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Japan Builds a Stealth Jet
fool.com
Facing twin threats from neighbors North Korea and China, Japan used to beg the U.S. to sell it -- or allow it to build copies of -- Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) vaunted F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet. When the answer turned out to be "no," Japan did the next best thing, and ordered Lockheed Martin's down-market F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter instead.
But now, finally, Japan is getting the fighter plane it really wants. And it's building it itself.
Introducing the Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin
Taking off to great acclaim from Chubu airport on Friday, Japan's new homegrown stealth fighter jet, the Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin, represents Japan's best effort to re-enter the field of fighter-jet manufacture. It may also represent a challenge to Lockheed Martin's international arms business.
X2 will feature radar-deflecting angles and radar-absorbing materials designed to reduce its radar cross section, rendering the aircraft invisible to radar. Like Lockheed Martin's F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters, X-2 will be a single-seat fighter. Like the F-22, it will feature two engines -- Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries XF5 turbofans capable of reaching Mach 2.2 speeds.
That's as fast as the F-22 flies, and faster than the F-35s Japan is buying. At an estimated 21,000 pounds empty weight, X-2 will be lighter than either of Lockheed Martin's stealth aircraft. And equipped with 3D thrust-vectoring capability, it could be more maneuverable than either of Lockheed's birds, as well.
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