Japan wants to scrap 100 F-15J Eagle fighters, replace them with F-35s and sell 200 F100 engines

The Japanese Air Self-Defence Forces want to decommission its fourth-generation F-15J Eagle fighter jets and get rid of the engines. This was announced by Hiroshi Ide, president of IHI Corporation.

Here's What We Know

The Japanese Air Force has 200 F-15J fighters in service. Half of them have not passed the Multi-Stage Improvement Program (MSIP), which allows them to carry modern air-to-air missiles.

For this reason, the Japanese Air Force will retire the obsolete planes and scrap them. They will be replaced by American fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters produced by Lockheed Martin.

Each F-15J Eagle is equipped with two Pratt & Whitney F100 engines. Thus, Japan intends to get rid of two hundred engines. One option is to export to another country.

Hiroshi Hide has discussed the issue with the government of Japan. The key sticking point is that the Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology prohibit Japan from transferring the engines to another country. Negotiations are now underway to find a way out of the situation.

The F-15 Eagle fighter jet with the F100-PW-100 engine first flew in 1972. In more than 50 years, the family has expanded to include the F100-PW-200, F100-PW-220 and F100-PW-229. The latter engine versions have fifth-generation technology.

In total, Pratt & Whitney has produced over 7,300 F100s in various versions. In addition to the F-15, F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters are equipped with these engines. Now there are over 3,800 F100 engines in service with 23 air forces in 3 countries.

Source: The Aviation Geek Club