Kawasaki Heavy Industries has announced the successful first flight of  third prototype Kawasaki C-2 (68-1203) military transport aircraft in May 17, 2016 (Tuesday).

The first flight will take off the Gifu base to 11 pm 28 minutes of May 17 (Tuesday), return to Gifu base after making a flight of three hours, was safely landed.

The Kawasaki C-2 (previously C-X) is a mid-size, twin-turbofan engine, long range, high speed military transport aircraft being developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force(JASDF).

The C-2 has a payload capacity of 37.6 t. It is worth noting that the older C-1 can carry only 10 t and C-130 Hercules – 19 t. The C-2 has similar dimensions and payload capacity to the Airbus A400M. It will be used to transport troop, drop supplies and perform medical evacuation. It can carry about 120 troops, or 8 standard air cargo pallets or one UH-60J helicopter. It has a rear loading ramp that can open in flight.