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.
Boeing will double the size of its Chinese composites operation, increasing its politically useful presence in its largest export market while also taking advantage of local labor conditions. The planned expansion of BHA Aero Composite Parts in Tianjin follows the agreement of U.S. composites maker Hexcel to sell its share in the business to Boeing, which now has an 80% stake alongside partner Avic 1.
Japan is moving to modernize at least 12 more Boeing F-15Js with upgraded radars in response to delays in the selection of its next fighter. The Japanese Defense Ministry now plans to field about 40 such aircraft, enough for two squadrons. Its budget request for the financial year beginning April 1 will probably include the funds needed for modernizing “a dozen or so” F-15Js, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper has reported.
High fuel prices have forced Vietnam’s first privately owned airline, Vietjet Air, to delay its first flight from late this year to April 2009. The company has also deferred a lease of two Boeing 737-700s from General Electric. It based its business plan on crude oil prices of $70 a barrel, about half of recent prices.
