At the
beginning of the 21st century, JASDF seeking to replace its aging fleet
of fighter aircraft, began making overtures to the United States on the
topic of purchasing several F-22 Raptors for their own forces. However
the U.S. Congress had banned the exporting of the aircraft in order to
safeguard secrets of the aircraft's technology such as its extensive use
of stealth; this rejection necessitated Japan to develop its own modern
fighter, to be equipped with stealth features and other advanced
systems. The Japanese Ministry of Defense Technical Research and
Development Institute (TRDI) launched the "Advanced Technology
Demonstrator ¡V X" (ATD-X) program. Mitsubishi was contracted to develop
a research prototype that uses advanced stealth technology. A mock-up of
the ATD-X was constructed and used to study the radar cross section in
2005. A radio-controlled 1/5 scale model made its first flight in 2006
to gain data on performance at high angles of attack and to test new
sensory equipment and self-repairing flight control systems. Following
these tests, The decision was taken in 2007 to go ahead with the
project, The ATD-X is scheduled to first flight in 2015
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