turdsicle for great big chunks of a t t ta TRILLION dollars. A maybe marginally stealth design that's going to require a sawzall to repair, because we were too smart to build service panels into it.

And I would think the cell phone companies would have you used to paying for hardware you don't own by now.

Seriously, be thankful you're only 10 figures deep and go buy some SuperBugs.

BigGatorChris > KirkyV 12/22/2013 at 02:33

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What's a few billion amongst friends? We're into this turdsicle for great big chunks of a t t ta TRILLION dollars. A maybe marginally stealth design that's going to require a sawzall to repair, because we were too smart to build service panels into it.

And I would think the cell phone companies would have you used to paying for hardware you don't own by now.

Seriously, be thankful you're only 10 figures deep and go buy some SuperBugs.

Sdwalt1 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/22/2013 at 04:11

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Excellent article.

hat213 > MTY85 12/22/2013 at 05:07

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So?

AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/22/2013 at 07:41

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It's a very old design...there's a cockpit for a human. FAIL!

vc-10 > FelixScout 12/22/2013 at 10:52

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And that couldn't happen to one of the USAF aircraft based in Japan or Korea? With the right safeguards I can't see what the risk is, unless they don't trust the Japanese (at which point it just begs the question why?)

vc-10 > ColdWarKid 12/22/2013 at 10:57

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The same goes for USAF aircraft stationed overseas (such as those in Korea and Japan)

FelixScout > vc-10 12/22/2013 at 16:32

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It certainly could happen but as a superpower and an arms exporter, especially an exporter for our allies, we haven't always shown the highest degree of trust to our friends. We frequently sell older marks or downrated versions of many of our primary arms, though not always. Also there seems to be a form of paranoia in that even when the US is flying F-22s out of Japan that it's regarded as somehow more secure than if we sold them to the Japanese. It's not logical in case like this but it seems to be the operational theory.

vc-10 > FelixScout 12/22/2013 at 19:55

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That's my point. There's no logical reason why the US shouldn't sell stuff to countries like Japan. It's paranoia.

Mark Lipsinic > kArno 12/23/2013 at 00:43

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YF-23 =/= F-35

Mark Lipsinic > AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs 12/23/2013 at 00:51

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GTFO

kArno > Mark Lipsinic 12/23/2013 at 05:30

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Yes, you are correct and that's as close as they are going to get :)

Frank Grimes > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 12/23/2013 at 21:42

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If I remember right these were pretty awesome too bad you couldnt use them very long. They should just build real ones.

FelixScout > vc-10 12/24/2013 at 02:31

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Exactly, but what could be done?

tomcatninja293 > vc-10 12/24/2013 at 10:07

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I know it's not like we ever sold F-14's to our allies in Iran only to have them turn on us...

vc-10 > tomcatninja293 12/24/2013 at 12:35

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Iran was an unstable dictatorship. Japan is not.

vc-10 > FelixScout 12/24/2013 at 12:39

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Stop being neurotic and sell the Japanese F-22s? They'll be expensive, and have strict restrictions on resale etc, but it would be a lot simpler in the long run.

FelixScout > vc-10 12/26/2013 at 14:32

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I agree but how do we overcome our defense/political neuroses? The Defense Dept is funded by Congressional voting, a group who become more recalcitrant and annoyed over funding approving such transfers.when advanced tech ends up in unapproved hands via our allies. I realize it is a great deal of political posturing but their actions are what sets the rules and permissions for such tech transfers.

vc-10 > FelixScout 12/29/2013 at 14:02

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Never expect politicians to come up with the easiest and most logical solution!

I'm not saying that it would ever happen, nor that I have any theories for persuading the morons in politics of all sides (and in all countries), but I'm saying that it should happen, and would be good if it did.

FelixScout > vc-10 12/30/2013 at 00:48

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I agree. And it would be a good idea as well. We'll see how things play out though.

RevCrowley > vc-10 01/25/2014 at 11:57

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Because if you sell them to Japan or any allied country, how can you not sell them to our "best" ally Israel? And if you sell them to Israel not only do you destabilize the entire mid-east, but you give the Israelis huge leverage to resist US pressure on peace settlements or what have you; Israel can threaten to share F22 tech with China.

Morgan Rock > ColdWarKid 01/27/2014 at 09:50

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We wouldn't bin the F-22 the same way we would the F-117. The F-117 was only useful because of the stealth technologies; it had no other redeeming features. It was slow, ungainly, and had a tremendously small payload. The F-22 is still useful even without stealth. It's tremendously fast, it's one of the most maneuverable aircraft ever built, it has great range, and it has great payload with external pylons.

I think it was ridiculously dumb to can the F-22. It's a cheaper, better fighter than the F-35.

Benovite > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 17:02

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While watching that swell Japanese CG promo video, did anyone else sense they really held back from adding REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR BITCHES in super large font across the screen?

Hienax > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/19/2014 at 14:55

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New Japanese stealth fighter
?w=640&h=480

thebigbossyboss > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/23/2014 at 15:23

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Could you possibly put these articles under there own key word code? was kinda hard to find part 1

Rami > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/24/2015 at 12:55

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If anyone in the Far East outside of China, would have the technological and financial resources to develop their own 5th gen fighter, it would be Japan. If they can’t pull it off, then no one can.

nestord > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/08/2015 at 19:09

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well if buying the F-35 counts as winning the race then yes, but the Chinese already tested two full size stealth fighter prototypes. I also just realized that this was posted in 2013, before any of that happened.