WT Forums

I found this article interesting, especially the prospect of gaining India as a potential buyer. I never had heard of an F-15SG, must be the customized Singapore variant?


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11445873/

Nevermind that Chad. Isn't this juicy?

<b>PLAN TO EXPORT F-22A TO ALLIES GAINING MOMENTUM WITHIN AIR FORCE:</b> Momentum is building within the Air Force to sell the service's prized F-22A Raptor - which is loaded with super-secret systems - to trusted U.S. allies, with Japan viewed as the most likely buyer, service and industry officials tell Inside the Air Force. A Lockheed Martin official heavily involved in the Raptor program told ITAF that a proposal to alter course and sell the Raptor to Japan is working its way through the Air Force. "Right now, [the proposal] is at the three- or four-star level" within the Air Force, the Lockheed official said. "It's not at the highest levels yet ... to the people who really count - but it's getting there." Several service officials, including a key four-star command chief, that have spoken with ITAF also have confirmed that the notion of selling a yet-undetermined number of Raptors to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) is indeed picking up steam among blue-suited military and civilian decision-makers. Defense officials and military analysts, including Loren Thompson of the Washington-based Lexington Institute, all agreed Japan is atop what appears at first glance to be a short list of possible Raptor suitors. A Japanese defense official said February 14 that the Asian nation is very interested in purchasing the F-22A as a replacement for its F-4 aircraft, and confirmed the JASDF has contacted both Raptor-maker Lockheed Martin and the Air Force about buying the fighter. Thompson of the Lexington Institute said that defense and State officials, and lawmakers in Congress, are likely to remain hesitant to export three key F-22A systems: its electronic architecture; "aspects of its low-observable" technologies; and its next-generation data links, such as the Tactical Targeting Networking Technology waveform system. It was not immediately clear how Japan would tailor its Raptor requirements, or how much a JASDF-specific F-22A might cost. The Japanese defense official told ITAF that the JASDF plans to send an official to the United States later this year to discuss its fighter-replacement effort - and the possibility of buying the F-22A - with U.S. officials. "So, this year is the most important year for JASDF." (Inside The Air Force)

<i>and I didn't know that Austrailia was in the market for an F-22 type until this article came out today</i>

<b>U.S. MIGHT NOT SELL AUSTRALIA F-22 FIGHTER JET, SAYS DEFENCE CHIEF:</b> Defence head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston has rejected the advanced F-22 Raptor jet fighter as the answer to future RAAF air combat needs, arguing there is no certainty the U.S. would even agree to sell them. Similarly, RAAF head Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd said only a small number of F-22s were being produced for the U.S. Air Force. Both have endorsed the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter as the best candidate for the RAAF as a replacement for F-111 strike bombers and F/A-18 Hornets from the middle of next decade. But the move towards the JSF has prompted strong criticism from some analysts, among them Dr. Carlo Kopp, who has argued strongly for the F-22 on grounds it will be far superior to JSF. Houston said defence remained confident that JSF would deliver the range of capability the Australian Defence Force (ADF) would need, unlike the F-22. "A lot of people run around saying we should buy the F-22. But that is on the assumption that the F-22 would be available to us. That is a highly suspect assumption, because the U.S. likes to maintain a capability edge over everybody else." Shepherd agreed. "All the indications that we have had from America are that it is not going to be made available," he said. (Australian Associated Press)





Ninety percent of the game is half mental.

_________________
????

Stress, any ideas on how the Air Force would deal with classified problems? All that stuff has to be NoForn but it's the heart of the aircraft.

OC

Some days it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Stress, any ideas on how the Air Force would deal with classified problems? <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

I have no idea. Security has gotten relatively relaxed on this program in the past 5 years, but to offer up the whole enchilada to the Nipponese (am I mixing a metaphor there?), that seems way out there. Although they were the original foreign customer for the F-15, weren't they? What am I saying. They come with billions of yen, and a major dent in the trade deficit. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo



Ninety percent of the game is half mental.

_________________
????

Stress what do you think the political implications will with China and N. Korea having a significant number of f-22 always in the region. It might be a good plan and way to effectively check the Chinese and Koreans. Basically turning the sea of Japan to the Japanese. The is would force the Chinese to significantly alter their deployment of forces and possibly set them back decades in their military build up. A build up that may be used to conquor Tiwan or even the Japanese home Islands in the future.

Interesting Stress...
The F-14A was the 1970's version of the F-22, in terms of being a wizbang aircraft with "Firefox" like capabilities, namely the AWG-9/Phoenix. It was highly sensetive stuff, and Nixon told the Shah he could have a slighty downgraded version of them. I find that ammusing in that when the Blue Angels visited Tehran in 1972, they had to be escorted by two armored jeeps, and armed personal inside the bus (which alternated routes), so they were not kidnapped by the local "friendly populus". That technology was later compromised to the USSR, when suprise, the Shah was deposed and the radical Islamic talking heads took charge.

I don't think that a revolution, or a hardline fundementalist Shinto theocracy is in Japan's near future, and defecting from Japan to Red China in a new jet is probably not to appealing to a JASDF pilot. The JASDF were right there with Israel as the first F-15 customers. I think we should sell the Raptor to Japan for no small reason than to iritate the Chinese. Curious though why we would be hesitant in selling them to the RAAF. They have been a committed American Ally for the last 100 years, two world wars, and one cold war, plus they neighbor a vital shipping chokepoint. Interesting stuff.

I think exporting our new toys to our strong allies is way cool, plus it makes us look like the nice guys again...


Edited by - chadrewsky on Feb 20 2006 6:08 PM