Japan yesterday unveiled its first radar-evading stealth aircraft, aiming to close a gap with neighbors such as China and Russia, which have been flying fighter planes equipped with the technology for more than five years, reports The Wall Street Journal. Confronted with regional challenges such as China building artificial islands in the South China Sea and North Korea testing nuclear devices, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has eased postwar restrictions on the country’s military and is trying to bolster its limited weapons-building capabilities. In the latest move, the Ministry of Defence showed off a test aircraft called X-2 in a heavily guarded hangar at a factory here that is operated by Japan’s biggest military contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Ministry officials said the plane would perform its first test flight as early as mid-February.
At 14 meters (46-feet) in length, the ¥40 billion ($340 million) red and white-painted X-2 is smaller than a standard jet fighter. It is unarmed and its engines are underpowered. Analysts say it would take many years for Japan to develop it into an actual warplane.
But that may not be the point. Rather than aiming to build its own plane, they say, Japan may be signaling its hopes of joining the US or other allies in developing a fighter through an international partnership—a way for allies to develop ever more expensive weapons systems. By joining the small club of countries that possess stealth technology, including the US, Russia and China, Japan can show that it brings something to the table.
“In order to participate in a project as an equal partner, Japan has to offer knowledge, experience or technologies worthy of an equal partner,” said aerospace analyst Yoshitomo Aoki. A postwar policy of pacifism, including restrictions on weapons exports, made it difficult for Japan take part in international partnerships such as the Joint Strike Fighter, which led to the development of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35. But Abe’s government in 2014 eased the ban on exports in an effort to boost the competitiveness of Japan’s arms industry.