P.M. BRIEFING : Japanese Set to Develop Their Own Engines for Fighter Planes
In an effort to catch up with Western technology in the engine-making field, Japan will develop its own engines for supersonic fighter planes for the first time starting next year, news reports said today.
The Defense Ministry decided to produce three engines for supersonic fighter planes over the next two years and is to ask for a $7.1-million budget for the 1990 fiscal year, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan’s leading economic journal.
Research and development of the project is to be conducted by the Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., which produces about 60% of the engines for Defense Ministry planes.
Ishikawajima said the agency has not contacted the company for this project. However, a company official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “It’s a great pleasure for the company if this works out.”
The project is an attempt to improve Japanese engine-making technology, which is almost 10 years behind that in the United States and Europe.
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