unfair is a stretch, we literally gave them the blueprints to the F-16 and some prototype f16 data for them to make the F-2 off of, and a lot of the composite construction probably was derived from US composite research. and we had sold them almost every postwar combat aircraft they used/use
The US also did research on AESA, first phased array radar for military use in 60’s made by bell labs, and it was good, but never fully introduced becuase it was insanely expensive
The Japanese were essentially strong armed into the program. It wasn’t the US helping Japan out of the goodness of their heart. Actually, they wanted to have a say in the program so that Japan wouldn’t come out ahead of the US in aviation. The agreement was setup in such a way that the US was profiting off Japan while making sure Japan couldn’t threaten their MIC. Japan had to develop most of the systems themselves. Meanwhile the US had free access to anything Japan developed.
The US was not doing Japan a favor building it off the F-16. They already had their own prototype they wanted to develop.
I’m sure they did. It’s only logical. Still it cannot be disputed that US had full access to Japan’s research and took lessons learned into their own development. The Japanese found a way to put it into a fighter aircraft and the US copied their homework and compared notes. After all, why reinvent the wheel.
fair enough, but there had to have been a good amount of domestic fighter radar R&D considering how quick the US completely overtook Japan in AESA tech
Well of course. I’m sure the US was well versed in the technology and had their own plans. However the US was already in the dominant position so it’s not like they had any pressure to hurry. The free access they got with the Japanese tech most likely sped up the US research in any areas they were behind on.
true, things like real world data on reliability and stuff like that they couldnt/cant really simulate, which definitely wouldve been very useful to future efforts
We did evaluate Gripen C/D but the reason was E/F was still on paper during the voting. There was no way to fly with it. Switzerland would have bought gripen E/F however. We said NO Gripen ;-)
I’d be willing to argue that it’s a uniquely strong lineup with two very capable multi role jets. Even when we look at the Russians in the next update, your equivalent is to bring the Su-34 with the Su-27SM, which is still amazing, but the SM still falls behind the F-16C as a multi role platform in my eyes.
France also has a good lineup with two mirages, although the strike variant still can’t carry Fox-3’s which is a bit of a bummer for self defense