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Raptor-wa, arimasen

By lex, on July 31st, 2007

According to Aviation Week and Space Technology, the US Congress has shelved for now any plans to share F-22 Raptor stealth technology with Japan:

U.S. refusal to supply Lockheed Martin F-22s for Japan

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July 31st, 2007 | Category: Military, Tech Lust

11 comments to Raptor-wa, arimasen

  • Skippy-san
    August 1, 2007 at 1:41 am

    Ja arimasen implies they were once here in Japan. Plus when you use the wa, the ja is not required.

    Raptor wo tsukuru koto ga dekimasen is more correct.

    It is probably just as well. Given the fact that Abe-san is VERY unpopular right now and with the defeat in the elections anything he does vis a vis changing Article 9 is going to be like a lightning rod.

    Besides if they want to they can probably do a deal with Euro-fighter and modify the jets anyway.

  • SeniorD
    August 1, 2007 at 7:06 am

    Cap’n,

    Although I’m many years divorced from Aegis, there are a couple of things I can say:

    1. The system’s capabilities are already well known, but not easily duplicated. Were it easy, copies would have already been fielded.

    2. As we have seen in the USS Cole attack, Aegis ships are thin skinned and something of an ‘easy kill’. I’ve always advocated the addition of armor belts to these ship classes.

    3. As for BMD capability, read Tom Clancy’s The Bear and the Dragon. You’ll learn quite a bit from that novel.

    Now, the F-22 is a unique aircraft in many ways. I’m sure you appreciate the lifting body airframe, trans-sonic cruising and all the neat gizmos that make it Way Cool. The Japanese need soemthing that can respond to the Norks or Chinese should they start rattling sabres (again). Is the F-22 the right system? Who knows, its basically untested in combat. Would a FMS program help reduce the cost? Absolutely, but what else would we get in return?

  • lex
    August 1, 2007 at 7:14 am

    Thanks for the grammar lesson Skip. I knew that in the probable case that I’d boogered it up, you’d lend a hand. But you have to admit that “Raptor wo tsukuru koto ga dekimasen” would be an awkward handle on a blog post ;-)

  • Skippy-san
    August 1, 2007 at 8:02 am

    Hai-so desu ne!

    There is actually about 5 ways to say it. Bottom line-No Stinkin Raptors here!

    Having watched Nippi and DCMA go round around on F-18 E and F depot work-I’m not so sure they could ever work out having Raptors here. The disclosure /tech transfer issues would be huge.

  • Mike M.
    August 1, 2007 at 8:12 am

    Well, maybe we can sell them E/F.

    That’s the problem with Secret Weapons….you can’t trust your own people with them, much less anybody else.

  • Intruders Forever!
    August 1, 2007 at 10:49 am

    This story calls to mind the treacherous sale of 9-axis milling technology to the Soviets by Toshiba, technology used to mill ultra quiet sub propellers and licensed from the US. I believe that Toshiba lost access to government contracts for a decade and paid a fine. Several Toshiba execs resigned, but that was just about it. I, for one, will never buy a Toshiba product again.

  • BKT(SS)
    August 1, 2007 at 1:04 pm

    I went to the comments section to write about the Toshiba sale but I was beat by a brown shoe. Beings that I was STS(SS) in the pacific I saw that technology sale actually change my daily job. I too have not purchased Toshiba products since the 80′s. The BS Toshiba story was that they thought it was for the milling of plow discs for Russian farming.

  • Aw1 Tim
    August 1, 2007 at 1:17 pm

    Shipmates,

    Oh yeah, I also remember that Toshiba treason. They were lying through their damned teeth with their excuses. I have always believed that the entire project was a front for the sale of that technology from day one, that we never did enough homework about Toshiba abd it’s execs before we allowed that sale to go through.

    Man, that one act made everyone’s job harder ASW-wise. There was insufficient punishment meted out in that case. Should have been a couple of hangings over it, both there and here.

    Japan doesn’t need raptors. However, I wonder if we could interest them in a bunch of Ospreys????? Use the money we get from the sale of them to buy the Marines some new helicopters.

    Respects,

  • Skippy-san
    August 1, 2007 at 2:26 pm

    They won’t buy any aircraft, unless they can build it here under license. SDF aquisitions and SDF spending are as much about creating Japanese jobs as they are about the defense of Japan. Same goes with the money they spend to provide buildings and upkeep at US bases. Don’t fool your self-that is a Japanese jobs program more than anything else.

    Plus they have newer helicopters than we do-why would they want the Osprey?

  • Ray
    August 2, 2007 at 1:18 pm

    I’m sorta surprised that the deal was scuttled, because, well, in the end Japan’s the only really reliable ally we’ve got on that side of the Pacific, yes-no?

    And, well, I rather suspect far more US technical secrets are lost to the internet (or, on political matters, the NYT) than are lost through Japanese security leaks.

  • Skippy-san
    August 2, 2007 at 3:16 pm

    Ray,

    Don’t tell that first statement to the Koreans……it really sets ‘em off.
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