Bradley Perrett covered China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a Mandarin-speaking Australian.
Before joining Aviation Week in 2006 he was a macroeconomics, politics and aerospace journalist with Reuters. Perrett holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Macquarie University, Sydney. He left Aviation Week in 2020.
BEIJING — Boeing is trumpeting industrial opportunities in its bid for Japan’s F-X combat aircraft requirement, a day before the country stops making fighters for the first time in 56 years. Coincidentally or not, proposals for the F-X program were due on Sept. 26, while the last two of 94 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries F-2 strike fighters are scheduled to be completed on Sept. 27.
One might have thought that Chinese labor rates and abundant government capital would guarantee low-enough costs for any aircraft maker. Yet Avicopter says it is looking at outsourcing production to lower-cost countries.
AgustaWestland and a Chinese company are working to set up a privately owned helicopter assembly line, in a project that would mark a great advance for the country's non-government aircraft sector. If an agreement is concluded, the factory will begin delivering helicopters next year. AgustaWestland's aim is not only to save costs but also to establish a technical base for training and support.
