US AND JAPANESE Government negotiators, have failed to reach agreement during meetings in Tokyo to clear the jam, which is holding up a critical industry-workshare agreement on the Mitsubishi F-2A/B fighter programme. The delay is threatening the project schedule.
The Japan Defence Agency (JDA) and US Defence Security Assistance Agency (DSAA), are planning a further round of talks in Washington before the end of June.
Under an earlier agreement, the USA is guaranteed a 40% share in the programme in return for allowing the Lockheed Martin F-16 to be used as the basis of the F-2. The two sides have been unable to agree the detailed make-up of the US contribution, however (Flight International, 5-11 June).
While some sources close to the talks suggest that the differences are over "nickel-and-dime items", others contend that they are more "profound". Issues, which are holding up the negotiations, are understood to include a dispute over whether raw-materials costs are included within the US offset, and a clash between Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi over wing-manufacturing ambitions.
The F-2's development has already suffered extensive cost overruns and delay, and both sides are keen to avoid surrounding the programme with any further controversy. It has been suggested that the long-running JDA-DSAA negotiations may now be elevated to a higher political level, to speed up progress.
An agreement needs to be reached and approved by the US Congress, before US companies can be allowed to sign production contracts with Mitsubishi.
Work has to begin before September on the first 11 fiscal-year-1996-funded F-2s, for the programme to remain on track.
Source: Flight International
