TOKYO -- Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor still appeals to Japan’s leadership, but there’s an implacable demand for Japan’s industrial participation in any aircraft it operates, which appears to be diminishing demand for the Raptor.

"We must have the capabilities within Japan for technical support, maintenance and upgrading to meet changing circumstances during the F-X’s lifetime," says Maj. Gen. Hidetoshi Hirata, director of the Defense Planning and Policy Department in Japan’s Defense Ministry air staff. As far as F-X capabilities, "Stealth would be a great advantage for air-defense and air-to-air engagements. Stealth would also be necessary if we had to [penetrate enemy air defenses to] attack a ballistic missile launch facility before it activated." However, Japan is thinking about more than bombs.

"I think the technology to create malfunctions or damage [in enemy systems through electronic attack] is very important," he said.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Air Defense Command (ADC) has begun building a new headquarters at Yokota Air Base that will include a joint, Japanese-U.S.-manned subterranean command-and-control center. It also will feature an underground tunnel that connects the ADC HQ with the U.S. Air Force’s air operations center.

The $400 million, 1.3 million-square-foot complex is not without its share of unsolved issues. Both countries have to rationalize their internal networking and then they have to develop a third network that lets the trans-Pacific countries swap and fuse information in real-time.

They hope to have their problems solved by opening day in 2011. "At the moment, we’re having a hard time understanding how to consolidate all the information," according to Hirata.