Before I go on, my name is pronounced RAY-TOE-SARE 「JP:レイトウセァ」 While I do enjoy hearing the many ways people mispronounce my name; if you bother reading this then you now know how to pronounce my name.

I certainly do love my history, perhaps I'll make a habit of writing stories here from time to time. Hmm, well, how about I write an interesting bit of history down?


[DISCLAIMER]: I'm going to use English names exclusively. I'm not a weeb (obviously) so I'll refrain from bringing up all of the Japanese names for various agencies/groups mentioned in the story.

The Mitsubishi F-1 is actually not the first supersonic jet Japan built and put into service, so why the title of "First Supersonic Jet?" Admittedly, the title is simplified to sound more interesting. A more accurate title would be: "Japan's First Domestically-Developed Supersonic Jet" but that's a bit too wordy for my tastes. Anyways, let me get on with the history since surely you're here for that and not me discussing things as trivial as an article title. Ahem

After WW2 and the fall of the Imperial Japanese Empire, quite a few things changed across many different aspects from a variety of factors; a destroyed economy, a war-weary population, a foreign country occupying, a new power struggle immediately starting... Quite turbulent times indeed for a country that had an empire spanning most of Southeast Asia. Fun fact: Russia (then the Soviet Union) and Japan have not agreed to a peace treaty and have technically been at war since August 8th, 1945.

One of the key changes to Japan was enshrined in its constitution: Japan is not not have a standing military of its own (at the time of writing this section of Japan's constitution has calls to be modified so this may be subject to change.) This led to Japan relying solely on the US for its defense which proved... impractical, due to the US having its attention divided across many different operations. As such, a national police force was eventually developed—the National Police Reserve. Eventually by 1954 the constitution was reinterpreted to allow for a force necessary to defend Japan—the Japan Self-Defense Force. (JSDF)

Despite the JSDF coming into existence, Japan still relied heavily on the US for defense. Not only in terms of military action, but also for supplying Japan with equipment. There are many other factors like Japan's struggling economy and a ban on domestic development of military equipment for years, but to summarize them; Japan was in no hurry to domestically develop and build their own stuff. Now this didn't completely halt development, for example in 1952 aircraft development bans were slightly lifted leading to the creation of the Fuji T-1—a small jet trainer that was Japan's first domestic jet aircraft since WW2. Fun fact: Fuji Heavy Industries was the successor to Nakajima Aircraft Corporation who developed Japan's first jet aircraft—the Kikka. Later Fuji would become the Subaru Corporation, you know, the owners of those people who make funny rally cars which love to blow their head gaskets.

While the T-1 was a fine aircraft, it proved very obsolete for training pilots on the operation of mach 2 capable jets. Thus, Japan sought out a new jet trainer with the US T-38 and Anglo-French Jaguar being their primary candidates. In the end the Jaguar won, however the purchasing deal fell through. So in 1967 Japan called upon its own aircraft industry to design a suitable jet trainer that met many of the same requirements as the Jaguar; Mitsubishi’s proposal was selected, the T-X.

Mitsubishi up to this point had been Japan’s go-to manufacturer for building aircraft. With prior experience having obtained the licenses to build American fighters such as the F-86F-40, F-104J, and F-4EJ, the T-X program would prove to be well within their capabilities. This was simply to be a jet trainer, however there was also the SF-X program running concurrently which planned to turn the T-X into a ground-strike aircraft in the future. The final product for the T-X program became known as the T-2 in 1973 and went into service in 1975—being the first indigenous Japanese aircraft to go supersonic. It was strikingly similar to the Jaguar but also quite clearly different upon closer observation, with the T-2 being longer and lighter. Several variants were produced with the primary two being the T-2Z—a flight/systems trainer—and the T-2K which was an armed version of the aircraft. Fun fact: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has either license-built or designed-and-built nearly every JASDF fighter since 1956, the only one they had no involvement in whatsoever was the F-86D. Even the modern F-35A and F-35B have an MHI "Final Assembly and Check Out" facility.

With the success of the T-X program, came the finalization of the SF-X program. This aircraft had minor revisions from the T-2 and for the most part was a simple systems upgrade. More ammunition for the gun, the ability to store fuel in a centerline fuel tank, a better radar, anti-shipping missile capability, a reinforced airframe… nothing extremely different. This plane became known as the F-1. Amusingly, due F-1 being so similar to the T-2, a pair of T-2Z’s were taken off the assembly line and converted into the F-1 prototypes (aka the FS-T2-Kai.) Two years after its trainer cousin had entered service, the F-1 would enter service in 1978 as Japan’s first indigenous supersonic fighter... Despite the fact it was primarily designed as an anti-shipping plane. Ultimately as a fighter it was horrifically obsolete by 1978 standards, (F-15A entered US service in 1976 and Mitsubishi would start producing the F-15J in 1981.) However, it’s important to remember that the F-1 was actually an anti-ship aircraft first, and a fighter jet second. On top of this, neither the T-2 nor F-1 were designed with the idea of being truly cutting-edge aircraft in mind; the two were mostly a way for Japan to bolster its domestic aviation industry while also filling capability gaps.

Neither the T-2 nor the F-1 would see any combat over their long service life. Seeing service until 2006 where both were fully retired from the JASDF—a service life of approximately 30 years. Arguably, they are unremarkable aircraft, but not every plane needs to prove itself in battle nor have the most glorious of reputations to provide a fascinating story.