Non-Subscriber Extract
Japan faces 'substantial' obstacles on F-22 acquisition, warns USAF chief
By Jon Grevatt
16 June 2009
US Air Force (USAF) Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz has stated that Japan faces some "very substantial" obstacles in persuading Washington to allow the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor to be exported.
Speaking at a conference on 11 June organised by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think-tank, Gen Schwartz cited legal, technical and "produceability" issues that Japan faces in its longstanding bid to acquire the aircraft as its next-generation (F-X) fighter platform.
Jane's reported on 9 June that the Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) was continuing to lobby the Pentagon about possible sales of an export version of the F-22, despite the decade-long ban on overseas sales of the aircraft and despite a plan announced by the Department of Defense in April to halt Raptor production.
"We have been requesting the US government to provide us with necessary information [about the F-22]. Our stance remains unchanged," said a Japanese MoD spokesman.