ANDREW DOYLE / SINGAPORE
The Japanese government has traditionally provided a high level of R&D funding to the country's aerospace manufacturers, and research and academic institutes. Government financial assistance has enabled Japanese firms to establish themselves as major partners in Western civil aircraft programmes, such as the Boeing 767 and 777 airliners, Bombardier Global Express business jet and Embraer 190 regional jet.
However, given Japan's lack of success in realising its goal of launching true indigenous programmes such as the YSX regional jet, and the unlikelihood of a next-generation supersonic transport getting off the ground in the foreseeable future, many in the industry question whether the Japanese taxpayer is getting value for money.
On the military side the Japanese government is funding development of indigenous maritime patrol and transport aircraft, which cannot be sold overseas because the country's constitution prohibits export sales of defence equipment. Japan also spends large sums of money acquiring license-production rights for military aircraft, such as the Lockheed Martin F-16, basis for the Mitsubishi F-2 fighter, pushing unit costs as high as $120 million with limited benefits in terms of technology transfer for local industry.
Japan's costly ambition to become a major player in the commercial space launch market has also run into difficulties due to technical problems and the collapse in the satellite market.
Japanese companies traditionally do not reveal the amount they spend on R&D, but the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC) estimates the government spent $3.4 billion on aerospace-related research in fiscal year 2001, up from $3.3 billion the year before and $3.1 billion in 1999.
"Our society does not grasp R&D money accurately because Japanese companies will not reveal their R&D," says the SJAC. "They have a kind of rivalry between competitors," it adds. The SJAC says Japan's aerospace industry is satisfied with the state funding it receives, however.
The space policy division of the ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology (MEXT) says spending on space-related R&D will fall in FY2002 under government plans. The budget for the 12-month period from 1 April will be ¥268 billion ($2.2 billion), compared with ´286 billion for the previous year.
The bulk of the money goes to MEXT and the National Space Development Agency of Japan. MEXT's total aerospace budget for FY2002 is ¥191 billion, of which ¥34 billion is earmarked for "advanced technology" R&D compared with the ¥36.2 billion for FY2001.
The country's Technical Research and Development Institute has been allocated ¥83.4 billion for aerospace projects in FY2002, including ¥63 billion for aircraft and ´20.4 for missiles. Most of the aircraft funding will be spent on the next-generation maritime patrol/cargo aircraft programme.
The ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI) has requested ¥152 million for FY2002 to be spent on "fundamental research" on the YSX regional airliner project. It also wants ¥3.2 billion to spend on "basic technology development for advanced aircraft systems".
Meanwhile, the SJAC submitted a petition to METI late last year calling on the government to implement tax reforms for FY2002. SJAC's argument is based on the assertion that the aerospace industry produces high value-added products and technologies benefiting other industries in Japan. It is asking the government to simplify and reduce the tax burden for aerospace firms, because they are forced to make high-risk investments and often wait many years before generating a return. A key demand is an increase in tax exemptions for R&D projects.
Source: Flight International
