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.
The aircraft can work harder these days, but there is only so much you can get out of a pilot. For that reason, Australia will need its new flight training system to handle more trainees, with the result that its air force will be able to conduct the high-tempo operations available from new types, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35.
BEIJING — Enlargement of the Japanese F-X fighter program is under consideration as the repair of all 18 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries F-2B trainers damaged in the March 11 tsunami looks increasingly unlikely.
swap meet: South Korea and Spain will exchange spare parts to cut the cost of keeping old fighters flying. The Spanish air force will supply parts for F-4 Phantoms to the South Korean air force, which will reciprocate by sending parts that Spain can use on F-5B Freedom Fighters. Spain’s Phantom parts are presumably surplus, since it retired the type in 2002. It operated F-4Cs, whereas South Korea has F-4Es. South Korea flies F-5E/Fs, while Spain has F-5Bs.
