My latest for JDW. Mitsubishi starts building ATD-X stealth prototype

SIA PACIFIC Date Posted: 29-Mar-2012 Jane's Defence Weekly Mitsubishi starts building ATD-X stealth prototype Kosuke Takahashi JDW Correspondent Tokyo Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on 28 March began assembling the Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) fighter: a prototype for a future fighter to replace the Japan Air Self-Defence Force's Mitsubishi F-2. "The aim is to produce a purely indigenous fighter aircraft," Takashi Kobayashi, general manager of Mitsubishi Heavy's aerospace systems, said at a ceremony at the company's Tobishima plant in Aichi Prefecture. "Today marks the first step on the tough road towards that goal." The ATD-X, also known as 'Shinshin' (Heart of God), is being developed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which has provided a project budget of JPY39.2 billion (USD480 million). It plans for the ATD-X to be airborne by Fiscal Year 2014.      The ATD-X has been designed to be a stealthy air-superiority fighter with enhanced manoeuvrability. The MoD will use it to research advanced technologies and system integration, after which it plans to produce a sixth-generation fighter encompassing I3 (informed, intelligent and instantaneous) concepts and counter-stealth characteristics.       Fuji Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy are to manufacture the aircraft's fuselage, main wings and cockpit, while Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) is providing two XF5-1 twin-turbofan afterburning engines for the prototype. To reduce the aircraft's weight, carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) is being used for around 30 per cent of the whole airframe. Copyright © IHS Global Limited, 2012