BRENDAN SOBIE / TOKYO
Japan ready to acquire aircraft prototypes after Kawasaki cleared preliminary JDA design review earlier this year
Japan is preparing to acquire the first prototypes of the Kawasaki C-X transport and P-X maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) as the two programmes move into the production phase.
Kawasaki in June cleared a preliminary design review conducted by the Japan Defence Agency (JDA). The Kawasaki-led team includes Fuji, Mitsubishi and Nippi.
"The basic design has been finished and now we go into the planned design," Kawasaki says. "This fiscal year we expect to make a contract with JDA which includes prototypes for static tests."
JDA says it has earmarked ¥80 billion ($672 million) in its fiscal year 2003 budget to start C-X and P-X production. JDA and Kawasaki are negotiating the first production contracts for two static test articles, expected to be completed by March next year.
Kawasaki will receive most of the ¥80 billion, with the remainder handed to suppliers, and is now selecting second-tier suppliers.
The General Electric CF6-80C2 - which powers Japan's Boeing E-767 airborne warning and control platforms and K-767 tankers - has been picked for the C-X over the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 and Rolls-Royce Trent 500. GE expects a minimum of 44 two-engined C-Xs to be built and the programme to be worth more than $1 billion over 30 years.
The new Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries XF7 is the only candidate for the four-engined P-X.
Several small Japanese companies have submitted proposals to supply components.
The C-X/P-X engineering team is now co-located at Kawasaki's Gifu plant, with Mitsubishi overseeing the fuselage, Fuji the wing and Nippi the fairings. These three plan to shift their portions of the C-X and P-X to their own facilities in November, to support the start of the production phase.
The first prototypes are to be delivered in two to three years, for static tests ahead of a first flight in 2007. JDA plans to acquire the new aircraft to replace its Kawasaki C-1 transports and Lockheed Martin P-3C MPAs from FY2011. While the production phase begins this year, the design phase will run until March 2005.
Source: Flight International
