Japan has reversed course on its decision to cease local assembly of its F-35 fighters, according to Nikkei. The Japanese government had previously decided to cease local assembly of F-35s… Continue reading "Japan Considering Continuing Local F-35 Assembly"
A Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-35 was lost some 85 miles east of Misawa Air Base, in Aomori Prefecture, at approximately 7:27pm local time, JASDF representatives say. The aircraft… Continue reading "Japan Suffers F-35 Crash off North Eastern Shore"
With tensions rising across the Taiwan Straight and in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, the biennial Keen Sword 21 Exercise has just commenced on 26th October and is set to… Continue reading "US and Japan Kick Off Exercise Keen Sword 21"
Japan will be developing its next-generation fighter jet, the Mitsubishi F-3, in conjunction with American companies. The F-3 is set to replace the currently serving Mitsubishi F-2 starting in the… Continue reading "Japan to Develop 6th Generation Fighter With US Help"
On 9 March, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s 501st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron flew its final training sortie in their RF-4E and RF-4EJ Phantom IIs. The sortie was flown from the… Continue reading "Farewell Japanese Photo Phantoms"
Lockheed Martin announced on 30 December, that it had delivered its 134th F-35 for the year, exceeding the original delivery goal of 131 aircraft. The 134th F-35 is an F-35B… Continue reading "Lockheed Martin Surpasses 2019 F-35 Delivery Goals"
Taurus GmbH has proposed integrating their KEPD 350 air-to-surface cruise missile onto the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force’s (JASDF)F-2A multirole aircraft at the DSEI Japan exhibition in Chiba, Tokyo. Scale models… Continue reading "Taurus Proposes KEPD 350 For Japan’s F-2As"
On 23 November, 3 F-35Bs of the Royal Air Force’s 617 and 207 Squadrons departed HMS Queen Elizabeth for RAF Marham in Norfolk. Their departure marks the conclusion of the… Continue reading "RAF F-35Bs Conclude WESTLANT 19 Operational Tests"
On 12 November, Kongsberg revealed that it had been awarded a follow-on contract to deliver Joint Strike Missiles (JSM) for the Japan Air Self Defense Force’s F-35 fleet worth 450… Continue reading "Japan Awards Kongsberg Follow-On Contract for Joint Strike Missile"
The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced, on September 10th, the down-selection of three contenders for the Next Armored Wheeled Vehicle project. This project aims to replace the Komatsu Type 96… Continue reading "Japanese MoD Downselects GDLS, Patria and Mitsubishi offerings for Type 96 APC Replacement"