Editorial: Japan to Receive New US Military Aircraft by 2020

KC-46 Pegasus (Image: Wiki Commons)

By Franz-Stefan Gady

Tokyo has selected the Boeing KC-46 tanker aircraft for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

Beating out its main European competitor Airbus, Boeing has secured the first oversea sale of its new KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft Kyodo News reports.

Japan’s Defense Minister, Gen Nakatani, confirmed the deal at a news conference last Friday noting that “with more aerial tankers, our aerial defense capability will be reinforced.”

Japan, according to media reports, will procure three KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft by 2020 at an estimated price of about 20.8 billion yen ($172.8 million) per plane. Tokyo has set aside funds for the procurement of the planes in its fiscal year 2016 defense budget. A final contract is likely to be signed in early 2016.

Overall, Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) is requesting a 5.09 trillion yen ($42.38 billion) defense budget for fiscal year 2016, up 2.2 percent from the current fiscal year.

One of the reasons why the KC-46 Pegasus was selected over a tanker offered by Airbus, based on its A330 commercial jet, is easier interoperability with U.S. aircraft, according to MOD officials. It is also ideally suited to refuel Japan’s future fleet of Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey aircraft – a hybrid between a conventional helicopter and turboprop plane (See: “Meet Japan’s Newest Aircraft for Defending the Senkaku Islands”).

Read the full story at The Diplomat