BRENDAN SOBIE / KOBE, JAPAN
Japan's modernised search-and-rescue amphibian, the US-1A Kai, could be sold abroad if Tokyo eases military aircraft export laws
Japan's military will next month receive a new indigenous search-and-rescue (SAR) short take-off and landing (STOL) amphibian that could yet find a market with civilian operators as a firefighter and transport aircraft.
ShinMaywa Industries has developed the US-1A Kai exclusively for the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) as a replacement for its original US-1A fleet. The modernised US-1A can fly twice as high - 20,000ft (6,100m), compared with 10,000ft for the existing aircraft; 17% faster, 300kt (555km/h) in comparison with the original aircraft's 265kt; and 22% further 4,625km (2,500nm), contrasting with 3,800km. The new aircraft's take-off distance on water is a significant 38% improvement: 460m against 735m.
Glass cockpit
In addition, the Kai features a glass cockpit and other state-of-the-art systems, providing the JMSDF with extended range and improved reliability for its SAR mission.
Japanese law prohibits the export of military aircraft, which threatens to limit the Kai's production run to just 15 aircraft. ShinMaywa is hoping this legislation will be revised or that the Kai will be removed from Japan's indigenous weapon list, allowing its use as a passenger aircraft and firefighter domestically and potentially abroad.
"If we can export this aircraft, we can expand our business," says ShinMaywa senior manager of commercial programmes Hank Ohnuma. ShinMaywa has already studied the feasibility of building firefighter and transport versions should the Kai be removed from the weapons list.
The transport aircraft would seat up to 30 passengers, compared with the 12 crew members in the SAR variant, and be offered in niche markets where land-based aircraft are not feasible. The aircraft may initially be operated by the Tokyo municipal government to the Ogasawara Islands. There are no airports in Ogasawara and the seas are too rough for traditional seaplanes. As a result, residents and visitors must take a 27h boat ride from the mainland, although the US-1A flies in for emergency rescues.
ShinMaywa says it is also studying the feasibility of a firefighting version. It modified one of its PS-1s, an anti-submarine warfare aircraft that predated the US-1, into a firefighter 30 years ago and is ready to build a modification kit for the Kai.
ShinMaywa has experience with firefighter modifications, having built and installed 1,200 litre (315USgal) water tanks on two Eurocopter AS332 Super Pumas for the Tokyo fire department in 1996. The company is now marketing this kit for installation on other helicopter types and is considering buying one of JMSDF's retired US-1As to test a possible modification kit for fixed-wing aircraft.
The company says it has discussed a sale of a Kai firefighter to a consortium consisting of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. These countries have been studying possible joint or separate acquisitions of firefighting aircraft, but it is unclear when a purchase would be made, given budget constraints, or whether a helicopter or land-based fixed-wing aircraft will be selected.
ShinMaywa may also offer these and other potential operators a merged-mission aircraft capable of environmental control, firefighting, maritime patrol and SAR.
The manufacturer also hopes Japanese fire departments will consider amphibious aircraft to bolster their ability to respond to natural disasters. The US-1A was evaluated for a special government aircraft procurement programme that began after the Kobe earthquake in 1995. The programme has so far resulted in the purchase of about 50 helicopters and 20 land-based fixed-wing aircraft. A Kai purchase seems unlikely, however, given budget constraints.
"We have investigated firefighting, environmental control and transport between islands," Ohnuma says. "There are so many possibilities for the market."
Another possibility is foreign military sales. These have been prohibited, but the Japanese government is looking at easing these restrictions. The primary driver of the reappraisal is a new joint ballistic-missile defence programme with the USA, but potential changes in the law could also lead to the opening up of other sectors.
Coastguard potential
ShinMaywa in particular has its sights on a potential sale of the baseline SAR variant to the US Coast Guard (USCG). The USCG has no plans to acquire an amphibious aircraft, but Ohnuma says this could change as the USA looks to boost its coastguard capabilities in an effort to improve homeland security. If a requirement surfaces, ShinMaywa would look for a US partner with which to offer the aircraft.
For now, ShinMaywa is focused on meeting the JMSDF requirement and passing an extensive testing programme. Last April the company rolled out the first production US-1A Kai from its plant in Kobe. In November, ShinMaywa taxied the aircraft for the first time into the sea adjacent to its plant and in December the Kai completed its maiden flight.
ShinMaywa plans to hand over the first aircraft in March to the Japan Defence Agency (JDA), which will test it for just over two years before it is placed into service in 2006. At that point the aircraft is expected to be renamed the US-2.
So far JDA has only acquired two production Kais in addition to the two test aircraft. The third production aircraft is expected to be acquired within the next few months and additional Kais will be purchased as programme milestones are completed. ShinMaywa initially planned to begin flight testing last August, but the company had to postpone the first flight to enable a clogged boundary-layer control engine duct to be replaced and some undisclosed technical issues to be resolved.
Despite the delay, ShinMaywa says delivery of the first production aircraft to JDA's Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI) will be on schedule, in March. ShinMaywa is also set to fly the second production aircraft next month, which will be delivered to TRDI about six months later. TRDI has already begun testing the static and fatigue article.
ShinMaywa began developing the Kai in 1996 at an estimated cost of ´66 billion ($630 million) after the JDA scrapped a more expensive proposal to build from scratch a new amphibian, dubbed the US-X. The US-1A's roots date to the PS-1, 23 of which were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ShinMaywa's experience with amphibians dates back even further, to its predecessor company Kawanishi, which manufactured the Type 2 flying boat.
The PS-1 and US-1A have been ShinMaywa's only aircraft projects in the company's 55-year history and amphibians have always been its own special niche, avoided by the larger Japanese manufacturers. But as with other JDA aircraft programmes, production has always been slow, which has forced ShinMaywa to focus on its commercial aircraft component business - which includes contracts from Airbus, Boeing and Gulfstream - for expansion.
Only 19 original US-1As have been built since production began in 1973 and a 20th and final aircraft is being assembled at Konan for delivery this year. This aircraft has a composite landing gear door, which has also been incorporated into the Kai.
JMSDF only has a requirement for a seven-aircraft fleet and has been exchanging old US-1As for new aircraft when they reach 5,400h, or about every 10 years. The new Kai is designed to have a life-cycle of 7,500h or 15 years, which means that without exports ShinMaywa will only build one new aircraft every two years.
But Kai production could be boosted without exports if a request by JMSDF to expand its SAR fleet is approved by JDA. The US-1A fleet commander seeks at least one additional base and three extra aircraft. The US-1A is operated from only two JMSDF bases, with one aircraft at Atsugi and the others at Iawukuni. New bases at Okinawa and Hachinohe could further improve JMSDF's response time.
The new Kai is designed to improve JMSDF's SAR capability with the introduction of a new Mitsubishi boundary-layer control system based around an LHTEC CTS800 turboshaft-driven compressor. Engine performance has been improved by switching from the General Electric T64-10J turboprop to the Rolls-Royce AE2100J with Dowty R414 six-blade propellers. A Kawasaki-developed fly-by-wire flight control system is the centrepiece of a new glass cockpit that will reduce pilot workload by making communication and navigation tasks easier. The new aircraft can be flown with a two-man crew compared with three men on the existing US-1A, although the JMSDF at least initially plans to keep the flight engineer position.
The only major change to the airframe is a lighter wing, supplied by Mitsubishi, and the switch to a pressurised cabin, supplied by Kawasaki. JDA initially planned to switch to composite flaps, ailerons and elevators for the Kai, but these plans were scrapped to curb costs and traditional metal parts are instead being used.
JDA says the new features will allow the US-1A to perform more rescues in bad weather. The 10,000ft ceiling of the unpressurised aircraft often restricts it from flying above bad weather, hampering rescues.
"The US-1A Kai is the first large-size amphibian with a pressurised cabin," ShinMaywa says. "It also adopts fly-by-wire flight control system, integrated display panel and a new engine."
Source: Flight International
