About This File
Northrop/McDonnell Douglas F-23J for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2
This is a simple mod of Dels' excellent F-23A 'Black Widow' to give a fictional F-23J 'Tora' (Tiger) of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force with markings for the 302nd Hikotai in a retro 'Zero' scheme (suggested by Canadair).
BACKSTORY
(This backstory was for my Israeli F-23 but explains why the Black Widow ended up in the land of the Rising Sun).
With the success of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom and F-15 Eagle in Heyl HaAvir service the Israeli's were hoping that the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas F-23A 'Black Widow' would win the USAF's ATF competition to continue their relationship with the McDonnell team at St. Louis but unfortunately Lockheed Martin's victory in the ATF competition looked like bringing an end to a long and enduring partnership.
However in a brave move, in May 1991 the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas team secured permission from Congress to actively market the F-23 to (State Department) 'approved' nations and offered a single-seat multi-role
version called the F-23I (International) to Germany, Japan, Israel and the UK. With Germany looking for any excuse to get out of the Eurofighter consortium and facing high reunification costs they persuaded the UK to team up in a combined purchase of 200 F-23I's. In return, this led to the German and UK Governments persuading Northrop/McDonnell Douglas to make BAe and MBB prime sub-contractors for any further export sales.
However, with only 200 F-23I's on order Northrop/McDonnell Douglas were not convinced that it was enough to start a viable programme but the breakthrough came in January 1994 when, due to increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the USAF agreed to purchase 100 F-23A's for PACAF (the air component of United States Pacific Command) and this move finally saw Japan and Israel also join the programme with 100 F-23I's each.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the F-23J folder into your Aircraft folder.
2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the F-23J folder into your Decals folder.
That's it!
CREDITS
As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim.
Massive thanks to Dels for this superb add-on aircraft - one of the very best.
Special thanks to Canadair for suggesting the retro Zero style F-23J.
And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community.
Regards
Spinners
Version 2 - February 12th, 2024.
What's New in Version 2
Released
Skins reduced from 3 to 1.
All new decals and decals now in folders.
New Hangar Screen, Loadout Image and Loading Screen.
Screenshot added to listing.