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.
MTU and Avic Commercial Aircraft Engine Co. will jointly develop an engine for the Comac C919, competing with the CFM International Leap-X turbofan that is scheduled to become the narrowbody airliner’s first powerplant. Announcing the memorandum of understanding with MTU, the Chinese engine company also says it will build an assembly line for C919 engines at Shanghai.
Driven partly by a need for more rescue aircraft during natural disasters, Chinese aircraft manufacturer Avic is looking to develop a new class of rotary-wing aircraft through one of its subsidiaries. It would be developed by Avicopter and Russian Helicopters, and could go into service in five to 10 years. The helicopter, called the Advanced Heavy Lifter, is being pitched as a civilian aircraft, but Avicopter has not ruled out military uses.
