Japan’s First X-2 Stealth Fighter Jet To Be Tested This Month

Japan’s first domestically developed stealth fighter jet will initial field test as early as this month.

The field test will focus on evaluating the X-2's stealth technologies, Nikkie Asian Review reports Monday. The Ministry of Defense will carry out more tests by end of this fiscal year.

The ministry will decide by fiscal 2018 whether a successor to the Air Self-Defense Force's F-2 fighter jet should be developed solely by a domestic team or through cooperation with foreign partners.

The X-2 prototype stealth jet, whose development team is led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, made its maiden flight in April, demonstrating the plane's capability to fly without a hitch.  The X-2 uses radar-absorbing materials made of carbon fiber, rendering detection difficult. Japan is the fourth country to develop a stealth fighter following the U.S., Russia and China.