outofshdw

According to a number of recent articles (including this one from Aviation Week - 23 April 2007), Japan's military leadership has been insisting that the American F-22 should THE top contendor for Japan's next air superiority fighter. This is in spite of continued reluctance on the part of the US Congress to release the F-22 for export:
Japan's Military Wishlist

The article quotes US Gen Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying: "I'm aware the Japanese are interested in the F-22. I'm also aware of our concerns about what we export and don't export of our high technologies. The Japanese are very close friends. We're committed to protecting Japan, so we'll work our way through it. We all need to be concerned about both ballistic and cruise missile defense. It's something that we . . . need to work on."

According to industry sources quoted by the article, "The U.S. Air Force and the Japanese Ministry of Defense want the sale to take place, but what's missing this time is someone pushing it at the State Dept. level. There needs to be political pressure, but right now there's no vocal advocate."

Other newspaper articles, meanwhile, have been reporting that Japan is expected to press the question of F-22 export approval during an upcoming summit with President Bush. Japan is reported to be considering a buy of up to 100 F-22s, if export approval were to be granted:
Japan wants the fighters US refused to sell Canberra | The World | The Australian

gunnut

This oughtta set Asia on edge. A Japan with state of the art, 5th generation, stealth fighter with huge range, and in decent numbers.

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Jimmy

Good lord, 100? My jaw dropped at that one.

Tronic

I don't see why Japan shouldn't be allowed them...

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tphuang

hmm, you obviously missed the many times that Japan got stuff stolen from them.

Tronic

mmm... Yeh, I probably did. But you mean to say that they have the capacity to get F-22s stolen from them?

Blademaster

US should go for it. It will only help them in the long run. If Japan orders 100, it will lower the price drastically for US Air Force, allowing them to buy more, which in turn, lowers the price even more creating more incentive to buy more F-22s. The Pentagon should going out on all cylinders and getting Japan to buy the F-22s. Not only that, they should sell them to Australia. I am not sure about Israel. I hope Canada will buy those planes but highly unlikely.

TopHatter

Well, there's stolen and then there's "stolen".

However, a point in the article intrigued me:

Suprising that Japan is not just willing but "adament" to shell out that much dough for a hundred of them. I'm with Jimmy on this one. My jaw is on the floor.

tphuang

you don't need to loose F-22s, but if you loose certain performance specs and other confidential data on F-22. I'm sure there are plenty of such that USAF would not want to fall into PLA's hand, that is definitely not something you would want.

nutter

You mean like how the russians stole nuclear secrets from US during/after WW2? :D

Tasman

At this stage Australia's preference is to buy the JSF (F-35) as it is regarded as more versatile and more affordable for its requirement for 100 new fighters for the RAAF. There are, however, influential lobby groups in Australia who are pushing for the F-22 and the Federal Opposition Defence Spokesman has stated a preference for it. The letter to the Australian Defence Minister from the US Deputy Defence Secretary Gordon England stating that the US would not export the F-22 Raptor to Australia came about because the RAAF was looking at contingencies in case the JSF program was delayed. In the event Australia has ordered a small number of FA-18F Super Hornets to bridge any capability gap caused by a delay with the JSF.

If export bans are lifted I think Australia will still opt for the JSF as the backbone of its air combat force but might consider buying a small number of F-22s (say 25) as the top end of a two tier force. It is, however, a big 'might!'

Cheers

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Jimmy

Hell, I'll point to China stealing nuclear secrets from the US in recent years. They know what they're doing, and they're damn good at it. The more countries that have the F-22, the more opportunities there are to get to it.

-{SpoonmaN}-

I'd be willing to live with that, although I still consider the F-22 to be expensive overkill that'd only drag money out of other areas that need just as much attention. Simply put, there are no rivals to the RAAF in our region. Period. There aren't going to be for another 25 years.
If it were up to me I'd just buy 200 Super Hornets of different makes (F/A-18E and F, Growlers etc.) and spend the rest on the Army, Sealift airlift, which are our real problems.

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AchtungSpitFire

As long as they have a problem of splitting/fusing an atom as means of deterrence/force, Japan is irrelevant as military power in Asia.

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Blademaster

Goes to show how much you really know. Japan has the one military force that matters in the Far East: JSDMF. After USN, Japan has the most powerful navy that is capable of going against PLAN and with its 215 F-15s and 200s F-4a and F-2s and its E-3s, Japan can easily kill the PLAAF. As for nukes, Japan is under the US nuclear umbrella.