Boeing's P-8A Poseidon. If it looks a lot like a 737, there's a good reason for that. Source: Boeing. |
As you've probably heard by now, Japan 's prime minister Shinzo Abe
announced a plan for massive rearmament of the island nation earlier this year.
Through the end of the decade, Japan
intends to invest more than $240 billion building up its Self-Defense Forces.
Already, Japan has
started buying Boeing's new superfast subhunter, the P-8A Poseidon maritime
surveillance aircraft. And this week, Japan
confirmed what had previously only been speculated -- that it will be
buying billions of dollars worth of additional military hardware from the U.S.
According to a
statement from Japan 's
Ministry of Defense, Japan
will also be buying:
- At least 17 MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, manufactured by a Boeing-Textron joint venture.
Osprey might be just the right aircraft it needs to outfit its new fleet of "helicopter destroyers." Photo: |
- An unspecified number of Northrop Grumman's newest eyes in the sky -- the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft.
- And a handful of Northrop's unmanned spy birds, as well -- Global Hawk drones.
Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global hawk drone is a lot bigger than you think. This lineup helps to lend some perspective. Photo: Northrop Grumman. |
And that's just for starters -- just the acquisitions that made the headlines on websites such as Flightglobal and Avionews this week. Elsewhere in
- "Ship-based" unmanned aerial vehicles -- apparently Fire Scouts from Northrop Grumman.
- A half dozen of Lockheed Martin's stealthy F-35 fighter jets.
- New, as-yet-undetermined, combat helicopters and amphibious coastal attack vehicles.
- Additional PAC-3 Patriot missile defense systems from Lockheed and Raytheon.
- A brand new, Aegis air defense system-equipped guided missile destroyer (and the outfitting of a second, existing destroyer, with Aegis.
In short, there's a weapons-buying bonanza going on in
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