Kawaski C-2 Starts Flight Operatons at JASDF

　　Kawasaki C-2, JASDF

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

Kawasaki Heavy Delivers First Production C-2 Military Transport

Compiled from various domestic reporting

1 July 2016

The editor

Jiji Press

Kawasaki Heavy Industries announced on June 30 that the company delivered the first kind of production unit of C-2 medium military transport to Japanese Air Force.

The new transport is  a successor of C-1, the first indigenous military jet transport by the same company in service since 1973, but can carry 30 tons  almost four times as heavy than C-1 which have been criticized of too small cargo capacity.

PHOTO: Tadayuki YOSHIKAWA/Aviation Wire

With length of 43.9 meters, wingspan of 44.4 meters, C-2’s maximum takeoff weight is 141 tons.

With payload of 12 tons, it can fly as long as 6,500 km and reach Hawaii from Japan. C-2 also has air refueling receiver in flying boom system.

C-2 is powered by two GE CF6-80C2 engines which is also used by commercial Boeing 767 and defense purpose-built E-767 for the Japanese Air Force.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries was awarded development contract of experimental XC-2 in 2002. The  company also was awaraded to develop P-1, four-engined maritime patrol aircraft to replace P-3C for the Japanese navy and its first example of prodcution spec fliew first timei in September 2012.

The Defense Ministry will procure more than ten C-2s with total budget of JPY 264.3 billion with unit price of JPY 22.9billion but the series production unit will be priced JPY 18.8 billion.

But the demand of the Japanese military is quite limited and Kawasaki looks forward to exporting the aircraft.

PHOTO: Tadayuki YOSHIKAWA/Aviation Wire