TOKYO - The Japanese Defense Ministry is seeking to develop an indigenous airborne early-warning (AEW) platform that would allow its military to phase out of service their U.S.-produced aircraft. The requirement has become more pronounced recently as Chinese forces step up their activity in the East China Sea and Russian forces do the same along Japan's northern periphery.
The Defense Ministry is seeking an initial JPY80 million ($642,000) in start-up financing for the initiative from the Finance Ministry starting in FY15-16, which begins on April 1. The current plan calls for completion of the development for a new aircraft featuring advanced surveillance radar to occur by the mid-2020s. This would allow the Japanese military to phase out its Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye from service. The Hawkeyes were ordered by Japan in 1979 and entered service in 1982. The platform is based on a design from the 1960s, thus the interest in acquiring a more modern aircraft.
Over the course of 2013-2014, Japan had to scramble its jet fighters over 800 times to shadow Chinese and Russian military aircraft that had penetrated its airspace. That is the highest total for Japan since 1989.
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