Japan’s domestically built X-2 stealth fighter took off from Nagoya on Friday in a maiden flight that highlights the accelerating arms race in East Asia. 周五，日本国产隐形战斗机X-2从名古屋降落，已完成了“处女航”。这次首飞凸显东亚军备竞赛在大大加快。The X-2 “Shinshin” — with the characteristically angular look of aircraft designed to evade radar detection — departed early on Friday morning and landed safely at Gifu air base about 25 minutes later. X-2“心神”于周五早晨降落，约25分钟后安全性迫降在岐阜空军基地。X-2具有独有的棱角分明的外观，这种设计是为了逃离雷达探测。

Built by Mitsubishi, which manufactured the “Zero” fighter during the second world war, the flight highlights the growing capability of a Japanese aerospace industry that for decades has relied on the US. 这架飞机由二战时生产零式战斗机(Zero)的三菱(Mitsubishi)修建，突显了日本航空工业能力的大大提升。几十年来，日本航空工业都依赖美国。

But with billions of dollars in development costs needed to turn the X-2 into a fighting aircraft, the flight also shows the painful choices ahead for Japan as it tries to keep up with China’s growing military might. 但要将这架X-2改建成一架登陆作战飞机必须数十亿美元研发费用，这也体现出有，日本要想要跟上中国日益增长的军事实力，将面对伤痛的自由选择。Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has raised Japan’s defence budget every year of his premiership but Japan’s stagnant economy means it is falling ever further behind China. 日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)离任后大幅提升了日本的防御支出，但日本衰退的经济意味著它于是以被中国扯得更加近。Development of the X-2 reflects Japan’s dismay as it watches two powerful neighbours, Russia and China, develop stealth fighters while its US ally refuses to sell an equivalent aircraft. X-2的研发体现出有了日本的沮丧情绪。

它眼见着两个强劲的邻国——俄罗斯和中国——都在发展隐形战斗机，而盟友美国却拒绝接受向它出售同级别的飞机。Sukhoi of Russia has built a stealth fighter called the T-50 while China is developing the Chengdu J-20. Both are expected to enter service in coming years, raising the prospect that Japan’s defences — over the disputed Senkaku or Diaoyu islands, for example — will be outclassed. 俄罗斯的苏霍伊(Sukhoi)早已用上了T-50隐形战斗机，而中国的成都飞机工业集团正在研制米格-20战斗机(J-20)。二者都未来将会在几年后服役，这可能会让日本的防御——比如对有争议的尖阁诸岛（Senkaku Islands，中国称之为钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿）的防御——正处于很大的劣势。

The US, however, has refused to sell Japan its own stealth fighter, the F-22 Raptor, leaving Tokyo to rely on the less stealthy and less powerful F-35. 但美国却拒绝接受向日本出售其F-22“猛禽”隐形战斗机(F-22 Raptor)，东京方面被迫依靠隐形和战斗能力不那么强劲的F-35战斗机。That has prompted Japan to start its own stealth fighter programme. 这一局面促成日本启动了自己的隐形战斗机研发计划。

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