Pro-China officials in the White House and Pentagon are quietly undermining Japan's request to buy 50 advanced F-22 jet fighter-bombers, to avoid upsetting Beijing's government, according to U.S. officials familiar with the dispute.
Japan's Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma made a formal request to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates earlier this month for classified technical data on the jet, as a first step toward a purchase.
The Japanese view the advanced warplane as a key element of a military modernization needed to counter current missile threats from North Korea and a longer-term threat from China.
Air Force officials and defense industry officials, however, said officials at the National Security Council and within the office of the secretary of defense are opposing the sale, and plan to delay acting on Japan's request until after a September deadline, when Tokyo will then be forced to look for other jets to upgrade its aging aircraft arsenal.
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China opposes F-22 sales since the ultra-modern fighter-bomber can carry large numbers of precision guided bombs, can hit targets at long ranges, and has anti-radar stealth that can evade all of China's air defenses.
Both the Air Force and the F-22 manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp., favor building an export version of the F-22 to reduce unit costs, now estimated to be around $150 million per jet, and to bolster the alliance with Japan. South Korea, Australia and Israel also are interested in buying the F-22.
The export version would require a lot more money because they have to downgrade individual systems a nontrivial amount, so there is some question whether or not there would really be a savings through economies of scale. SO! These may be some spinning by LockMart et al going on here because they want more sales. OTOH, there very well may be some work by the PRC friendly types in the administration to ixnay this. The reason being that Japan with true stealth aircraft would be about as popular with other Asian nations as Japan with carriers.
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