![]() He has also been published in The Daily Torch and The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security. ![]() in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. Orr is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. ![]() It will be interesting to see who reaches the sixth generation first. So is Great Britain, in the guise of the Tempest/Future Combat Air System. The U.S., not surprisingly, is working on its own sixth-generation warbird, the Next-Generation Air Dominance program. As Sebastien Roblin noted in a December 2020 article for Forbes, the Japanese government plans to spend the equivalent of $48 billion to have the F-X (unofficially known as the F-3) ready by 2035. The program may have fallen short, but it has paved the way for the initiation of the Mitsubishi F-X sixth-generation fighter program. Not entirely out of the ordinary for an experimental aircraft, only one X-2 has been built. As a result of these flight tests, it was determined that Japan couldn’t develop a stealth fighter alone - it needed international partners. However, in November 2017, after a mere 34 sorties, the Agency announced that the X-2’s testing would be wrapped up by March of the following year. The Japanese Defense Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency originally planned 50 flights for the demonstrator. Max airspeed was Mach-2.25 (1,712 miles per hour), with a range of 1,566 nautical miles. Specifications included a length of 46.5 feet, a wingspan of 30 feet, and a height of 14.8 feet, with an empty weight of 21,385 pounds, and a maximum takeoff weight of 28,660 lbs. Some of the plane’s salient features included 3D thrust vectoring, with three paddles on each engine nozzle, and an active electronically scanned array radar called the Multifunction RF Sensor that was intended to provide broad spectrum agility. So it is little surprise that the Shinshin’s design closely reflected that of the F-22. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has a long history of using American fighter designs, dating back to 1955 with the F-86 Sabre. The ATD-X stands for Advanced Technology Demonstrator – X, and as that label implies, the plane was built as a research prototype to determine whether Japan’s domestic technologies for a fifth-generation fighter aircraft were viable. Hence the X-2/ATD-X, which made her maiden flight on April 22, 2016. ![]() The Viper Zero and Peace Eagle are both excellent warbirds, but they are fourth-generation fighters, leaving significant doubts about their ability to tangle with Russian or Chinese stealth fighters in a hypothetical shooting war. We are talking about the company that produced the legendary WWII-era A6M Zero fighter plane, as well as the present-day F-2 Viper Zero (basically a homegrown F-16 Fighting Falcon) and F-15J Peace Eagle. The Mitsubishi name is certainly familiar to military aviation history buffs. ![]() Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin History and Specifications In response to the growing threat from China, Japan is joining the fray in yet another sign of the slow but steady repudiation of its post-World War II pacifist policy, Say hello to the Mitsubishi X-2/ATD-X Shinshin (“mind” or “spirit”). Of course, other countries are trying to get into the stealth game. Russia’s much-maligned Sukhoi Su-57 Felon rounds out the list, while its Su-75 Checkmate languishes in development hell. China flies the Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon. actually fields two, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II. Mitsubishi X-2/ATD-X Shinshin, explained: Right now, only three nations produce a true and operational fifth-generation stealth fighter. ![]()
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