笑撃 韓国がＦ−１６級の次期国産戦闘機を独自開発
282 ：＠：
ＸＦ５−１ と Ｆ−２ について
1 2001.08.10
Dream of domestic jet fighter realized
英文 Natl2
03頁 708ワード
This is the sixth installment of a series on the current state of partnership between Japan and the United States focusing on the bilateral security alliance.
The two F-2 jets from the Air Self-Defense Force's Misawa Base in Aomori Prefecture, painted light blue to reduce reflection, banked to the left immediately after takeoff to avoid overflying a residential area during a test flight.
The base has 18 F-2 fighters, the first jet fighter jointly developed by Japan and the United States, which ASDF pilots are test-flying for operations in the near future.
But behind the flowery words, "first joint development," lies a memory of humiliation that Japanese aeronautics engineers cannot forget.
The project to develop the F-2, dubbed the FS-X, as a next-generation support-fighter started in 1982. The Japanese government initially wanted to produce every part of the aircraft domestically, except for the engine.
But Washington strongly opposed this policy because Japan was flooding the U.S. market with automobiles, semiconductors and numerous other products, resulting in the United States having a huge trade deficit with Japan.
Finally, the two governments agreed to jointly develop the FS-X based on the U.S. F-16 fighter.
During development talks, the United States suddenly reversed its earlier decision to supply the flight source code for the F-16, (data on the fighter's flight patterns), which was Japan's top requirement
1 2001.08.10
Dream of domestic jet fighter realized
英文 Natl2
03頁 708ワード
This is the sixth installment of a series on the current state of partnership between Japan and the United States focusing on the bilateral security alliance.
The two F-2 jets from the Air Self-Defense Force's Misawa Base in Aomori Prefecture, painted light blue to reduce reflection, banked to the left immediately after takeoff to avoid overflying a residential area during a test flight.
The base has 18 F-2 fighters, the first jet fighter jointly developed by Japan and the United States, which ASDF pilots are test-flying for operations in the near future.
But behind the flowery words, "first joint development," lies a memory of humiliation that Japanese aeronautics engineers cannot forget.
The project to develop the F-2, dubbed the FS-X, as a next-generation support-fighter started in 1982. The Japanese government initially wanted to produce every part of the aircraft domestically, except for the engine.
But Washington strongly opposed this policy because Japan was flooding the U.S. market with automobiles, semiconductors and numerous other products, resulting in the United States having a huge trade deficit with Japan.
Finally, the two governments agreed to jointly develop the FS-X based on the U.S. F-16 fighter.
During development talks, the United States suddenly reversed its earlier decision to supply the flight source code for the F-16, (data on the fighter's flight patterns), which was Japan's top requirement
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283 ：＠：2001/08/24(金) 12:51 ID:SGK0PZyQ
続き
The U.S. negotiators backed up their position by telling their Japanese counterparts
that Washington would not provide engines for the FS-X if Japan did not accept the U.S. decision.
The U.S. officials played this card because they knew that, at the time,
Japan could not manufacture an engine capable of powering a supersonic jet fighter.
Masanobu Miyaka, 59, a research and development planner at the Defense Agency's technical research and development institute, recalled: "I thought nothing could be done until we posse the requisite technological capability ourselves. I felt mortified."
It was not until more than 10 years later that final tests on the first domestically manufactured jet engine capable of supersonic speeds were conducted at the institute's laboratory in Tachikawa, Tokyo.
When the supervisor shouted, "Turn on the afterburner," the two-meter-long engine belched out flame and emitted a deep roar.
Several minutes later, immediately after the test was completed, Miyake, who had been watching the test, nodded to himself in contentment.
He did so because the stable burning of the afterburner, an essential precondition for supersonic flight,
had been a success--meaning that Japan was no longer reliant on the United States for supersonic flight.
This had been a long time coming. In the decade following the end of World War II,
Japan had been prohibited by the GHQ from developing aircraft engines. During this period,
other countries had developed jet-engine technology, leaving Japan's aeronautical industry having to play catch-up.
The U.S. negotiators backed up their position by telling their Japanese counterparts
that Washington would not provide engines for the FS-X if Japan did not accept the U.S. decision.
The U.S. officials played this card because they knew that, at the time,
Japan could not manufacture an engine capable of powering a supersonic jet fighter.
Masanobu Miyaka, 59, a research and development planner at the Defense Agency's technical research and development institute, recalled: "I thought nothing could be done until we posse the requisite technological capability ourselves. I felt mortified."
It was not until more than 10 years later that final tests on the first domestically manufactured jet engine capable of supersonic speeds were conducted at the institute's laboratory in Tachikawa, Tokyo.
When the supervisor shouted, "Turn on the afterburner," the two-meter-long engine belched out flame and emitted a deep roar.
Several minutes later, immediately after the test was completed, Miyake, who had been watching the test, nodded to himself in contentment.
He did so because the stable burning of the afterburner, an essential precondition for supersonic flight,
had been a success--meaning that Japan was no longer reliant on the United States for supersonic flight.
This had been a long time coming. In the decade following the end of World War II,
Japan had been prohibited by the GHQ from developing aircraft engines. During this period,
other countries had developed jet-engine technology, leaving Japan's aeronautical industry having to play catch-up.
284 ：＠：2001/08/24(金) 12:53 ID:SGK0PZyQ
さらに続き これでお終い ｗ
Although Japan later succeeded in developing two engines for use on ASDF training jets, their maximum speed was Mach 0.9. Japanese technology was having a tough time breaking through the sound barrier.
"This meant we could not ask the United States to allow us to produce the engine for the FS-X," Miyaka said.
The engine currently being developed by the ASDF is the XF5-1, which it hopes will deliver five tons of thrust, enabling speeds of Mach 2.5.
But the project is not aimed at producing engines for actual planes, rather it is prove technological capability.
Japan's top three heavy industries firms--Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.--have joined hands in their first technical cooperation with the agency's institute.
Though the XF5-1 thrust of five tons is nowhere near the eight to 10 tons of U.S. jet fighters such as the F-15 and F-16, its ratio of thrust to mass is greater than the two U.S. jets.
Japanese engineers feel they have finally reached a stage where they can turn out engines as good as those made in the United States. This achievement is a direct result of the humiliation experienced during the FS-X project,
underwritten by Japan having jointly developed with the United States a lot of defense equipment since the days of the project.
Japan and the United States are now partners in military technology, as indicated by the fact that the United States needs Japanese high technologies for its missile defense plan.
Although Japan later succeeded in developing two engines for use on ASDF training jets, their maximum speed was Mach 0.9. Japanese technology was having a tough time breaking through the sound barrier.
"This meant we could not ask the United States to allow us to produce the engine for the FS-X," Miyaka said.
The engine currently being developed by the ASDF is the XF5-1, which it hopes will deliver five tons of thrust, enabling speeds of Mach 2.5.
But the project is not aimed at producing engines for actual planes, rather it is prove technological capability.
Japan's top three heavy industries firms--Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.--have joined hands in their first technical cooperation with the agency's institute.
Though the XF5-1 thrust of five tons is nowhere near the eight to 10 tons of U.S. jet fighters such as the F-15 and F-16, its ratio of thrust to mass is greater than the two U.S. jets.
Japanese engineers feel they have finally reached a stage where they can turn out engines as good as those made in the United States. This achievement is a direct result of the humiliation experienced during the FS-X project,
underwritten by Japan having jointly developed with the United States a lot of defense equipment since the days of the project.
Japan and the United States are now partners in military technology, as indicated by the fact that the United States needs Japanese high technologies for its missile defense plan.