Story ID: 
Japan’s New Maritime Patroller Makes International Debut
By: Chris Pocock
Caption: The Kawasaki P-1 was flown to the UK’s premier airshow, but is an unlikely contender for that country’s maritime aircraft requirement.
Word Count: 432
The Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) is on display outside Japan for the first time this weekend, at the UK’s Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT). The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) flew two of the four-jet machines across the Pacific, the U.S. and the Atlantic to reach the show at RAF Fairford. They will move on next week to Djibouti for flight tests in hot and desert conditions, before returning to their base at NAS Atsugi outside Tokyo.

The P-1 is an indigenous development, designed to replace the JMSDF’s aging P-3 Orion fleet. Powered by four IHI F7-10 turbofans each developing some 13,000 pounds of thrust, the P-1 has a range of 4,300 nm and can carry AGM-65 Maverick and AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, plus sonobuoys and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare. A mine-laying capability will be added later. The primary mission radar is an e-scan system made by Toshiba.

The aircraft made its first flight in 2007 and 10 are now in service, although operational test and evaluation will continue until September, according to Vice Admiral Makoto Sato, the JMSDF air fleet commander. He told a briefing at RIAT today that his service intends to acquire 70 P-1s. He said that the aircraft’s flying demonstration at the show was intended to show its maneuverability and low-speed handling characteristics at low altitude.

When asked the purpose of the visit, which coincides with the UK’s emerging requirement for a new MPA, Sato said cautiously, “We are here for defense engagement. It’s up to the UK government to decide whether to evaluate us.” Ironically, the static P-1 was parked next to the Boeing P-8A Poseidon, the MPA that is favored by most senior RAF officers. However, the JMSDF flew some of those British officers, as well as some from other nations, on a two-and-half-hour demonstration flight today from Fairford. And AIN has learnt that a senior delegation from the UK Ministry of Defence previously visited Japan for briefings and a flight on the P-1.

Observers doubt whether the P-1 can be a serious contender for the UK requirement, for cost, industrial and political reasons. According to published Japanese government budget documents, the first four P-1 production aircraft cost Yen 67.9 billion ($640 million at 2008 conversion rates). The cost of development was Yen 350 billion ($3.3 billion). There would seemingly be little scope for UK aerospace companies to get onboard the aircraft. As for the politics, only within the last year has the Japanese government relaxed its previous ban on the export of defense equipment.