By AARON MEHTA
WASHINGTON AND TOKYO — When will Japan’s ATD-X indigenous stealth fighter prototype make its first flight? Hard to tell.
The consortium that is developing the jet is planning a test flight for January, according to an Aug. 12 report in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. But the following day, a spokesman for Japan’s Defense Ministry told IHS Janes that the organization, led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has “not firmed up” when the first flight will occur.
The Mainichi Shimbun report, which did not cite sources, said the jet’s first flight would be followed by about two years of Defense Ministry testing. Tokyo would decide whether to buy the plane by early 2019, it said. The report also said that about ¥39.2 billion ($384 million) has been spent on the ATD-X so far.
Given Japan’s traditional security alliance with the US, some question whether the country will really shell out the funds to develop a boutique jet fleet.
“So far, it’s just a demonstrator, and it’s far from clear that the country will provide the tens of billions of dollars needed to create a producible fighter,” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group. “They have the technology, or they can buy it. It’s just a question of resources.”
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