The X-2 Stealth Aircraft - From the Wings to the Engine, This Machine Is Homegrown

This news report introduces the first flight of the domestically manufactured stealth aircraft, the X-2. It's titled "Where's the Hinomaru? The First Flight of the Domestically Manufactured Stealth Fighter (22/04/16)" (日の丸戦闘機”の行方は　国産ステルス機が初飛行(16/04/22)).

The X-2 shown in the video is a domestically manufactured stealth aircraft. From the wings to the engine, everything is made in Japan.
It became a popular topic in 2016 when it made its first flight.

Japan's X-2 Stealth Aircraft

Source :YouTube screenshot

The X-2 is an experimental aircraft for advanced technology demonstrations commissioned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Technical Research and Development Division of the Japanese Ministry of Defense. 220 Japanese companies cooperated to develop this aircraft.
The X-2 was named after the X1G, a modified Saab-Safir 91B high-lift research aircraft once used by the Defense Agency as an experimental aircraft.

More than 90% of the X-2's parts were made in Japan, and it was developed under the name "Shin shin," which means Mt. Fuji.
The X-2 was developed to demonstrate advanced military technology as a future domestically produced fighter, and to accumulate knowledge of stealth technology.

Stealth fighters are characterized by their small size and shortened operational periods of a few hundred hours. Their engines are small and they are not equipped with weapons.

The Body of the Japanese X-2 Stealth Aircraft

Source :YouTube screenshot

The Japanese stealth aircraft is equipped with a mechanism called "chine," which is used to reduce and absorb radar reflection and absorption, and the surface of the fuselage is specially coated with composite materials such as ceramic and silicon carbide.
The X-2 has a total length of about 14 meters. Tests conducted in the radio anechoic chamber of the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) to investigate the RCS, which is the radar's reflection area, proved that the X-2 is smaller than a medium-sized bird and larger than an insect in terms of stealth performance.
The development of the X-2 cost 39.4 billion yen and took seven years of prototyping from 2009 to 2014, with development completed in 2016.

The cockpit has two displays and a heads-up display, while the seats and canopy are made of ITO, a material developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries that prevents radio waves from reflecting off of it.
The engine of the X-2 is an XF5 developed by the Ministry of Defense's Air Equipment Research Center in cooperation with Ishikawajima-harima Heavy Industries, and is a turbofan jet engine with an afterburner that burns by blowing fuel into the exhaust of the jet engine again.
The engine was developed through research into high-motion flight control systems, and the engine's three thrust vectoring paddles allow the direction of engine thrust to be controlled at will, even in areas of stalling where normal fighter jets would be unable to do so.
In the future, the X-2 is expected to be commercialized around 2030, and is envisioned as the next fighter aircraft of the F2, which belongs to the older generation of aircraft.

The First Flight of the X-2 Japanese Stealth Aircraft

Photo：American stealth aircraft・F35

As shown in the video, the X-2, a 100% Japanese-made stealth aircraft, made its first flight at Nagoya Airport in April 2016.
It has a top speed of 1,200 km/h, or supersonic speed.
You can also see the X-2 flying with other fighters, such as an F15, at 0:39 in the video.

Japan is the fourth country to fly a manned stealth aircraft, following the United States, Russia and China. Since then, it underwent several test flights and was kept in storage, but it became a hot topic of conversation when it was shown to the public at an air festival at the Air Self Defense Force base in Gifu.

Summary of the X-2 Japanese Stealth Aircraft

Source :YouTube screenshot

What did you think of Japan's latest stealth aircraft?
At 1:28 in the video, you can see comments from people who saw the first flight of X-2.
Be sure to check out the test flight of the X-2 and see how awesome the new stealth aircraft is!