Japan to decide whether to buy F-22 Raptor next year

Japan plans to pick the replacement for its aging F-4EJ Phantom fighter jets by the end of next year and its hope of procuring F-22A stealth fighters remains alive, a senior Japanese defense official has said.

"Japan is certainly interested in the F-22," Hidehiro Ikematsu, principal deputy director at the Defense Ministry's international policy planning division, said in a recent meeting with a group of South Korean reporters at Japan's Defense Ministry building.

"Current F-4 fighters will become obsolete in four or five years."
The F-22, codenamed the Raptor, was developed by U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. It is known as the world's most advanced radar-evading bomber, with high mobility at supersonic speeds and the ability to attack ground targets.

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