Japan’s first domestically developed stealth fighter jet will initial field test as early as this month.
The field test will focus on evaluating the X-2's stealth technologies, Nikkie Asian Review reports Monday. The Ministry of Defense will carry out more tests by end of this fiscal year.
The ministry will decide by fiscal 2018 whether a successor to the Air Self-Defense Force's F-2 fighter jet should be developed solely by a domestic team or through cooperation with foreign partners.
The X-2 prototype stealth jet, whose development team is led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, made its maiden flight in April, demonstrating the plane's capability to fly without a hitch. The X-2 uses radar-absorbing materials made of carbon fiber, rendering detection difficult. Japan is the fourth country to develop a stealth fighter following the U.S., Russia and China.