Japan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
antiterror13 said:
where did you get that "1/4 for the drone and 3/4 for support" ?
It seems to me RQ-4 Global Hawk is really expensive stuff, the unit cost is over $222M each, so with profit make sense close to $400M ... I would say (estimate) 3/4 for the drone ($300M) and 1/4 for support ($100M)
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No, the Global Hawk is closer to 130 million.

You are trying to include all of the R&D costs, which are being used on many other projects as well.
 
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Jeff Head said:
No, the Global Hawk is closer to 130 million.

You are trying to include all of the R&D costs, which are being used on many other projects as well.
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I wonder how the cost of upgrades fits in:
Sept 14
U.S. Air Force upgrades to Northrop's spyplane may cost half of prior estimate
Upgrades for the Northrop Grumman Corp high-altitude, unmanned Global Hawk surveillance aircraft could cost as little as half the previous estimate of $4 billion, a senior U.S. Air Force official said Monday.

Lieutenant General Robert Otto, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said two key upgrades were needed for the Global Hawks: a new electro-optical sensor and an optical camera with a wider field of view.

Both items could be added to the Northrop drone for perhaps as little as half the earlier estimate of $4 billion, he said.

The Air Force still hopes to retire its aging fleet of manned U-2 spy planes built by Lockheed Martin Corp because it could not afford two high-altitude surveillance aircraft. The upgrades would be needed for the Global Hawks before the U-2 could be retired.

"We love the U-2 (but) we cannot afford both platforms," Otto told reporters at the annual Air Force Association conference, saying declining operating costs made the Global Hawks the preferred option.

He said the earlier cost estimate for the upgrades also included some items that were not required, including a more robust sensor that would help the plane avoid hitting other aircraft.

Lockheed, which is keen to continue operating the U-2 fleet, has proposed several upgrades and has started work on a smaller, next-generation aircraft that could be used with or without pilots.

Congress rebuffed the service's earlier attempt to retire most of the Global Hawk fleet, as well as its bid in last year's budget, to start retiring the U-2 fleet in fiscal 2017.

Otto said both aircraft could last perhaps as long as the 2040s before they were deemed "not airworthy."

But budget constraints made it necessary to cut one of the two aircraft.

Otto said he had not yet seen a proposal from Lockheed for designing a new stealthy, optionally manned spy plane based on the U-2, potentially using its engines, and dubbed TR-X.
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Could it be the upgrades are included in the Japanese deal? Even if their cost was $2b, it would mean additional $48m per each of 42 copies (the number from wiki) built.
 
bd popeye

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
I searched google and All I can find are stories dated August that it is ready for flight.

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Japanese Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin stealth fighter aircraft ready for first flight.

The ATD-X, known in Japan as Shinshin, meaning “spirit of the heart,” is a research prototype being used to determine whether domestic technologies for a fifth-generation fighter are viable. If successful, the ATD-X will undergo further development and modifications in the hopes of leading to an F-3 fighter that will enter service starting 2035.

The experimental aircraft is currently under development by the Japanese Ministry of Defense Technical Research and Development Institute, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) signed on as the main contractor of the project.
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Blackstone

Blackstone

Brigadier
It seems Japan is considering THAAD ballistic missile defense system, supposedly against North Korea. Can't see Beijing liking the move. Tricky problem Tokyo has; defense against a hostile Pyongyang, while at the same time avoid unnecessarily provoking an unfriendly Beijing.

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HONOLULU (Kyodo) -- Japan will consider deploying an advanced U.S. antiballistic missile defense system to counter the missile threat from North Korea, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Monday.

Nakatani is visiting Hawaii for meetings with high-ranking U.S. officers. The U.S. plan to deploy the land-based Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea has drawn objections from China and North Korea.

Citing the THAAD and other U.S. defense systems, Nakatani told reporters, "We want to speed up our study of advanced activities and equipment of the United States."

This is the first time a Japanese defense minister has said deployment of the THAAD is under consideration, according to the ministry.

The THAAD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles flying at high altitudes in and outside the atmosphere, providing a longer-range defense than the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system already deployed by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
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S

strehl

Junior Member
Registered Member
Blackstone said:
It seems Japan is considering THAAD ballistic missile defense system, supposedly against North Korea. Can't see Beijing liking the move. Tricky problem Tokyo has; defense against a hostile Pyongyang, while at the same time avoid unnecessarily provoking an unfriendly Beijing.

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Japan already has the Aegis SM3 and will soon have a Block II significantly more capable than THAAD (even the Block I is more capable). PAC, THAAD, and SM3 are all defensive missiles and Japan has no national nuclear weapons. I would be more worried about "provoking" a situation leading to a nuclear armed Japan which would probably result in a nuclear armed South Korea as well.
 
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