What Japan’s F-22/F-35 Fighter Hybrid Might Look Like:
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Last week, Lockheed Martin proposed building a hybrid F-22 Raptor/F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for Japan. The jet, possibly to be known as F-3, would be the most advanced jet fighter in the world. Why Japan wants the best fighter it can possibly afford, and why such a high-tech nation was forced to go to an American company, is a story that traces back to World War II.

At the end of the Second World War, Japan lay in ruins. Blasted by bombing raids and even two nuclear weapons, the country’s largest cities were utterly destroyed, and Japan faced decades of rebuilding. The larger issues aside, Japan had failed to maintain air superiority, allowing American B-29 bombers to ravage the country at will.

In the aftermath of the war, Japan allied with the United States and purchased the very best air superiority fighters it could afford. The Asian country was among the first customers for the F-104 Starfighter, F-4 Phantom and F-15 Eagle. Japan purchased and built under license more than 200 F-15s, converted to the F-15J standard, which also boosted the domestic aviation industry. The F-15J, nearly forty years after entering service, is still the frontline fighter for Japan’s Air Self Defense Force.

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