July 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Mike Yeo 20 hours ago
MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has created a timeline for the development and fielding of its locally made next-generation fighter jet, with serial production set to start at the beginning of the next decade.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense presented the draft development plan for the fighter program to a group of lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday, which showed that full-scale production is due to begin in 2031.
The ministry added that the prime contractor for the program will be selected by early next year, although it could happen as soon as October 2020. This is to allow for the basic design for the airframe and engine to be launched before the end of the current Japanese fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2021.
The next step would be the production of the first fighter prototype, which is planned to begin in 2024, with flight tests earmarked to start in 2028 following finalization of the design and production plans.
The new fighter is slated to replace about 90 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries F-2 fighters, which are due to be phased out in the mid-2030s, as its replacement is to be formally introduced into service in 2035. Japan previously said the new fighter will be stealthy and interoperable with the U.S. military.
Japan has researched and developed fighter technology over the past decade, including work on stealth designs and materials, active electronically scanned array radars, and afterburning turbofan engines.
In addition, the U.S. ally also conducted a series of test flights of a locally designed and built fighter technology demonstrator between 2016 and 2018 in order to validate its work. The country used the data gleaned from the test program to further refine its indigenous capabilities.
Despite these efforts, the country is still the largest customer of the American Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet, with plans to eventually operate 157 F-35s, including 42 of the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B variant. These will be used to equip the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's anti-submarine helicopter destroyer Izumo, which is being refurbished to accommodate F-35B operations.
March 10, 2023 | International, Aerospace
EuroHAPS was selected by the European Commission on July 20, 2022 after a call for collaborative defense research and development projects from the European Defense Fund (EDF).
September 18, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Officials from the Netherlands signed a letter of offer and acceptance to proceed with a $1.2 billion (€878 million) upgrade of the Dutch fleet of AH-64D Apache helicopters with the United States. State Secretary of Defence for the Netherlands, Barbara Visser and U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency Principal Director for Security Assistance Michèle Hizon signed the letter at Gilze-Rijen Air Base on Friday, September 14, the DSCA said. The agreement was first announced in February when the U.S. State Department approved the upgrade of 28 Dutch AH-64D Apache attack helicopters to the AH-64E configuration for an estimated cost of $1.191 billion. The principal contractors are Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The Netherlands received its last Apache delivery in 2002 and the helicopters have become technically and operationally out of date after 20 years of service. The first aircraft will be modernized beginning in 2021 and the first modernized Apaches will be reintroduced to the fleet by mid-2022, according to the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands. “Reinforcing the armed forces is in full swing. This contract signing is a good example of this. Our operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Mali have demonstrated the importance of Apaches,” Visser said on Friday. With this modernization our Apaches remain the versatile combat helicopters that our armed forces need.” Also on Friday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands would pull its F-16 fighter jets from the Islamic State mission in Iraq and Syria by the end of the year. A handful of Dutch special forces will stay in the country to continue training Iraqi forces, while a further 20 military and civil experts will remain part of NATO's capacity-building mission in Iraq, which focuses “on the strengthening of the Iraqi security sector,” the government said. In June, the Dutch defense ministry said that the Netherlands would end its troop contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali next May. Those troops will be sent to Afghanistan to “extend and intensify” the Dutch contribution to NATO's Resolute Support mission, according to the ministry. https://thedefensepost.com/2018/09/17/netherlands-apache-helicopter-upgrade-letter/
September 26, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Lindsay Bjerregaard | MRO Network Vextec is hoping to solve the challenges of certification in additive manufacturing (AM) with its predictive VPS-MICRO software for metallic component durability. According to the company, the software—which models component properties to provide a realistic look at fatigue durability and performance—is gaining traction in AM. “A lot of times the MRO industry deals with needing to build one-off parts or items from OEMs that are no longer functioning. It can be troublesome ... http://aviationweek.com/program-management-corner/simulation-software-solve-certification-challenges-additive-manufacturing