Japan faces 'substantial' obstacles on F-22 acquisition, warns USAF chief

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.