TOKYO - Following an April 11 request for proposals, Japan's lengthy search for a replacement next-generation fighter, dubbed F-X, has been whittled down to three candidates: Boeing, with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; Lockheed Martin, with its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; and BAE Systems, representing the Eurofighter consortium. The results were announced at an April 13 bidders meeting at the Japanese Ministry of Defense.
Many industry watchers say the F-35 and the Eurofighter are the two strongest contenders, according to Satoshi Tsuzukibashi, director of the Office of Defense Production Committee at Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation), Japan's biggest industrial lobby.
Japan's MoD is looking for a fighter to counter an increasingly capable Chinese Air Force. Japanese industry - in particular Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which builds a Japanese version of the F-16C/D, the Mitsubishi F-2, under license from Lockheed Martin - is looking for licensed production. Keidanren supports this goal in order to sustain Japan's high-tech industrial base, Tsuzukibashi said.
"Actually, we don't care which one it is, as long as Japanese industry has the means to continue its industrial base with licensed production and technology," he said. "Actually, in that sense, the Eurofighter might be a little bit easier."
The original field of candidates included Lockheed's F-22 Raptor, the Dassault Rafale and the F-15FX, according to MoD documents. The request for proposals, delayed a year for political reasons, was supposed to have occurred in late March but was postponed because of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The bids are to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-4EJ Kai Phantoms built by MHI, which are due to begin retiring in 2015, and will be for 40 planes, according to MoD documents. Japan also will need to replace its F-15Js in the next 10 years, which could increase the number of F-X fighters to 150.
Taisei Ugaki, a veteran military commentator here, said April 14 that there was strong pressure for MHI to maintain its assembly line, and that any move toward the Eurofighter would face "strong U.S. pressure" to buy American in order to maintain the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Despite the latest delay, bids will be due Aug. 31, and a contract awarded at the end of the year, according to MoD documents.
Many industry watchers say the F-35 and the Eurofighter are the two strongest contenders, according to Satoshi Tsuzukibashi, director of the Office of Defense Production Committee at Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation), Japan's biggest industrial lobby.
Japan's MoD is looking for a fighter to counter an increasingly capable Chinese Air Force. Japanese industry - in particular Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which builds a Japanese version of the F-16C/D, the Mitsubishi F-2, under license from Lockheed Martin - is looking for licensed production. Keidanren supports this goal in order to sustain Japan's high-tech industrial base, Tsuzukibashi said.
"Actually, we don't care which one it is, as long as Japanese industry has the means to continue its industrial base with licensed production and technology," he said. "Actually, in that sense, the Eurofighter might be a little bit easier."
The original field of candidates included Lockheed's F-22 Raptor, the Dassault Rafale and the F-15FX, according to MoD documents. The request for proposals, delayed a year for political reasons, was supposed to have occurred in late March but was postponed because of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The bids are to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-4EJ Kai Phantoms built by MHI, which are due to begin retiring in 2015, and will be for 40 planes, according to MoD documents. Japan also will need to replace its F-15Js in the next 10 years, which could increase the number of F-X fighters to 150.
Taisei Ugaki, a veteran military commentator here, said April 14 that there was strong pressure for MHI to maintain its assembly line, and that any move toward the Eurofighter would face "strong U.S. pressure" to buy American in order to maintain the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Despite the latest delay, bids will be due Aug. 31, and a contract awarded at the end of the year, according to MoD documents.
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