Japan and the F-35

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress April 30 of a possible foreign military sale to Japan of an initial four F-35 Joint Strike Fighter conventional-takeoff-and-landing aircraft, with an option to buy 38 more of the same variant, according to a May 1 agency statement. The estimated cost is $10 billion, the agency announced.

"Japan is one of the major political and economic powers in East Asia and the Western Pacific and a key ally of the United States in ensuring the peace and stability of this region," the agency statement notes. "The proposed sale of aircraft and support will augment Japan’s operational aircraft inventory and enhance its air-to-air and air-to-ground self-defense capability. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s F-4 aircraft will be decommissioned as F-35’s are added to the inventory. Japan will have no difficulty absorbing these aircraft into its armed forces."

InsideDefense.com reported on March 23 that in February, Japan signed a $6 million contract for studies led by the Defense Department and two JSF contractors that would outline options for how Japanese companies could manufacture components and play a role in assembling the 42 F-35s that Tokyo plans to buy.