Sankei Shimbun reported on February 1 that C-2 military transport of JASDF started regular flight operation on January 31. The indigenously developed jet transport aircraft have been deployed to Miho Air Base in Tottori at the Sea of Japan coast since March last year for testing.
The daily reported that the first flight was personnel transport for collecting of still undiscovered bones of soldiers in WW2 at Iwo To (Iwo Jima) via Iruma Air Base, Saitama, to fly to the volcanic island.
One of four aircraft assigned to the Miho base is given this mission. JASDF personnel sent the aircraft for its first mission.
C-2 was developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries for JASDF to replace aging C-1 transport jet, a vintage of the 1970s but the first Japanese military jet transport.
Powered by two GE CF6-80C2K1F engines, C-2 has wingspan of 44.4m , length 43.9 m and height of 14.2 m. Maximum takeoff weight is 141 tons and it can fly as far as 4,500 km with 30-ton payload, and maximum payload 36 tons. Its cruising speed is Mach 0.8 at 12,200 m altitude. C-2 requires just 500 m as shortest take-off.
Its maximum takeoff weight is close to retired Lockheed C-141 with 146 tons.
JASDF plans to acquire a total of just 13 examples of C-2 at present. ■
JASDF C-2 Transport Demonstration
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