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Showing posts with the label Japanese Mitsubishi ATD-X

Revealed: Japan’s First Stealth Fighter( Source- The National Interest / Author- Rodrigo Ugarte)

Mitsubishi X-2 Stealth Fighter ( Credits- Wikimedia Commons / Hunini) Source- The National Interest Author-  Rodrigo Ugarte Mitsubishi’s X-2 stealth demonstrator jet took off on the morning of April 22, propelling Japan into the stealth age. Designed to test new technologies, chief among them low observability, the X-2 marks Japan’s entry into an exclusive club shared by only a handful of nations. Years from now, the aircraft could also evolve into a frontline stealth fighter as Tokyo aims for a technological leap past China — which can count on superior numbers of warplanes in any future conflict. Previously called the Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X), X-2 took off from Nagoya Airport and flew for 26 minutes to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force base in Gifu. Japan’s Ministry of Defense unveiled the X-2 on Jan. 28. Overseeing the project is the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, a branch of the Defense Ministry that incorporated

Will Japan's Sixth-Gen Fighter Dominate Beijing's J-20? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Dave Majumdar)

Model of Japanese ATD-X Fifth Gen Fighter Aircraft ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Hunini) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar Japan has opened talks with Western defense contractors—including Lockheed Martin and Boeing—to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter. Tokyo is locked in a regional dogfight with Beijing to maintain control over the skies over the Sea of Japan. The new Japanese aircraft could be based in part on the technologies being matured on Mitsubishi’s X-2 ATD-X stealth fighter concept demonstrator. The X-2 prototype is set to take to the skies for the first time in days, reports Reuters. “They have begun exploratory engagement to look at our capabilities,” a source with a Western defense contractor told the news agency. “There is no policy decision and no program of record for the next fighter. There is only some discussion that, logically, there will be a fighter at some point.” Japan needs to replace i

Japan Unveils New 5th Generation Stealth Fighter Jet ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Franz Stefan-Gady)

Japanese ATD-X ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Hunini) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan-Gady This Thursday, Japan’s new Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency revealed the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Advanced Technology Demonstrator – Experimental (ATD-X) fifth-generation fighter technology demonstrator, now dubbed X-2 and unofficially named ‘ShinShin,’ to the media at a heavily guarded hangar at a regional airport near the city of Komaki, in Aichi Prefecture. It has previously been showcased once already in May 2014. The X-2 is the country’s first domestically produced full-scale test model—a technology demonstrator—of a new indigenous stealth fighter jet design, which has been under development at a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plant in Toyoyama since 2009, with total program costs estimated at 39.4 billion yen (around $331 million). The aircraft—an “advanced technology demonstration unit,” according to the Defense Technical Research and Devel

Who Will Win Asia's Fifth-Generation Fighter Race? ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Benjamin David Baker)

Chengdu J-20 ( Image credits- Xinhua) Source- The Diplomat Author- Benjamin David Baker Tensions are rising high throughout the Asia-Pacific. From the Indo-Pakistani border, through Australia’s controversial border policies to China’s disputes with its neighbors in the South and East China Seas, Asian states have been increasing investments in their military capabilities. In all these cases, having forceful and credible aerial assets is a crucial part of deterrence. This is reflected in regional defense spending. Meanwhile, the world is facing a generational shift in military aircraft. Since the final decade of the Cold War, the skies have been dominated by so-called “fourth-generation” combat aircraft: supersonic jets with increasingly sophisticated electronic capabilities, equipped with weaponry able to engage the enemy over several kilometers distance. These still make up the backbone of basically every modern air force around the world. However, several states