MITSUBISHI T-2

For my first review, i will be writing on the JASDF [Japan Air Self Defense Force] Mitsubishi T-2, an indigenously designed fast jet trainer and no, i did not manage to fly it. I just got inspired by a picture taken by my nephew now studying in Japan. :)

MITSUBISHI T-2 

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS 

• Crew: Two
• Length: 17.85 m (58 ft 6¾ in)
• Wingspan: 7.88 m (25 ft 10¼ in)
• Height: 4.39 m (14 ft 4¾ in)
• Wing area: 21.2 m² (228 ft²)
• Empty weight: 6,197 kg (13,662 lb)
• Loaded weight: 9,675 kg (21,330 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 12,800 kg (28,219 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Ishikawa-Harima TF40-801A afterburning turbofans

PERFORMANCE

• Maximum speed: 1,700 km/h (1,056 mph, 917 kn) at 10,975 m (36,000 ft) (clean)
• Service ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)

WARLOAD

• Guns: 1 × 20 mm JM61A1 cannon
• Hardpoints: One centreline and two underwing pylons
• Missiles: Provision for Two AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-air missile on wingtip missile rails

* You can find out more on it if you want via Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_T-2

VH'S REVIEW

The T2 was developed as a replacement of the Fuji T-1, which is quite obvious as a fast jet trainer. Back then, it was something of a fad in the 1960s for every air force to acquire trainer planes to train their pilots to pilot their new purchases at the time. In the case of JASDF, they needed a trainer that is capable of flying at Mach 1 - Mach 2. Now, many of you would ask, "Why in the freaking world does anyone need to go through all this trouble and develop a fast jet trainer to train pilots to fly fast jets!?". It's mind blasting to think that governments are willing to spend so much to develop a trainers jet just for this purpose. But then again, of course there are always political, economic elements that come into the factoring and that, we leave for another day's discussion.

Back at that time, Japan has newly acquired the state of the art Lockheed F-104J Starfighter which also explains why the T-2 has a very similar built in comparison to the F-104, namely it's short wing span and dart-like fuselage. This design is also very closely based on the Sepecat Jaguar [Joint venture betwenn the then Breguet and British Aircraft Corp]. It was developed jointly for the French Armee De lAir and British Royal Air Force [RAF] as both countries have similar specifications for a high speed jet trainer. One of the major differences between the two are it's landing gears. The T-2 has conventional landing gears while the Jaguar utilizes a pair of heavy duty landing gears for take off and landing on uneven terrain. On top of that, the T-2 also features a slightly longer and more streamlined fuselage as compared to the Jaguar. Coming to think of it, i'd bet that Mitsubishi would probably have faced some serious lawsuits in patent infringements and the like though i can't find anything of that sort in any online references. Ah well.

In terms of training features, the crew are seated in tandem with the trainee in front and the instructor behind. There are also 2 controls sticks naturally which is a common feature in any trainer aircraft. It allows the instructor to fly the plane just in case the trainee freaks out or something. One other safety feature of the trainer is it's ejection seats which has a device that breaks the canopy open in case the canopy does not fire off before the ejection. Why one may ask? Without the canopy broken or shot off, the pilots will be ejecting into the canopy which would of course mash their heads in and we certainly do not want that. 

For a trainer, it can carry quite a bit of munition which includes the American 20 mm JM61A1 cannon as well as wingtip mounted Sidewinders. T-2s also have 4 hard points installed underwing to enable stuff like drop tanks to be fitted in. All in all, the T-2 can pack around 2000kg worth of payload. However, most of these modification are made for the single seater Mitsubishi F-1 which functions as a strike aircraft version of the T-2. I'll perhaps cover this on another blog post.  

The T-2 is also made up of an avionics suite made indigenously, the Mitsubishi Electric J/AWG-11 as well as a host of other stuff coming from France and the US. 

Besides serving as a training platform and make-shift strike aircraft [F-1], the venerable T-2 has also served as part of the JASDF's aerobatics team, the Blue Impulse, served as a experimental test platform as well as part of the JASDF's Aggressor squadron. All in all, the T-2 has served the land of the rising sun for the period from 1975 - 2006, a whooping 31 years. Not bad for a trainer aircraft. 

Putting aside all the technical details and stuff, i believe the T-2 is a symbolic icon, where in it's day demonstrated to the rest of the world, mainly the west, that it is capable of designing and manufacturing a functional jet capable of reaching speeds of Mach 2. I would say that the T-2 is a significant achievement during that era for the Asian region especially during a time where the Americans were pitting against the them USSR in aircraft design with famous aircraft such as the Mig-21 and the F-4 Phantom.    

That's all for now folks! Till the next one.