The low export price makes it difficult to adopt first-class technology
on a
large scale. The
cost is limited. Japanese F-3 fighters may not reach the level of sixth-generation fighters.
Expert chat equipment
Our reporter Zhang Qiang
Japanese media recently reported that Japan will increase investment in the development of follow-up models of F-2 fighter jets.
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will be mainly responsible for the development of this next-generation fighter called F-3, and the Japanese government intends to select Lockheed Martin (hereinafter referred to as Lockheed Martin) to provide technical assistance.
You know, the former F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters were developed by Lockheed Martin.
Some media speculate that this fighter may therefore become a technical hybrid of F-22 and F-35.
A reporter from Science and Technology Daily learned that the United States has always hoped that Japan will continue to purchase its own F-35 fighters, but the F-35 batches sold to Japan before have been faulty and cannot be repaired independently, and Nissan’s air-to-air missiles cannot be loaded.
In this regard, Japan has always been miserable.
In March 2020, Japan finally made up its mind and announced that it would invest US$260 billion in the research and development of the next-generation fighter aircraft, including R&D, procurement, and maintenance costs. The codenamed "FX" project, also known as the F-3 fighter jet.
So, what is the real performance of Japanese F-3 fighter jets?
Will it be a technical hybrid of F-22 and F-35?
The reporter interviewed military expert Wenchang.
It is still some distance away from the requirements of the sixth-generation machine
Since the Ministry of Defense of Japan issued the "Future Fighter Fighter Research and Development Trend Outlook" document in August 2010, Japan has been researching and developing next-generation fighter jets for almost ten years.
In December 2019, the Ministry of Defense of Japan released a concept map of the next-generation fighter, which basically determined its technology research and development layout.
Wenchang introduced that from the conceptual map, the F-3 adopts dual release bureaus, and the engine adopts the XF9-1 engine developed by Japan. Its maximum thrust exceeds 15 tons and the thrust-to-weight ratio is 11, which is basically the same as the F119 engine used by the F-22 fighter. level.
The F-3 uses a swept wing layout, but the trailing edge of its wing is V-shaped, which is very close to the design of the British sixth-generation fighter.
It uses a tailless layout, no horizontal tail, but retains the camber double vertical tail.
It also uses a DSI drum-type air inlet similar to the American F-35 fighter, and the nose uses a diamond-shaped design similar to the F-22.
At the same time, there are two buried bomb bays under its belly, and two buried weapon bays on both sides of the fuselage.
"Overall, the F-3 should be a high-end fifth-generation machine from the design point of view, but it is not up to the level of the sixth-generation machine, and it can also be called the fifth-generation half-machine." Wenchang said.
The reporter learned that what Japan wants to build is a stealth fighter with better control performance and air superiority, and put forward the "i3" concept of the sixth-generation fighter, namely informatization, intelligence and agility.
Its vision specifically involves the following seven areas of technology: "cloud shooting" and advanced cockpit technology, advanced integrated fire control system, drone "group control", research on directed energy weapons, light transmission control system, and overriding the enemy Stealth performance, next-generation high-power radar and lightweight high-power engine.
"For Japan, these technical concepts are obviously based on their own years of technical accumulation. If they can be realized in the end, the F-3 may still become a sixth-generation machine, but Japan is in terms of engine technology and stealth technology. There are still some shortcomings, which may restrict it to become a true sixth-generation machine." Wenchang pointed out that first, the F-3 engine uses a turbofan engine with a large thrust-to-weight ratio, which is determined by Japanese engine technology.
But judging from the design of the British sixth-generation aircraft, it will use adaptive variable-cycle engine technology, which is more advanced and fuel-efficient, allowing fighter jets to perform supersonic cruises for a longer period of time, significantly expanding the aircraft's range and combat radius.
This is an important supporting technology for its sixth generation machine.
In other words, the F-3 engine is one generation behind the engine of the next-generation fighter jets in the United States and Britain.
Second, the stealth technology of the F-3 does not meet the standards of the sixth-generation aircraft.
The typical feature of the sixth-generation machine is the use of omnidirectional stealth and wide-spectrum stealth technology.
Although Japan will cooperate with Lockheed Martin in the United States for research and development, and Lockheed’s important work is overall and stealth design, the United States should not sell its pre-research results on the sixth-generation aircraft to Japan.
Not a simple hybrid of F-22 and F-35
For F-3, Lockheed Martin previously proposed a hybrid design based on its F-35 and F-22 fighter jets.
It is generally believed that this is because the development of the F-3 can inherit certain technical attributes of the F-35 and F-22 fighters.
In this regard, Wenchang believes that the biggest feature of the F-22 is stealth, supersonic cruise and super maneuverability, which is currently unmatched in the fifth generation of aircraft.
The biggest feature of F-35 is informatization and intelligence. It is the world's first fifth-generation machine designed with the concept of network-centric warfare.
It should be said that F-3 will definitely learn from the advantages of both.
From the information disclosed so far, the F-22 and F-35 can be seen in many places on the F-3, such as the DSI drum-type inlet, the embedded bomb bay, and the diamond nose.
"But we can't simply say that F-3 is a hybrid of F-22 and F-35, because from the conceptual diagram we can see that F-3 has many innovations, such as large aspect ratio wings,'V 'Font wing trailing edge, tailless layout, small camber double vertical tail, etc." Wenchang said, and the F-3 is relatively large, even surpassing the F-22.
This is because it is responsible for protecting the safety of Japan's 1,000-kilometer sea line of communication and the Southwestern Islands, which requires it to have a larger range and combat radius.
For another example, based on the advantages of Japan’s advanced electronic technology, the F-3 draws on the F-35’s informatization and intelligent design ideas, and the airborne electronic system will have its own more advanced design. This may also be the future F-3 The most commendable place.
In addition, F-3 has its own characteristics in stealth design.
In addition to stealth technology such as diamond nose, sawtooth and parallel design technology, DSI bulge inlet, embedded weapon compartment, "S" type inlet, no tail layout, small camber double vertical tail, small cross-section The use of engines is also conducive to the stealth of F-3.
Therefore, it cannot be simply said that F-3 is a mixture of F-22 and F-35.
Foreign media reports pointed out that Japan’s development of the new aircraft will cooperate with Lockheed Martin and British Aerospace Systems.
In this regard, Wenchang analyzed that one of the issues that Japan must consider when developing next-generation fighters is cost. If all of them are aimed at world-class levels, their stand-alone prices will remain high. After all, Japan only plans to equip about 100 next-generation fighters.
Therefore, Japan must rely on foreign sales to amortize costs.
Since developed countries such as the United States, Britain, and France have their own R&D plans for sixth-generation aircraft, and the European market is basically controlled by European and American countries, its export sales can only be pinned on some developing countries.
This determines that its price cannot be too high, and it also makes it impossible to blindly adopt first-class or even advanced technology. This proves that it can only cooperate with foreign companies and adopt existing mature technologies, which makes it difficult for the next generation of fighters to reach the sixth generation. Machine level.