The Philippine Air Force still pursues its quest of securing its future formidable multirole fighter jets, interdiction assets that have air interdiction, anti-shipping, and surgical strike capabilities in mind. With the ongoing stiff competition between established aerospace manufacturers that have to take part and are already part of the defense topic discussions, another one unexpectedly emerges, as this option actually resulted from the assessments made by the service branch itself.
IN THE NEWS
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| The Philippine Air Force sees this as another option for its MRF Acquisition Project. (This is a U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Courtney Witt, via Wikimedia Commons.) |
The multirole fighter jet acquisition project of the Philippine Air Force is yet to reach finalization this year, at least that’s what the Department of National Defense and this service branch under the Armed Forces of the Philippines are trying to aim.
Currently, the competition is strong between two (2) aerospace manufacturers and their respective offers, which are the United States military industrial company Lockheed Martin and its F-16 Block 70/72 Viper offer, and the Swedish SAAB and its JAS-39 Gripen E/F variant.
Recently, the Philippine Air Force renewed its interest in getting multirole fighter jet squadrons for its operational use, only this time the leadership now considers Japanese-made aircraft, most notably the Mitsubishi F-2 Viper Zero multirole fighter jet for its operational use.
The interview took place during the announcement that the Philippine Air Force will purchase an additional squadron of FA-50 lead-in fighter trainers, an interest first announced by the air service branch from 2022.
The consideration comes as the air service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will materialize the longest-running multirole fighter jet acquisition project, whereby both the Philippine Air Force and the Department of National Defense still see the project as the one with utmost priority, improving the capability of the air service branch that augments the current squadron of FA-50s responsible to cover the country’s air defense identification zone.
Produced between 1995 and 2011, the F-2 Viper Zero multirole fighter jets serve as one of the primary platforms of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force or JASDF in protecting its airspace against intruding parties, particularly the Russians and the Chinese that are entering the Japanese airspace from the northwest and southwest, respectively.
Being the producer of the aircraft, Japan is the only user of its indigenously built aircraft, itself being a modification from the proven F-16 aircraft platform of Lockheed Martin.
In this topic, the discussions will simply delve into the development and production of this Japanese variant of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, of which the story will also involve some tidbits from the original aircraft that the F-2 Viper Zero derives itself from.
As an extra point, the said Japanese fighter shares similar DNA to the latest F-16 Block 70/72 Viper multirole fighter jet, itself actively offered by the United States-based aerospace company Lockheed Martin to the Philippine Air Force.
FROM THE PRODUCERS OF THE TERESA MAGBANUA-CLASS MRRVS
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| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' aerospace division also produces licensed copies of F-15 for JASDF use. Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons. |
Originating from the discussion relating to the production and eventually the entry of the Teresa Magbanua-class Multirole Response Vessels to the Philippine Coast Guard (and the ongoing production of at least five more vessels of this type), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as an entity goes beyond the usual shipbuilding practices that made these large Philippine Coast Guard vessels possible, but also they played a key role in establishing and improving the Japanese aerospace industry.
This refers to its engagement with the Japanese aerospace industry itself, as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries played a crucial role into providing the Japan Air Self-Defense Force or JASDF with its licensed-produced military aircraft, with designs usually originated from the United States for domestic altercation and production use such as the Mitsubishi F-2 Viper Zero multirole fighter aircraft. This comes as a continuation of the aerospace experience embodied by the company even before the Second World War.
One of the fully notable examples that Mitsubishi contributed in aerospace during the Second World War is the Mitsubishi A6M ‘Zero’ fighter plane, in which its agility and maneuverability played a key role in gaining air superiority in the Western Pacific theater in the first months of the war against the United States and its allies, until this was eventually caught up by advanced fighter aircraft developed to counter its capabilities, such as the North American P-51 Mustang Aircraft.
In contemporary times, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ contribution to the development of the Japanese aerospace industry goes beyond the production of the F-2 Viper Zero, but also it involves the locally produced license copies of the F-15J Eagle air superiority fighter (see image above), and the locally produced license copies of S-70 Black Hawk helicopters, which are the Mitsubishi H-60 helicopters for all the service branches of the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF).
With the company’s product line presentation provided, it provides a full picture regarding the experience and expertise that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has in aerospace development and production, and has since then played a critical role in developing and improving the capabilities of Japan Air Self Defense Force into a formidable entity it is today, defending Japanese airspace against intruding Russian and Chinese aircraft.
The next part of this discussion will delve into the development of the F-2 Viper Zero.
THE DEVELOPMENT
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| The Mitsubishi F-2 Viper Zero started as a development project under the name "XF-2". Image Source. |
From a rather obvious standpoint, the F-2 Viper Zero’s design shared from the iconic F-16 Fighting Falcon, as the latter presents as a point of preference for a Japanese company like the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop its own fighter aircraft from a proven design, but with tweaks that will come applicable to the requirements presented by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force or JASDF. This development came when the JASDF needed to replace its aging fleet of F-1 supersonic strike aircraft.
As for the reason the F-2 Viper Zero sought inspiration from a foreign-designed fighter aircraft, the story goes back to the 1980s, when Japan’s Technical Research and Development Institute or TRDI seeks for an indigenous design for a future multirole fighter jet concept intended for Japan Air Self Defense-Force use.
As the Mitsubishi F-1s were more likely to get phased out by the 1990s, it ended in the conclusion that it required a joint partnership and a fighter design derived from the F-16C.
Known as the FS-X or Fighter Support Experimental, the development of the Mitsubishi F-2 Viper Zero has two (2) primary purposes in mind, the first of which focusing on anti-ship operations that is vital for sea lane protection and amphibious operations deterrence, while the second one focusing on its usual fighter interceptor role that the other aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force has in service. This fits the description of the F-2 Viper Zero being a multirole fighter jet platform.
The agreement reached finalization when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Lockheed Martin provided the terms that the development cost is having a share of 60% and 40% respectively, with a full technology transfer of the core F-16 design getting transferred to the Japanese entity.
This then followed into the production of prototypes for flight testing and other purposes in 1997 until it reached serial production just a year later in 1998, when it continued until the orders made by JASDF got fulfilled in 2012.
As the Philippine Air Force expressed its interest in the capabilities and other factors that this Japanese-made aircraft has in consideration while competing to other proven platforms like the JAS-39 Gripen E/F variant of SAAB and the original, latest version of the F-16 Viper Block 70/72 of Lockheed Martin, the following sub-discussion will delve primarily on the specification of the F-2 Viper Zero, especially on the deviations made from the original design that the aircraft has derived from.
SPECIFICATIONS
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| Here is an image showing a clear comparison between F-16 and the F-2 in terms of their wings and fuselages. Image Source. |
On the image provided above, there is already a minor difference between the F-16 multirole fighter jet made by General Dynamics that eventually became part of Lockheed Martin’s portfolio, and the Japanese derivative that still counts as a license copy of the F-16, a modification suited for the requirements specified by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force or JASDF for an aircraft that share the same DNA. The following details describe its specifications as a fighter aircraft made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
For its size dimensions, the F-2 Viper Zero has a length of 15.52 meters, a wingspan of 10.8 meters, with the width extended further to 11.13 meters with wingtip launchers, a height of 4.96 meters, and a wing area of 34.84 meter squared.
Aside from its size, the Japanese-made aircraft has an empty weight of 9.5 tons, a gross weight of 13.5 tons, and a maximum take-off weight, or MTOW, of 22.1 tons. Both size and weight played a significant role in the aircraft’s performance, which is the next one in this discussion.
The aircraft’s performance also comes with its engine setup playing a crucial role in accomplishing the needed objectives on both anti-shipping and air defense operations, whereby the F-2 Viper Zero’s propulsion system comes with a single afterburning turbofan jet engine configuration, similar to its parent F-16 model. The jet’s engine is a General Electric F-110-IHI-129, a license-copied engine made by Japan’s IHI Corporation, formerly the Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
Regarding the aircraft’s flight characteristics, the F-2 Viper Zero has a maximum speed of Mach 1.7 at high altitude, whereas it has a maximum speed of Mach 1.1 when flying at low altitude.
Likewise, the operating range of the Japanese-made variant of the F-16 Viper aircraft comes at around 830 kilometers in combat range, while it has a transfer range of 3,500 kilometers, provided that it comes with external fuel tanks onboard for this operation to take place.
For comparison, the latest variant of the F-16, the Block 70/72 Viper variant, has a maximum speed of Mach 2.05, although its sustained speed comes lower at around Mach 1.89.
Also, there are at least nine (9) hard-points that the F-2 Viper Zero intended for munitions like the AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, while capable of carrying ASM-1 and ASM-2 anti-ship missiles. The F-16 Block 70/72 Viper comes with around 11 hard-points to fit munitions onboard for sortie objectives.
THE LIKELY OUTCOME
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| While the F-2 Viper Zero is in consideration, the competition still sticks between the offers made by both SAAB and Lockheed Martin. File Image. |
As the Philippine Air Force looking for other options like the Mitsubishi F-2 Viper Zero for its multirole fighter jet prospects, the fact remains that this consideration comes only as a sideline to the greater scheme of this project that the said military service branch aims to have, primarily into securing the deal for the jets before the year 2025 ends. This deal dwells once again between Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Viper Block 70/72 and SAAB’s JAS-39 Gripen E/F variant.
The development comes simply as part of the ongoing story relating to the current limbo surrounding the Multi-role Fighter Jet Acquisition Project of the Philippine Air Force, as its snail-paced progress has span decades since its first inception in the original iteration of the AFP Modernization Program in the 1990s, of which the dilly-dallying movement is still ongoing at the time this article publishes. Still, the leadership’s interest in the Japanese derivative of the F-16 Viper shows their constant interest in getting a multirole fighter.
As this option remains just mere plans, the fact remains that this shows a sign of growing bilateral defense ties between Japan and the Philippines, particularly that the recently signed Reciprocal Access Agreement or RAA between both countries will now come into effect by September 2025. This tie is just the latest one between the both countries in the Indo-Pacific region, the one that shares equal concerns relating to a regional aggressor and that has a geography that lies in an area known as the First Island Chain.
While eyeing the F-2 Viper Zero isn’t surprising for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to see and consider, there are other programs that both Japan and the Philippines gets strongly focused on related to defense, one of which involves the purchase of several Destroyer Escorts that are likely getting decommissioned in the upcoming years, improving the capabilities of the Philippine Navy fleet. This will come with its own set of discussions.
In the end, the growing bilateral ties between Japan and the Philippines are a prospect of shared national defense interest and the importance of providing a collective defense posture with like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region, especially when considering that a regional power and an adversary is pushing for its own dominance while undermining the interest of its neighbors. Here is hoping for a stronger defense push between countries, with the Philippines focusing on securing its seas and airspace.
(c) 2025 PDA.
