Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 29 November 2024 that it has selected US-based Textron Aviation Defence’s Beechcraft T-6C Texan II turboprop trainer as the replacement for the Fuji T-7 primary trainers currently operated by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).
While Textron teamed with Japan’s Kanematsu Corporation to offer the T-6C, the other contenders for the requirement were Pilatus teamed with Subaru Corporation, offering the PC-7MKX, and Turkish Aerospace teamed with Daihyaku Shoji Corporation, offering the Hurkus. Shintoa Corporation, meanwhile, had proposed a ground training system only.
The T-7 was developed by Fuji Heavy Industries (now Subaru) and entered JASDF service in 2002, with a total of 49 aircraft procured. These aircraft are due to be retired from Financial Year 2030.
Procurement of the T-6C is scheduled to occur from FY2025, with 36 aircraft procured by FY2030. The unit cost of the T-6s is estimated at JPY1.21 billion (EUR 7.6 million), with the total expected cost including ground systems, including six simulators, being JPY133.65 billion (EUR 0.84 billion). JPY21.2 billion will be requested for two aircraft plus ground systems in the FY2025 budget. The aircraft will not be produced in Japan under licence but will all be imported.
Regarding the selection process by the MoD, at the first evaluation stage the ministry evaluated whether or not the contenders – including aircraft, ground training systems and logistics support – met mandatory requirements. While the T-6C and PC-7MKX, including their respective ground training systems, were evaluated as compliant, the Hurkus package was not, while the proposal by Shintoa was rejected for not including aircraft.
At the second evaluation stage the T-6 and PC-7MKX were assessed with a calculation formula that divided their scores by certain evaluated costs, with the result that the T-6C won the highest score and was selected as the JASDF’s next primary trainer.
The Japanese MoD held a briefing session for the request for proposals (RfP) from companies interested in the trainer programme in February 2024. It formally issued the RfP in August with the very short submission deadline of 15 October. The selection decision was made at the end of November, meaning that the selection period was just a month and a half. During the selection, no other measure, such as a trial flight for the candidates, was conducted. In effect, the decision was made based purely on a document review: an extremely unusual selection process for a military aircraft.
The T-6 is powered by a 1,100 hp turboprop engine and has a climb rate of 1,372 m per minute and a range of 1,574 km. The aircraft has been widely adopted by many countries around the world, including the US Air Force and US Navy.
