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Brumby

Major
First of Japan’s F-35s will be airborne by year’s end
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YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Japanese pilots will fly the F-35A Lightning II fighter jet for the first time by year’s end, according to a Lockheed Martin spokesman who was in Tokyo this week to meet with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

The first four stealth planes earmarked for Japan will roll off a production line in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, said Eric W. Schnaible, the company’s F-35 international communications manager. Schnaible will also visit Nagoya and Misawa facilities associated with the aircraft later this month.

Japanese pilots are slated to take off in the jets for the first time at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., where Australian, Norwegian and Italian personnel are already learning to pilot the F-35, he said.

Japan is one of eight countries jointly developing the high-tech fighter. With a price tag of $1 trillion, it’s become America’s most costly weapon.

The Fort Worth facility is one of three places where F-35s are being assembled. The others are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ plant in Nagoya and Alenia Aermacchi’s factory at Cameri, Italy.

The first of 38 additional Japanese F-35s will roll out of Nagoya next year, said Schnaible, who is also the former U.S. Forces Japan public affairs chief.

The new jets will be stationed at Misawa alongside U.S. F-16s from the 35th Fighter Wing, with F-35 pilot training eventually taking place in Japan, he said.

Many of the first F-35 pilots are transitioning from other aircraft such as Harriers, F-16s or F-18s. However, the Marine Corps and Air Force recently began sending pilots to train on the aircraft immediately after flight school, Schnaible said.

While the pilots are honing their skills, Japanese aircraft mechanics will head to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to learn how to keep the F-35s in the air.

Another 40 F-35As are in production for South Korea, with delivery scheduled from 2018. They will be based at Cheongju Air Base, south of Seoul.

The F-35 has received plenty of bad press because of technical glitches and cost overruns. However, Schnaible said many of those challenges have been overcome, and the project is building up steam.

Lockheed Martin’s F-35 website says 43 aircraft will be produced at Fort Worth this year with output set to triple by 2019.

“The Marines have reached initial operational capability, and the Air Force will reach that later this year,” Schnaible said.

Initial operational capability means that a unit has enough aircraft, weapons and trained personnel to deploy in a contingency.


Schnaible noted the Marine Corps is preparing for an F-35 deployment to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni next year.

“They have done sea trials landing on carriers and [amphibious assault ships],” he said. “They will be demonstrating the ability to deploy when they come to Japan.”

The Marines will eventually replace its F/A-18 Hornets at Iwakuni with F-35Bs, U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Lt. Col. Kenneth Hoffman said in March.

The Air Force will base its F-35As at Eilson Air Force Base, Alaska, which puts them close to potential hotspots in the western Pacific.

“Look around at who threatens our partners in the region,” said Schnaible. “Having that deterrent capability to respond to things in a non-permissive environment is important to allies.”

Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Pacific Forum think tank in Hawaii, said the F-35 is the sort of weapon the U.S. and its allies would want to have in a fight, but added, “I don’t think decision-makers in Beijing are looking at it and adjusting their behavior.”

Glosserman doubts the aircraft’s deployment would, on its own, make much difference to security in the Far East.

“Potential adversaries will take cues from the way that the U.S. responds to provocations from North Korea or indications of American intent in the South China Sea,” he said.
The different pieces are starting to come together in a more tangible manner.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
First of Japan’s F-35s will be airborne by year’s end
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The different pieces are starting to come together in a more tangible manner.

This is an aircraft that our allies not only want, but need, and in spite of Mr. Wassermans dour projection, this aircraft is a game changer, and everyone on the field knows that very well, Mr. Brad is prolly an "intellectual"?? LOL
 

navyreco

Senior Member
GE to Provide IHI with LM2500 Gas Turbines for Japan’s New 8,200-Ton 27DD Aegis Destroyer
GE’s Marine Solutions announced it will provide IHI, Tokyo, Japan, with two LM2500 aeroderivative marine gas turbines for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force’s (JMSDF) new 8,200-ton class Aegis destroyer.

The GE LM2500 gas turbines for the new Aegis destroyer will be equipped with integrated electronic controls, and will be arranged in a Combined Gas turbine-eLectric And Gas turbine (COGLAG) configuration. IHI will deliver the LM2500 propulsion modules to the shipyard, Japan Marine United Corporation, in 2018.
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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Japan AF continues its reorganization, i have posted 3 months ago a map in more i find :

Firstly in February one F-15 Sqn from Tsuiki move to Naha and :

Some JASDF Aggressor F-15J/DJs move form Nyutabaru A.B. to Komatsu A.B. on 2 Jun., 2016.
They will finish their movements by 10 Jun., 2016.
Have 12 F-15, 20 fighters for Front Line Sqns

Nice cammos !
Komatsu base aggressor transfer completed !!!

Hyakuri's F-15J/DJ & T-4 from 305 Hikotai are to move to Nyutabaru in August 2016 while Nyutabaru's F-4EJ & T-4 from 301 Hikotai are to move to Hyakuri in October 2016.

And after one of the 2 F-2 Sqns from Misawa move for Tsuiki.
 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
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PEARL HARBOR (June 28, 2016) The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Navy Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Phillip Pavlovich/Released)

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ENOSHIMA, Japan (June 27, 2016) An MH-60R Sea Hawk, assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 51 and an SH-60K Seahawk, assigned to their sister squadron, Air Development Squadron (VX) 51 of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, perform a formation flight over Kanagawa prefecture. HSM-51 and VX-51, who share more than 30 years as sister squadrons, participated in the formation flight in order to foster greater interoperability between the two services. (U.S. Navy photos by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew C. Duncker/Released)
 

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
Japan AF continues its reorganization, i have posted 3 months ago a map in more i find :

Firstly in February one F-15 Sqn from Tsuiki move to Naha and :


Have 12 F-15, 20 fighters for Front Line Sqns

Nice cammos !




And after one of the 2 F-2 Sqns from Misawa move for Tsuiki.
Why the F-15's cammo looks like for barren landscape?
 

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
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Japan will launch a tender for fighter jets as soon as mid-July, the Ministry of Defence said, in a deal seen worth up to $40 billion

I am confused by the move as the target of F3 is to replace F2, a multirole fighter which overlaps F-35 Japan just purchased and begin local produced. The mission is overlapping and the cost of developing a totally new aircraft won't be much cheaper than buying F-35.
 

SamuraiBlue

Captain
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I am confused by the move as the target of F3 is to replace F2, a multirole fighter which overlaps F-35 Japan just purchased and begin local produced. The mission is overlapping and the cost of developing a totally new aircraft won't be much cheaper than buying F-35.
JASDF considers F-35 merely as stop gaps to replace the antiquated f-4J/F-4JKs.
That is the reason why JASDF only ordered 40 units.
The F-3 development mission is actually to rectify the problems made in the past.
The F-2 was suppose to take on some of the air superiority roles that at the moment the F-15 J are doing and replace some of the F-4J but it didn't live up to the high expectation the JASDF placed on them.
I speculate that the F-35 will be taking on the specialized reconnaissance roles that the present RF-4EJ are tasked.
 
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