Bradley Perrett from Aviation Week looked at Japan’s Request For Information for its next fighter and concluded that Tokyo’s requirements can only be met by a clean-sheet design.
By Kaboldy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Defense officials reached out to the industry for information on three alternatives to replace the F-2: a new fighter type, modifying an existing one or importing.
Perrett said concept studies over the past few years from the Ministry of Defense suggests Tokyo is leaning towards a new fighter as it wanted a large, twin-engine jet with long endurance and internal carriage of six big air-to-air missiles.
None of the current fighters in service or development in the West satisfy those demands. Only the Chengdu J-20 comes close to what Japan wanted.