Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which oversees the overall development of the next fighter, which will be the successor to the F2 fighter, has set up a development team with several domestic companies and is in full swing of the design work.
The Ministry of Defense has decided to develop the next fighter aircraft to succeed because the F2 fighter aircraft of the Air Self-Defense Force will be retired sequentially from around 2035, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which is in charge of the aircraft, will supervise the whole. , Engines, radar, etc. are handled by other domestic companies.
In order to accelerate the design work, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has set up a development team of about 200 engineers at its base factory in Aichi Prefecture, along with seven domestic companies that have a track record of developing engines, airframes, and radar. raised.
The development team plans to increase the number of employees to about 500 and strengthen the system, aiming to start mass production in 2031 after creating a detailed design by 2027, manufacturing prototypes and flight tests. It is a policy.
For development, the Ministry of Defense will receive support from Lockheed Martin of the United States, which has a track record of developing highly stealth F35 fighters, but domestic companies will lead the development and maintain technical capabilities. I want to plan.