8 or 80 kN, but 8000kN is almost 71 million pounds of thrust!

D’oh! 80 kN it was.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091123a1.html

“Japan gearing up to acquire F-35 fighters
Stealth jets would replace aging F-4 fleet”

The only thing is this bit further down in the article:

“The move apparently means priority has been put on strengthening air-defense capabilities as neighboring China makes efforts to enhance its air force by developing its own next-generation aircraft, analysts said.”

I don’t see the F-35 as being an air-defense aircraft, so maybe this article is more something put-out by a ministry bureaucrat than an actual official statement of intent (This does happen in Japan from time to time).

Also, the F-35 was supposed to be the focus of the F-XX requirement, the F-X being the AD fighter. From ARES

“Japan’s F-X program is aimed at buying 20-60 high performance F-22-like aircraft. The follow-on F-XX effort is being written to an F-35-like requirement for many more aircraft. Both programs will replace existing aircraft.”

So maybe there’s either been a mix-up by the journos – or F-X has morphed into the F-XX programme. Hard to tell which is the more likely – Japanese Bureaucrats move in mysterious ways…

And a freighter disobeying traffic control and turning into the path of the JMSDF ship, effectively ramming the Japanese warship is the fault of the Japanese warship’s manning level how?

Sorry, I wasn’t being clear in my response – I was referring to the last line I quoted:

“This is just another of a few accidents, collisions, and fires involving JMSDF ships in recent months.”

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20091029-00000708-yom-soci
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20091029-00000029-maip-soci

JCG said, based on AIS (automatic identification system) and radar data, the 7,401 tons container ship Carina Star at 12-14 knots (22-26 km/h) was moving at twice the speed of the 9,046 tons Panama freighter at six knots (11 km/h) moving eastwards before her, so tens of second before they would collide, she decelerated, turned left, and entered the opposite-direction “lane”, into the way of the 5,200 tons JDS Kurama moving westwards; while JCG traffic control advised the freighter to slip to starboard.

This is just another of a few accidents, collisions, and fires involving JMSDF ships in recent months.

I recall reading somewhere that the JMSDF has a serious manning problem at the moment the article stated that at least some ships are going to sea without a full complement.

MSDF DDH damaged in collision

The destroyer Kurama was damaged yesterday in a collision with a South Korean freighter in the Kammon Straight, Japan.

There appears to be substantial damage to the bow. I wonder if this will push a decision on the DDH22?

Story at: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091028a1.html

Photos like that are just depressing. 🙁

Seconded, we sailed past the Ark in various forms of dismantlement on the ferry over from Northern Ireland to Scotland. As a tech-mad teenager it was heart-rending to see such a ship get cut down to nothing.

Yeah, we live in a country where the Scots, English, Welsh & Irish have had little digs, i.e jokes, at eachother for god knows how long, so, take it as a joke with a pinch of salt. And I like to add, it was a bit of a metaphor for trying to explain to someone about what we were having a discussion about a particiular topic, whom of of which didn’t get what I was trying to say. Hence why I said it, in no mean way of course.

Can we get back on topic, please? Thanks.

Not quite yet EELightning.

Maybe it’s ok to crack jokes at the Irish when you’re down the pub with your pals – but this is an open internet forum, not the pub. So far I’m the only Irishman (and Ulsterman) to respond – but IMHO it’s right out in this forum. Maybe it’d be more suited to the WAFF – and we know what that’s like.

Also, having wee digs at each other is all right when people know each other. You’re just a username to me (at the moment) – so what you’re doing is the equivalent of walking up to a guy in the pub who has an Irish accent and saying ‘you’re a moron’ – in a loud voice, to the whole pub.

If, and its a BIG if, Japan does get the F-22, more than likely its going to have some serious strings attached, very-VERY limited tech transfere, sanctions & what not and of course, stupidly expensive…So, will it be worth all the hassle of buying them?…Call me picky but, not much of a good deal to me. My 2 British pennies worth.

Agreed – I’d expect an export F-22 to Japan to be seriously ‘black-boxed’ (i.e. sealed electronics modules) and training overseen by the US – so as to avoid the ‘can I borrow the AEGIS manuals?’ type scenario that occurred with the JSDF in the past.