The Mitsubishi F-2 is a multirole fighter derived from the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, and manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Lockheed Martin for the Japan Air Self Defence Force, with a 60/40 split in manufacturing between Japan and the United States.
The basis of the F-2’s design is the F-16 Agile Falcon, an unsuccessful offer by General Dynamics to provide a low-cost alternative for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) competition.
Production started in 1996 and the first aircraft entered service in 2000.
The first 76 aircraft entered service by 2008, with a total of 98 airframes produced.
The first active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar on a combat aircraft was the J/APG-1 introduced on the Mitsubishi F-2 in 1995.
Variants
XF-2A
Single-seat prototypes.
XF-2B
Two-seat prototypes.
F-2A
Single-seat fighter version.
F-2B
Two-seat training version.
Specifications
Crew
1
(F-2B, 2)
Length
15.52 m (50 ft 11 in)
Wingspan
11.125 m (36 ft 6 in) over missile launchers
10.8 m (35 ft) without missile launchers
Wing area
34.84 m2 (375.0 sq ft)
Aspect ratio
3.3
Empty weight
9,527 kg (21,003 lb)
F-2B
9,633 kg (21,237 lb)
Gross weight
13,459 kg (29,672 lb) clean
Max take-off weight
22,100 kg (48,722 lb)
Maximum landing weight
18,300 kg (40,300 lb)
Fuel capacity
4,637 l (1,225 US gal; 1,020 imp gal) maximum internal fuel 4,588 l (1,212 US gal; 1,009 imp gal) usable
F-2B 3,948 l (1,043 US gal; 868 imp gal) maximum internal fuel 3,903 l (1,031 US gal; 859 imp gal) usable
External Fuel capacity
5,678 l (1,500 US gal; 1,249 imp gal) maximum – (1x 1,135.5 l (300.0 US gal; 249.8 imp gal) + 2x 2,271.25 l (600.00 US gal; 499.61 imp gal) drop-tanks)
Powerplant
1 × General Electric F110-IHI-129 afterburning turbofan, 76 kN (17,000 lbf) thrust dry, 131 kN (29,500 lbf) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed
2,124 km/h (1,320 mph, 1,147 kn)
Maximum speed
Mach 1.7 at high altitude, Mach 1.1 at low altitude
Combat range
833 km (518 mi, 450 nmi) +
Service ceiling
18,000 m (59,000 ft)
Wing loading
634.3 kg/m2 (129.9 lb/sq ft) maximum
Thrust/weight
0.994
Armament
20 mm JM61A1 cannon, plus maximum weapon load of 8,085 kg:
