Kawasaki C-2

what is it?

The Kawasaki C-2 (previously XC-2 and C-X) is a mid-size, twin-turbofan engine, long range, high speed military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Kawasaki Aerospace Company. Designed to replace the older Kawasaki C-1, the C-2 formally entered service with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) in June 2016. There are ongoing efforts to sell it overseas.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 44.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 920 km/htop speed
• range 7,600 kmwithout refuelling
• size 141.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 21made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 16 years ago, in 2010.
• 🏎️Top speed is 7.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 44.4 m: about 10 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 24 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 7,600 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.5× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

2010-01-26

introduced

2016

status

in production

number built

21

role

military transport aircraft

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

makers

Kawasaki Aerospace Systems Company

engines

2× General Electric CF6-80C2K1F

crew

3

length

43.9 m

wingspan

44.4 m

height

14.2 m

max take-off weight

141.4 t

top speed

920 km/h

cruise speed

890 km/h

range

7,600 km

ceiling

13,100 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.