Japan to drop development of F-2 fighter

March 11, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government is likely to scrap plans for the domestic development of a successor to the Air Self-Defense Force's F-2 fighter jet due to expected huge costs, government sources said Saturday.

The government is expected to consider international joint development as the main course of action, the sources said.

The F-2 fighter was jointly developed by Japan and the United States at a cost of 327.4 billion yen. The development started in 1988.

After the first F-2 was deployed in 2000, some 90 jets are now in operation.

With the fleet of F-2 fighters set to retire around 2030, the government is considering a successor plane.

Eyeing domestic development in line with a request from the defense industry, the Defense Ministry has spent 138 billion yen in research costs since 2009, including for producing the X-2 experimental stealth jet. Jiji Press