Japan Selects Lockheed Martin To Help Build Its Stealth Fighter

A conceptual image of Japan’s future F-X fighter aircraft released by the MoD in Tokyo in December 2019. (Japanese MoD) 

Reuters: Lockheed Martin to help Japan build stealth fighter 

TOKYO (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp, the maker of the F-35 jet, will help Japan build a new stealth fighter plane its air force wants to field by the mid-2030s to keep pace with aircraft technology advances made by neighboring China. 

Lockheed will partner with project leader Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) , Japan’s Ministry of Defence said in press release on Friday, reforming a partnership that developed Japan’s last jet fighter, the F-2, three decades ago. 

“In order to ensure interoperability with the United States we will begin this project together from next year,” the ministry said. 

The new fighter, which is known as the F-3 or F-X and is expected to cost about $40 billion, will replace the F-2. Lockheed had proposed a hybrid design based on its F-35 and F-22 jets, but Japan rejected that in favour of a home-grown design. 

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Update: Japan selects Lockheed Martin to support MHI in developing next-generation fighter aircraft (Janes) 

WNU Editor: You do not have to be a genius to know that Japan wants access to Lockheed Martin's F-35 tech.