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.
KOREAN BUY: South Korea will buy Elta Systems Green Pine Block-B radars for its nascent ballistic missile defense system, planning to install them in central and northern parts of the country in 2012. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration says the Green Pine outperformed a rival system from Thales in a test in August. The French company offered the M3R radar derived from its Ground Master 400 system to South Korea. The administration has previously said it would buy ballistic-missile defense radars by the end of this year.
The third Comac ARJ21 regional jet has made its first flight as part of a test program that is aiming for U.S. Federal Aviation Administration validation of its Chinese airworthiness certification by 2012. The Chinese manufacturer will add a fourth unit to the group of test aircraft this year. Chinese certification and entry into service are due in 2010.
Cash-strapped Japan Airlines, looking beyond Delta for capital, is also considering investments from Air France-KLM, American, travel agencies, trading groups, business partners and financial investors. But a tie-up with Delta, which would invest ¥50 billion (US$551.6 million), is being pushed for by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Delta has been negotiating with JAL for several weeks.
