SINGAPORE—The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Boeing a contract for the upgrade of Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) Boeing/Mitsubishi F-15G Eagles to the Japan Super Interceptor (JSI) standard, ending more than two years of changing definitions and price negotiations.
The $471.3 million contract also covers four weapon system trainers. The amount also matches up with the JPY52 billion set aside in Japan’s revised defense budget to upgrade a pair of F-15Js in the next fiscal year. The high unit cost is likely due to prototyping and other initial startup expenses.
The project almost did not make it into the defense budget. When the U.S. State Department cleared the foreign military sales of the JSI to Japan in late 2019, the program was valued at $4.5 billion for 98 aircraft, but that amount later grew to $4.8 billion. After repeated negotiations and making the decision to drop the integration of the Lockheed Martin AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), Japan reportedly was able to slash the upgrade cost to JPY398 billion, although this was still 1.2 times more than initially planned.
Anti-ship roles will be taken up by the Mitsubishi F-2 fighters, which will also undergo a JPY16.3 billion upgrade to carry the new Type-12 anti-ship missiles.
Without LRASM, the cornerstone of the JSI is the installation of APG-82(v)1 active electronically scanned array radar and new mission computers.
The Pentagon announcement added that the contract will run until Dec. 31, 2028, suggesting a delay in the planned 2027 completion of the JSI upgrade.
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