BEIJING — A Japanese industry group is urging the government to keep the country’s planned F-X fighter in production until 2028, raising the stakes for the three Western companies competing for the program. Meanwhile, full-scale development of an indigenous follow-on fighter, known as i3, should begin between 2015 and 2017, the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies recommends.

BEIJING and LOS ANGELES — Japan’s defense ministry and industry aim to develop an engine with advanced stealth features, breaking away from reliance on the U.S. for a sixth-generation fighter that would enter service in the 2030s. Japanese engineers have designed the front of their proposed engine to avoid reflecting radio energy back to enemy radar. There also is evidence that the rear of the engine may be arranged to hide the turbines from radar behind the aircraft.

Quickstep Technologies will become Australia’s largest independent composites maker with an expansion tied to the confirmation of its role as a supplier to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The company hopes eventually to apply its out-of-autoclave composites curing process to parts that it and U.S. partners will make for the F-35, with a view to cutting program costs.