Is This Japan's Secret Stealth Fighter?

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 06/15/2014 at 13:29 • Filed to: Planeopnik, Stealth Fighters, F-35, Foxtrot Alpha

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The following image, which is sourced from David Cenciotti of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (in turn claimed to be from "Chinese Internet," the catchall usual suspects of anonymous aero-defense news) purports to be a manned flying prototype of the Mitsubishi ATD-X, a stealth demonstrator leading the way for Japan's effort to build its own F-22 or F-35-like Stealth Fighter.

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Japan's Air Self-Defense Force is an ideal candidate for stealth fighters and consequently the government feels highly vested in fielding a fleet not only with stealth capability but capability (stealth and otherwise) near or at parity with the U.S. Because U.S. Congress has blocked any and all exports of the F-22 to anybody, including our closest allies, it's become in the best interest for the Japanese !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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In many ways, the defense situation of Japan isn't much different from that of Canada, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Ideally, a fighter for either nation must have long range and twin-engine redundancy; although the tightly packed and population-dense nation of Japan lacks the sheer land mass of Canada, its extensive coastlines and over-water Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) mean very long and exhaustive fighter patrols over open ocean where rescue is dependent on emergency flotation equipment and rations that must last until an allied vessel or helicopter arrives. Also like Canada, the mission profile JASDF fighters typically undertake (especially their anti-ship strike fighters) leave them more vulnerable to bird strikes than what USAF fighters typically experience, especially along the coast (the JASDF's current principal strike fighter, the F-16 derived F-2, has a strengthened wind screen to better resist bird strikes). Unlike Canada, Japan's geographic proximity to North Korea, Russia and especially the People's Republic of China means there's a much greater chance of Japan being involved in an actual shooting war - and very close, if not directly over, their own territory no less. All three countries have some pretty big beef to pick with Japan over WWII - yes, nearly 70 years after that conflict ended. In the case of Russia, they argue that the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which are in extremely close proximity to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , rightfully belong to them as what should be recognized by treaty and war reparations. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Chinese, meanwhile, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . And like the Russians, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! such as military exercises near strategically important reefs claimed by the Philippines. With a history of military dictatorships lead by mad men (and not the 60s marketing executive types either, but ones with nuclear weapons) North Korea is a potentially destabilizing wild card and a rational and diplomatically-negotiable motivation to kick off a shooting war is not necessarily needed for "Dear Leader" Kim-jong Un.

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This means that, unlike Canada, the question for Japan is whether or not the F-35 represents too little capability instead of not enough. In either case, Japan has committed to the F-35 program, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (especially compared to North Korea and their extremely antiquated and short-ranged air fleet). However, the same fiscal problems that have plagued Canada's F-35 purchase (and the program as a whole) !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Japan also has economic interests in indigenous fighter development - it's no secret that a major motivation of Japan's postwar weapons development relates to jobs programs (which many feel is a major factor in their disproportionate and ballooning costs compared to Western defense programs, even with the F-35 included) and a Japanese stealth fighter in the F-35 class would likely be highly attractive in the export market, something Japanese defense firms are also highly interested in.

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So it's only surprising if Japan were to suddenly decide to completely suspend stealth fighter development. At the very least, it would give them an "insurance" program if the F-35 program goes belly-up or otherwise becomes unfeasible for their defense needs; if it develops into a twin-engine medium or large fighter closer to the F-22 class, it would give them a valuable "high" component to the F-35's "low" mix with presumably high acceleration rates and a large weapons bay for quick interception of enemy nuclear bombers as well as a potential and very useful secondary anti-ship capability.

special_k_side > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 15:14

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I face-palmed when I heard about Canada picking the F-35. The F-18 was picked because it had 2 engines, and could fly quite well with only 1. This was mandated in the RFP. Then all of a sudden the single engine F-35 gets picked to replace it? It's like your 16 year old asking for an Audi RS-8 for his first car, instead of a trusty old and tough one. Great article BTW.

JJHeavyChevy1990 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 15:18

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wait how did they get a picture of it in stealth mode? Lol

cesariojpn > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 15:20

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Hopefully they figure out not to rely heavily on homicidal computer programs to run things.

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

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My intel supplied me a close-up shot of it in its other mode.

techinsanity2011 > cesariojpn 06/15/2014 at 15:24

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Homicidal computer programs, huh?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 15:26

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This is just a cover for their Gundam program.

LongbowMkII > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 15:29

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The stealth plane is bright white and red?

If not... damn theyre good.

cesariojpn > techinsanity2011 06/15/2014 at 15:32

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Sharon Apple > HAL

ToastedTires > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 15:35

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long range and twin engine do not work well together. Possible, sure, but at exponential cost. The YF-16 had a range or more than 2300 miles on internal fuel.

sevenspokes > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 16:21

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will turn from this:

to this:

NeutronStar73 > ToastedTires 06/15/2014 at 16:22

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I don't think so, Dude. The YF-16 would run out of gas well before 2300 miles on internal fuel. No way.

Tyler Rogoway > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 16:23

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The image quality sucks so we really don't know exactly what lineage this thing could be from or if it's just a mockup. That being said maybe it could be China's much teased low observable model of their JF-17 export fighter?

kschang > cesariojpn 06/15/2014 at 16:28

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I dunno, looks like Japan's version of F-16XL to me. They already built a "SuperFalcon", I guess they can build the XL versio too. With a bit of RAM and replace the straight tail with a V-tail, it can be quite decently stealthy.

cesariojpn > kschang 06/15/2014 at 16:34

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Doctor-G-and-the-wagen > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 16:34

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Things are gonna get really crazy once they finish the other two fighters.

Tyler Rogoway > NeutronStar73 06/15/2014 at 16:37

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The F-16XL I believe had a ferry range on internal fuel of something like that.

kschang > cesariojpn 06/15/2014 at 16:40

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pisswizard69 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 16:54

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you don't paint 'secret' fighters with bright red tails and leave them sitting out on tarmacs during the day. with the friggen radome off, no less.

it may still be a prototype, but its hardly 'secret' at this point.

rxe7en > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 16:58

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Amazing stealth tech! Makes their fighter look like a shmoe carrying a bag!

ToastedTires > NeutronStar73 06/15/2014 at 16:59

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it had a longer range than the F-15. It's fuel efficiency if you will was .39 miles per pound of fuel and internally it could carry over 6000 pounds of it. Production models were 25% heavier and range was much less, even with tanks.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 17:01

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Macross did it right.

Willie Sherman did nothing wrong, except stop > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura 06/15/2014 at 17:10

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That's from Ace Combat not Macross.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > Willie Sherman did nothing wrong, except stop 06/15/2014 at 17:11

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.. Dur.

It's made by the guy who made Macross.

Dumpster4 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 17:17

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The US refused to sell F-22s to Japan after the AEGIS scandal:

https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/ar…

https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/a…

So the Japanese had to settle for the F-35, though now they have their eye on developing an F-22-type aircraft of their own, hence the ATD-X:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/asian-sk…

Not sure if they'll succeed, since stealth aircraft are challenging & expensive to develop, build & maintain. But the Japanese won't give up on the dream:

http://theaviationist.com/2013/08/12/fut…

Check the videos in the last 2 links. They're rather cool.

EDIT:

One of the videos in the last link was deleted, I think this is it:

The delta-wing F-3E looks really nifty.

Esquire27 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 17:20

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I think you mean Hokkaido, not Kyushu...Kyushu is the southernmost of the four big islands.

KuroiNasakari > cesariojpn 06/15/2014 at 17:21

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Oh god I forgot how much I loved that anime

Kay Inoue > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 17:22

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The Kuril Islands are off the northeast coast of Hokkaido Island, near Sakhalin. Not Kyushu, which is in the South-west most main island of Japan...

AbCd121 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 17:26

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How many f-35s are the Japanese thinking of buying?

Tyler Rogoway > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 17:31

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Japan is known to procure aircraft that are wildly more expensive than readily available alternatives for technology capture and to support the Iron Triangle, hence the F-2. This aircraft will be more F-20 Tigershark/F-16 than F-15/F-22. So see it as a true stealthy light fighter, not an F-22 or F-35 analogue if it ever makes it to production which considering the investment in F-35, may be doubtful.

But really this could be a mockup of anything, even for a movie, or it could be the Chinese stealthier version of the JF-17

AMDX1325 > KuroiNasakari 06/15/2014 at 17:32

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What anime is this?

grom-commando > cesariojpn 06/15/2014 at 17:38

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Yukikazi was What I thought of first.

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/2013/0…

cesariojpn > KuroiNasakari 06/15/2014 at 17:49

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Lucky Harmony Gold didn't rape Macross Plus.

cesariojpn > AMDX1325 06/15/2014 at 17:53

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross_P…

lastresortasicantmakeanothername > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 18:04

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So this is why there isn't a new Mitsubishi evo being released.

Too busy making stealth jets

the_talker > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 06/15/2014 at 19:08

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I would be scared to go into battle and seeing a gundam fucking shit up. Boots on deck won't be able to do shit.

BigGatorChris > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 19:12

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Good. Let's hope they have the capacity to replace all of our 4th gen fighters, whose wings are going to be falling off long before the F-35 is ready.

RikRacer > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 19:25

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I always find it interesting that, despite today's technology in cameras, all pics of "secret" stuff (especially UFO's) are fuzzy, poor quality images. Even a basic cell phone would take a better picture than that.

TimF101 > special_k_side 06/15/2014 at 19:37

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I would love if the F-35 turned out as effective and well engineered as an Audi RS8. It looks more like we will get an engine-swapped Delorean for the price of a Veyron.

ramajastang > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 19:37

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probably a movie prop or a mock up of something from an anime for promotional purposes.

Count Smorkula > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 19:41

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Kyushu's at the other end of Japan, close(ish) to Okinawa and Senkakus and such. Kurils are near Hokkaido.

Frost Holman > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 20:02

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This is much better news than the 2015 Outlander Sport. Do it big Mitsubishi!!!

Canofminus > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 20:03

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They can only be piloted by 13 year old girls in skin tight flight suits.

special_k_side > TimF101 06/15/2014 at 20:08

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Well said, yet so nicely evil! :)

LTP544 > Dumpster4 06/15/2014 at 20:49

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...thanks for posting, pretty cool!

dodgycookies > Dumpster4 06/15/2014 at 21:15

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Well if congress won't let them have 22's, they should buy the rest of the Northrop/mcdonnell f 23 program and finish the development I always liked how it looked over the 22. Though they would have to get both boeing and grumman involved at this point.

Yuni Kitadai > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 21:21

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Quick, you need to edit you article!!! Kyushu(Southern Japan) is no where near the Kuril Islands. They are near Hokkaido (Northern Japan) This is like mistaking Alaska for Florida...

Yuni Kitadai > Tyler Rogoway 06/15/2014 at 21:26

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Yes, the image quality sucks "too much for a picture assumed to be taken in modern day Japan" I call shenanigans.

Yuni Kitadai > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/15/2014 at 21:48

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C'mon man, this is stealth 101, if it really was a stealth fighter, we wouldn't actually see it now would we? Wonder Woman FTW!

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > otaconmutasim 06/15/2014 at 21:49

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I had one of these.

KirkyV > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 06/15/2014 at 23:59

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Looks more like an early prototype of their Valkyrie programme to me.

BernieMacPlaneDude > Tyler Rogoway 06/16/2014 at 02:00

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Not necessarily as for expensive combat equipment. The Japaneese have a practical way of thinking and spending. For them, why spend loads of money in developing combat equipment if there is something out in the world today that has proven itself. They want something with little to no investment in the development costs of military hardware. A good example of this is the American F16. Without a doubt, there are not many fighters in the world today that can out manuever this combat aircraft nor have its capability in its multirole purpose. That is why the Japaneese based the F2 off the F16 platform.

On that note, Lockheed helped sponsor and build 60% of this aircraft in Japan and 40% in the US. Japan wanted a fighter but the majority of it had to be built in their homeland. After much negociating with money and technologies exchanges (Japaneese Stealth and American Avionic Techonologies ), Japan was willing to enter this partnership on that premise. In turn, this later helped the US develope the F22 and F35 fighters with significantly smaller (stealthier) radar signatures (stealth capable aircraft of today do not look like the Whoblin' Goblin F117A of 20 years go!). Also with the help of some US avionic companies, the Japaneese were able to develop specific avionic packages in support of the combat capability they are looking for. Overall, it's like this. The US sells them something or a base of it. The Japaneese tweaks and perfects it.

Along those lines, you may ask how do I know this? My former college professor at National American University in Albuquerque, NM was the head of that aircraft program in Dallas, TX prior to retiring from Lockheed.

As for the possible stealth plane built in Japan, it could be one. Japan likes to "home" build things even if plans come from outside its country. They already have the technology to do so and with China flexing their "War-Machine" muscles, this makes them want to protect themselves even more.

Tyler Rogoway > BernieMacPlaneDude 06/16/2014 at 02:58

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Have to disagree, practical way of spending when it comes to weapons systems and Japanese in the same sentence? Japan got little improvement in the F-2 over the F-16, the F-2 cost over $150M per copy when the R&D is rolled in! Hardly buying something off the shelf as that is the cost of close to 4 vipers per one jet and the much touted radar has never worked properly and for years was worthless. http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/f…

Simplify, then add beer > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/16/2014 at 03:33

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That is just Japanese swamp gas. Move along please...

Bricks > RikRacer 06/16/2014 at 07:01

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related

willkinton247 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/16/2014 at 09:12

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I don't know if anyone has pointed this out, but that nose cone looks just like a MiG-21s.

Diesel > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 06/16/2014 at 09:22

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Oppo Gundam Style......

JDawg > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/16/2014 at 14:41

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Japan has a long post-war history of producing native versions of advanced Western designs, as well as producing unique products for their defense forces. This is partly the result of constitutional restrictions and partly to maintain indigenous industries. It would seem unlikely that Japan would reinvent the wheel with regards to the F-35, which they have committed to buying. More likely is that they are developing follow on native technologies, or, as speculated in this blog, creating an F-22 equivalent replacement for their long range, multi-role, F-15 fleet.

Anon > cesariojpn 06/16/2014 at 20:12

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Congrats, you've made me interested in macross.

veggieburglar > willkinton247 06/17/2014 at 17:22

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Looks to me like the final nose cone is not yet in place.

Richa Malik > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 06/06/2019 at 04:44

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