Japan stealth jet prototype set to fly whenever

[HavokFour]

Japan stealth jet prototype set to fly in 2014 eventually​

Read more...

TOKYO – Japan is looking to join the United States, China and Russia with a stealth fighter that senior Japanese air force officials say can be ready for a prototype test flight in just three years, significantly upping the ante in the intensifying battle for air superiority in the Pacific.

The prototype will likely be able to fly in 2014, Lt. Gen. Hideyuki Yoshioka, director of air systems development at Japan's Ministry of Defense, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He said Japan has put 39 billion yen ($473 million) into the project since 2009, after it became clear the United States was not likely to sell it the F-22 "Raptor" — America's most advanced fighter jet — because of a congressional export ban.

"We are two years into the project, and we are on schedule," Yoshioka said Monday.

Yoshioka stressed that a successful test flight of the prototype, dubbed "Shinshin," or "Spirit," does not mean Japan will immediately start producing stealth aircraft. The prototype is designed to test advanced technologies, and if it is successful the government will decide in 2016 how to proceed.

Japan is feeling the pressure of a regional dogfight over fighter superiority.

title changed to reflect current events

 

[HavokFour]

Mitsubishi ATD-X

 

[Veiledal]

are we sure those aren't just screen shots from top gun

 

[opp550]

Why build stealth fighters when you already have mechs, ninjas and Godzilla?

 

[CougarKing]

At least one source says the test flight date will be in January 2015. Let's wait and see how this turns out...

Defense News

When Will Japan's Prototype Fighter Fly?
Aug. 16, 2014 - 10:55AM  |  By AARON MEHTA and AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
WASHINGTON AND TOKYO — When will Japan’s ATD-X indigenous stealth fighter prototype make its first flight? Hard to tell.

The consortium that is developing the jet is planning a test flight for January, according to an Aug. 12 report in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. But the following day, a spokesman for Japan’s Defense Ministry told IHS Janes that the organization, led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has “not firmed up” when the first flight will occur.

The Mainichi Shimbun report, which did not cite sources, said the jet’s first flight would be followed by about two years of Defense Ministry testing. Tokyo would decide whether to buy the plane by early 2019, it said. The report also said that about ¥39.2 billion ($384 million) has been spent on the ATD-X so far.

Given Japan’s traditional security alliance with the US, some question whether the country will really shell out the funds to develop a boutique jet fleet.

“So far, it’s just a demonstrator, and it’s far from clear that the country will provide the tens of billions of dollars needed to create a producible fighter,” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group. “They have the technology, or they can buy it. It’s just a question of resources.”

The ATD-X is designed to fill the role of the US F-22, which shut down production before any potential international partners could buy it. Japan has signed on as a foreign military sales customer for the American-led F-35 joint strike fighter, the next-generation fighter of choice for the US Air Force, Marines and Navy and 10 other countries.

(...EDITED)

Meanwhile...

Japanese MoD denies reports of 2015 first flight for ATD-X prototype

[IHS Janes] - 12 August 2014

Officials have refused to confirm when the ATD-X is scheduled to take its maiden flight. Source: TRDI

<snipped>

The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD)'s Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have both dismissed news reports that the Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) fighter prototype will make its maiden flight in January 2015.

The ATD-X fighter is being built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in co-operation with the Japanese Ministry of Defense's Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI). (TRDI)

<snipped>

The ATD-X, also known as 'Shinshin' meaning 'Spirit of the heart', is being built by MHI's plant at Komaki Minami in Nagoya. It has been designed to be a stealthy air-superiority fighter with enhanced manoeuvrability. The MoD will use it to research advanced technologies and system integration, after which it plans to produce a 'sixth-generation' fighter encompassing i3 (informed, intelligent and instantaneous) concepts and counter-stealth capabilities.

Meanwhile, the TRDI on 12 August released four photographs of the ATD-X taken on 8 May. In the images, some parts of the landing gear and exhaust slots have been blurred.

The ATD-X prototype will be used to assess whether to move ahead with an indigenous 'sixth-generation' fighter to replace the Mitsubishi F-2. (TRDI)
-

The prototype is being built at MHI's Komaki Minami plant in Nagoya. (TRDI)

 

[George Wallace]

001

Deja vu of the Avro Arrow roll-outs.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Looks like an updated and stealthier version of Mitsubishi's F-15 model.

Accounting for the engines, I don't see any room for internally carried "bullets". That would cut down on stealth by itself, would it not?

 

[CougarKing]

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed since the prototype still hasn't flown yet?

Janes

Japan's ATD-X first flight delayed by software glitch

IHS Jane's 360 | 8 January 2015

Japan's Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) fighter test platform will not fly until at least late 2015 due to issues with the software that controls automatic engine restarts, according to officials at the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The first test flight was scheduled to take placebefore the end of the current financial year in March, but the problems affecting the engine control unit (ECU) will require several months to resolve, the officials said.

The ECU is a critical safety and power management system that automatically reactivates an engine if it shuts down in flight.

MoD officials said that the current issue is a software fault. Rather than using existing off-the-shelf systems, much of the technology installed in the ATD-X was developed especially for the project and so solutions need to be developed from scratch, contributing to the current delay.

MoD officials expect work on the ECU to take several months, but due to the experimental nature of the work required the true scale of the delay is unknown.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

funny how the forward landing gear cover and opening/sensor on the top are fuzzed out.

 

[CougarKing]

First flight hopefully this summer?

National Interest

Watch Out, China: Japan Readies Test of New Stealth Fighter Jet

Japan is preparing to test its first ever domestically built stealth fighter jet, Chinese and Taiwanese media are reporting.

“The highly anticipated F-3, Japan's first domestically-made stealth jet, is aiming to conduct test flights this summer,” the Taiwan-based Want China Times reported, citing a story in the PLA Daily, the official publication of the Chinese military.

Japan has been building a prototype stealth fighter as part of its advanced technology demonstrator-experimental (ATD-X) program. Some of the first images of the prototype were first published on the web last year.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

An update:

Anticipation grows for February:

Diplomat

Japan’s 5th Generation Stealth Fighter to Make Maiden Flight in Early 2016

According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, the maiden flight will be preceded by taxiing and ground trials.
L1001025
By Franz-Stefan Gady
January 04, 2016


Japan’s Ministry of Defense Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI) announced that a prototype of Tokyo’s first indigenously-designed fifth-generation air superiority fighter, the Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin, will make its maiden flight in February 2016, according to Japanese media reports.

Prior to its first test-flight, the aircraft will undergo extensive taxiing and ground trials at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries testing center located in Aichi Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu. From there the fighter prototype is expected to fly to Gifu Air Field, an airbase of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, situated in the neighboring prefecture of Gifu sometime in February.

The principal objective of the ATD-X Shinshin program is to develop a research prototype aircraft an–“advanced technology demonstration unit” to test the capacity of Japan’s defense industry to develop, among other things, a powerful fighter engine and various other indigenous stealth fighter aircraft technologies.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

The ATD-X as the replacement for Japan's F-2/licensed home-built F16?

Defense Industry Daily

Lockheed & Mitsubishi’s F-2 Fighter may be replaced with ATD-X
Feb 12, 2016
The F-2’s increased range is very useful to Japan, given their need to cover large land and maritime areas. Nevertheless, a combination of design decisions and meddling from Washington ensured that these fighters ended up costing almost as much as a twin-engine F-15J Eagle, without delivering the same performance. As a result, production ended early, and the 2011 tsunami made Japan’s fleet even smaller. The remaining fleet will continue to receive upgrades, in order to keep them combat capable for many years to come. ...

Mitsubishi’s AAM-4B active-seeker medium range air-to-air missile is being added, along with a radar upgrade to APG-2 status. Together, they’ll give the F-2 the ability to attack multiple aerial opponents from medium range. They’ll also allow the fighters to fire and leave, if desired, instead of having to close into visual range while providing a radar lock for the AIM-7 Sparrow. ...

At least 18 F-2s were damaged in the 2011 tsunami, leaving a reduced fleet. That fleet will continue to receive upgrades, including upgrades to their Japanese radars, improved missiles, avionics improvements, and other required upgrades over time. Japan is also moving to try and rehabilitate and upgrade up to 13 of the 18 damaged planes.

Plus here's info on the progress on repairing tsunami-damaged F-2s on these links: US Air Force, Japan MOD

 

[CougarKing]

An update:

Diplomat

Japan’s New 5th Generation Stealth Fighter Jet Doing Well in Tests

The aircraft will have its first test-flight in a few weeks, according to Japanese officials.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
March 10, 2016

Japan’s new Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA) revealed that tests of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries experimental fifth-generation fighter technology demonstrator (ATD-X), now dubbed X-2 and unofficially named ‘ShinShin,’ are proceeding according to plan.

In an email to Flight Global, an ATLA representative said that the “[t]he aircraft is performing well so far. We are proceeding with tests, performing very careful maintenance, and making some minor adjustments.” ATLA did not divulge additional details. The tests are taking place at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries testing center, located in Aichi Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu.


(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

Now that they've finally done it, the next question that needs to be asked is whether they will mass produce it as opposed to the F-35?

Aviationist

Japan’s X-2 “Shinshin” indigenous stealth jet makes first flight
Apr 22 2016 -
By David Cenciotti
The first Japanese stealth jet made its maiden flight.

The first prototype of  the indigenous stealth war plane that Japan Air Self-Defense Force will operate in the air defense role, replacing the ageing Mitsubishi F-2, made its first flight on Apr. 22 from Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works airport, part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries facilities.

Previously designated Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X), the X-2, serialled 51-0001, is developed by the Japanese Ministry of Defense Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI), the agency that has been working on the “Shinshin” (“spirit of the heart,” an early codename within the Japan Self Defense Force) for research purposes for more than a decade.


(...SNIPPED)