By 2035, new fighter jets have been promised to Japanese pilotsUnlike many of Washington's allies, Tokyo firmly pursues a special military-technical policy.
Within its framework, it not only buys the best samples of weapons, military and special equipment (VVST) American production (and necessarily with revision, often very significant, under national requirements), but in the most critical areas develops its own samples.
The latter usually turn out to be significantly more expensive in production, since we are talking about relatively small batches of VVST. But this allows Japan to maintain and improve the competence of its specialists in the development of the main classes of weapons and maintain its own military industry at a high technological and production level.
A striking example of this approach is the purchase of a large – about one and a half hundred cars – batch of American aircraft of the 5th generation of the F-35 Lightning II family (105 F-35A aircraft and 42 F-35B shortened takeoff and vertical landing aircraft). And at the same time, the program of creating a new generation fighter by its own forces is being implemented.
TOKYO REMAINS WITHOUT THE RAPTORWork on this topic began in Japan at the end of the last century.
In 1994, work started on the technology demonstrator TD-X (Technology Demonstrator eXperimental, "Technology Demonstrator experimental"), which became the first step towards a real fighter of a new generation, designed to replace the entire fleet of fighter aircraft of the National Air Force in the new millennium.
The development of the aircraft was carried out by specialists of the Institute of Technical Research and Development (TRDI) of the Ministry of Defense of Japan and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). It was assumed that the TD-X, the cost of creating which, including a new aircraft engine and avionics and aviation missile systems, was estimated at a gigantic sum even for Japan – about $ 1 billion, would be lifted into the air already in 2000.
A number of samples and technologies developed during this program had the status of advanced ones. These include a "smart" skin, which should have included a special antenna with a synthesized aperture (or rather, a whole set of mini-antennas), and a new "self-repairing" electric control system SRFCC (Self Repairing Flight Control Capability), which should, in case of combat damage to the aircraft, promptly assess their degree and possible consequences, and then give commands that correct the operation of all onboard systems.
In order to increase the reliability and security of such a system, all information in the course of its operation should be transmitted only over high-speed fiber-optic communication lines. In the fall of 2016, a prototype of such an aircraft control system, designated L1, was successfully tested by specialists of the American Research Laboratory of Advanced Control Systems at the University of Illinois at Edwards Air Force Base.
Later, the program budget also included the cost of purchasing a special aerobatic stand from MHI, with the help of which TRDI specialists planned to work out new concepts of air combat for the wars of the new millennium.
For several years, work on TD-X continued, but not too actively. And the reason for this is not only a reduction in funding. Tokyo still had a glimmer of hope to receive from Washington a multifunctional fighter F-22A "Raptor" – the world's first combat aviation complex of the 5th generation. This would allow Japan to adopt a ready-made machine, gain access to critical technologies and save significantly.
But negotiations on the F-22A dragged on, and in the mid-noughties Tokyo decided to step up work on the creation of the TD-X. He had to confirm the competence of local aircraft manufacturers. But a certain version of the Raptor, modified to meet the requirements of the Japanese, had to be put into service in large quantities.
A promising combat vehicle, in which it was planned to widely use technology to reduce visibility, was assigned the designation ATD-X "Shinsin" (Shinshin, in Japanese - "Spirit" or "Soul", sometimes in domestic sources use the variant "Soul of the nation"). ATD-X is an abbreviation of Advanced Technology Demonstrator – eXperimental ("Advanced Technology Demonstrator experimental"). Later, the designation of the car was changed to X-2 "Sinsin". The main contractor for the project was the company MHI.
In 2005-2007, during the preliminary study of the project, MHI specialists performed a large amount of work, including measures to assess the level of radar visibility of the future machine, and also conducted "flight tests" of a large-scale (1:5) model of the aircraft.
If the latter were carried out in Japan, the measurements of the effective scattering surface area took place in 2005 at the French military radio-electronic test site "Solange" of the Research Center for Combat Radio Equipment (CELAR; since 2009 – the Center for Information Technology) of the General Delegation for Armament of the French Ministry of Defense (DGA). The landfill in the Bruse commune of the Rennes arrondissement of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, according to foreign experts, is the largest indoor research center carrying out work in this area.
"STEALTH" IN SAMURAI STYLEFor the first time, detailed information about the ATD-X project, carried out as part of a larger program to create a new generation F-X combat air complex, was made public in the summer of 2007.
The appearance and overall layout of the promising machine, which initially appeared to be a single-seat, in many ways resembled the F-22A Raptor. But its weight and size characteristics were less by about 40% in size and almost three times in take-off weight. At the same time, the layout of the aircraft (presented after the Paris Airshow in 2008 at Japan Aerospace, where its full-size layout was already exhibited) allowed for significant volume reserves, and the cabin design was suitable for a crew of two pilots.
A feature of the aircraft was the widespread use of composites (up to 30% of the mass of the machine) and a number of components from other models of combat aircraft (from the combat training aircraft T-2 got the chassis and brake hook, and from the training T-4 - the glazing of the cockpit lamp and the ejection seat of the pilot).
It was assumed that the car would be equipped with a new two-circuit turbojet engine with an afterburner XF5–1. The latter was created specifically for a new car in Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (since 2007 – IHI Corporation) and was supposed to provide a long cruise flight at supersonic. It was planned that with a mass of 622 kg, a length of 3 m and a maximum diameter of 0.6 m, the engine would have thrust at a forced mode of about 5000 kgf. As a result, the dry weight of the engine increased to 644 kg, but it confirmed the estimated high efficiency.
The main distinguishing feature of the new engine was the installation of an all-angle thrust vector control system on it, which is represented by three special heat-resistant controlled surfaces installed immediately after the nozzle cut and allowing differential deflection of the jet stream. Such a scheme was implemented on the American experimental supermaneuverable X-31A aircraft, built by order of the US Defense Advanced Development Agency (DARPA) by Rockwell and MBB at the end of the twentieth century. The engines are controlled at the same time by means of a special integrated control system IFPC (Integrated Flight Propulsion Control).
According to information published on January 28, 2015 on the Flightglobal website, work on improving the maneuverability of combat aircraft through the introduction of a thrust vector control system was started in Japan back in fiscal year 2000. Then the specialists of the 3rd TRDI Laboratory began to implement an eight-year research special program. Within the framework of it, the possibilities of all-angle control of the thrust vector of engines, reducing the visibility of the aircraft in different ranges, creating a flight control system with the possibility of self-healing in case of combat damage to the machine, etc. were studied.
As for the promising serial fighter of the new generation, a more powerful engine can be used for it. It is developed by IHI Corporation and has thrust at a forced mode of approximately 15,000 kgf. The prototype of the engine, designated XF9–1, was presented in June 2018.
FLIGHT OF THE "SOUL"It was planned to create a new engine and a set of avionics (avionics) in 2009, in 2010 - to complete the assembly of the first flight model, in 2011 – to begin a test program, and no later than 2017 to begin serial production of the 5th generation fighter.
However, it was not possible to fulfill this schedule, and besides, negotiations with the United States on the supply of the F-22A finally failed: American parliamentarians categorically refused to lift the ban on the export of this aircraft introduced in 1998. In addition, in 2009, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who had previously stated the low importance of Raptors for the wars of the new generation, announced a decision to stop the purchase of these machines soon. In 2011, the serial production of the F-22A was stopped.
Tokyo had no choice but to make every effort to create its own fighter. At the first stage, it was planned to build a technology demonstrator aircraft and conduct its flight tests. And already based on the results of this stage, make a decision on the development of a new generation fighter that can be adopted.
The scale of the work can be estimated by this fact. As Aviation Week & Space Technology weekly pointed out on January 11, 2010, work on the ATD-X project accounted for about a third of the total man-hours spent on military aircraft throughout Japan.
Initially, despite the issuance of a contract to IHI Corporation for the development of a new engine, the Japanese side also considered the possibility of installing foreign engines on the aircraft being created – but with the maximum degree of transfer of critical technologies and localization of production. In early 2010, a number of foreign companies received requests from Tokyo to provide technical and financial information on this topic.
Computer image of a promising fighter of the Land of the Rising Sun. Illustration from the website www.mod.go.jp As Leuthen Francis pointed out in the weekly Flight International for May 4-10, 2010, requests were sent to General Electric (for the F404 engine for the F/A-18 Hornet family), Snecma (M88-2 for Rafale fighters) and Volvo Aero (RM12 for the JAS-39 Gripen fighter).
The Indian Kaveri (GTX-35VS Kaveri), developed by GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment) for the Tejas fighter, was also considered as a contender.
The engines were supposed to have a thrust of 10-20 thousand pounds (approximately 4536-9072 kgf), and their purchase was planned for two pilot aircraft at once. "The decision to explore the possibility of installing foreign engines on prototypes is probably part of an effort to give IHI more time and provide greater confidence that the entire program is being implemented as planned," Francis wrote. But in the end, the XF5-1 engine was put on the Xingxing.
For a number of reasons, including the global crisis of 2008, work on ATD-X was not as active as planned. The program budget for fiscal year 2008 was reduced from 49.9 billion yen requested by TRDI to just 7 billion (about $66 million at the exchange rate at that time). As a result, the customer signed a contract with the developer to build the first car only at the end of 2011. The construction of the second prototype was abandoned altogether.
The main contractor under the contract was MHI, which was responsible for the fuselage and final assembly of the machine at its facility in Aichi Prefecture. In total, more than 200 Japanese companies took part in the work, including Fuji Heavy Industries (wing production), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (cockpit), etc.
Work on the assembly of the X-2 "Sinsin" was started on March 28, 2012, but the ceremony of rolling out the machine, which received the serial number 51-0001, took place only on May 8, 2014. However, this event was internal, and the official presentation ceremony of the "harbinger of the 5th generation fighter in Japanese" took place on January 28, 2016 - shortly before the first flight. At the same time, its new designation, X–2, was also made public. By that time, the project management was transferred to the new Agency for Procurement, Technology and Logistics of the Ministry of Defense of Japan (ATLS), which included TRDI.
The first taxiing of the X-2 took place on February 2, 2016, and on April 22, the Sinsin made its first flight. The cost of the program at that time was about 39.4 billion yen ($332 million).
FIGHTER "IN THE CUBE"At the turn of 2009-2010, a document "A vision for research and development of future fighter" ("An idea of research and development work on a promising fighter") appeared in the Ministry of Defense of Japan.
Here, for the first time, new approaches of the Japanese in the field of developing a new generation of airline complex were made public. The concept design of the combat vehicle received the designation i3 Fighter, where three "i" mean:
– Informed ("informed") – the ability to integrate into various weapons, communications and control systems, that is, to conduct network-centric combat operations;
– Intelligent ("intelligent") – the use of the most modern achievements in the field of rocket technology and robotics (with the study of the possibility of including a fighter in a swarm of "flying robots" as their leader);
– Instantaneous ("instantaneous") – thanks to the use of fiber-optic communication channels, the degree of machine response to the combat situation and survivability in combat increases.
The materials of the Ministry of Defense of Japan and publications of foreign media emphasize that the successful implementation of such a concept project is possible only if a number of key technologies are mastered. Among them:
– development of new technologies to reduce the radar visibility of the aircraft to a level lower than that of similar enemy combat vehicles (new radio-absorbing coatings, the presence of only internal armament compartments, air intakes of a new design, etc.);
– development of a new engine, on the one hand, capable of providing the aircraft with supersonic cruising speed, and on the other – characterized by a smaller diameter, which is necessary to accommodate weapons only in internal compartments;
– creation of a noise-resistant aircraft control system based on the use of fiber-optic communication channels and having the ability to self-repair (the first version of such a system was tested on a Kawasaki Aerospace Company BPA R-1 aircraft);
– creation of an on-board radar station with an active phased array antenna (AFAR radar) of a new generation, capable of effectively working on inconspicuous targets and not inferior to the best foreign analogues (using the technology of nitride-galium transistors). Perhaps such a radar developed by Mitsubishi Electronics has been undergoing tests on board one of the F-2 fighters since the beginning of 2019 (according to foreign experts, this radar may be similar in characteristics to the American AN/APG-81 radar developed for the F-35 family);
– the use of air–to–air weapons within the framework of the concept of "shooting in the cloud" (cloud shooting), that is, virtually blindly - according to data obtained from a network-centric "cloud" from other fighters, long-range reconnaissance drones, ground command posts, etc.;
– in the future – the development of new means of destruction, including on new physical principles (for example, laser weapons, microwave weapons), as well as new avionics samples.
The ultimate goal is to ensure superiority over the enemy not by numbers, which Japan is not capable of for a number of reasons (especially if we are talking about China), but by high technology and better training of personnel.
In 2011-2017, TRDI worked out many options for a promising combat vehicle. Their common features were a twin-engine power plant and the widespread use of technologies to reduce visibility in all ranges. These options, apparently, were worked out within the dimension of the F-22A Raptor and based on the layout solutions implemented in this machine – apparently, for a long time sunk into the soul of the Japanese military.
The result of all these works was the project of a combat aviation complex, which Japanese experts immediately attributed to the 6th (!) generation. His concept project was presented in December 2019 – the image of a car with spotted camouflage appeared in the release of the draft budget of the Ministry of Defense of Japan for fiscal year 2020.
JUMP THROUGH A GENERATIONThe fuselage of the promising Japanese fighter is very similar to the Franco-German-Spanish fighter of the new generation NGF (Next Generation Fighter).
The car has a wing with a "broken" trailing edge and developed inflows, a two-keel tail with keels deflected outward and without a horizontal stabilizer (the keels will work as both rudders and elevators).
The outer contours of the aircraft are characterized by the widespread use of stealth technologies, and the contours and dimensions of the cabin say that the car is single. The power plant is twin–engine. The contender is the XF9–1 engine, which has a length of 4.8 m, a diameter of about 1 m and develops thrust in forced mode of about 15 thousand kgf, and on cruising – about 11 thousand kgf. All weapons are in internal compartments, although the possibility of using external suspension units is not excluded.
The implementation of this task, apparently, will be carried out by the Japanese side in cooperation with one of the leading foreign companies with experience in the design and construction of combat aircraft of the 5th generation. At the same time, the results obtained by Tokyo (primarily ATD-X) can be used as an "entrance ticket". As aviation expert Yoshimoto Aoki said in an interview with Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, "in order to participate in the program as an equal partner, Japan must offer knowledge, experience or technology that is worth considering as an equal partner."
In an article published on January 29, 2016 in the Straits Times, with reference to representatives of the Japanese Defense Ministry, it was indicated that by March 2019 it was necessary to decide whether Tokyo would create a promising machine independently or develop it in cooperation, or even plan to purchase such a fighter. The Japanese military still implemented the latter option, and even ahead of schedule, by purchasing a batch of American F-35 fighters. As for the first two options, then, apparently, the second one is being implemented.
FIGHTER OF THE FUTUREAt the beginning of 2020, the work entered the active phase.
It is expected that the aircraft, which received the unofficial designation F-3 (in official documents it is called F-X – "promising fighter"), will enter the combat units of the Japanese Air Force in the early 2030s and will gradually replace all combat fighters, except for the American F-35.
The program for the creation of the next-generation combat air complex was designated Future Fighter ("Fighter of the Future"). A number of sources indicate that the program was renamed the Next Generation Fighter ("Next Generation Fighter"), but confirmation could not be found in official Japanese sources.
The implementation of the program is entrusted to ATLS, where on April 1, 2020, a special department was formed under the leadership of a major General of the Japanese Air Force (Fighter (F-X) Development Division).
On July 7, 2020, representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Japan acquainted a group of legislators from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party with the new "road map". The selection of the main contractor and the beginning of the preliminary design of the aircraft and its engine (probably a variant of the XF9–1 turbofan engine) were scheduled for fiscal year 2020 (until March 31, 2021).
However, in the first question, a sensation was not expected. Back in December 2011, MHI announced that the General Headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Air Force had notified it of its selection as a potential national contractor under the F-X program for the serial production of the aircraft and its after-sales service.
But there is no shortage of applicants for the role of the "main foreign partner" for MHI: British BAE Systems (creates a new-generation Tempest fighter), European Airbus (a new–generation NGF fighter), American Lockheed Martin (together with Boeing produced the F-22A Raptor, and today is the main contractor for the fighter program 5th generation F-35 "Lightning II"), Boeing (F-22A program) and Northrop Grumman (participates in the F-35 program, is the main contractor for the program of the unobtrusive strategic bomber of the new generation B-21 "Raider"). It was to these companies, as it became known in August 2020, that the Ministry of Defense of Japan sent requests. In the end, Tokyo's choice seems to have fallen on the British BAE Systems. As Rio Nemoto pointed out on May 15, 2022 in the Nikkey Asia edition, it will become a partner of MHI, while the British Rolls-Royce will assist IHI Corporation in the work on the power plant of the new combat vehicle. In addition, on February 15, 2022, Japan and the United Kingdom signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of avionics for a new generation of fighters – the Japanese F-X and the British Tempest.
The construction of the first flight prototype of the fighter is planned to begin in 2024, and in 2028 - to begin its flight tests. At the same time, the volumes of purchased machines should be determined. The start of serial production of new combat aircraft is scheduled for 2031, and it is planned to finally take the "fighter of the future" into service and begin its delivery to combat units, where it should primarily replace about 90 F-2 fighters, in 2035.
Today, the cost of the program for the creation of a 6th-generation fighter for the Japanese Air Force is estimated at about $ 40 billion. However, as the experience of implementing such projects shows, this is far from the final figure.
Vladimir Shcherbakov
Deputy Executive Editor of HBOVladimir Leonidovich Shcherbakov is a military expert, historian, and writer.
