The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s (JGSDF) next-generation UH-2 utility helicopter completed its maiden flight on May 19, its developer Subaru Corp. announced a day later.
The helicopter was operated by a company test pilot and successfully completed a 30-minute hover at Subaru’s factory in Utsunomiya, the company said in a statement.
To date, 13 UH-2 helicopters have been funded. ATLA awarded the company a total contract worth $129 million in March 2020 to produce the first six UH-2 helicopters, with deliveries to be completed in January 2023. Recently, the Department of Defense budgeted about $112.5 million to purchase another 7 UHs – 2 seconds in the most recent fiscal year.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) plans to replace the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s increasingly outdated fleet of 127 UH-1Js with about 150 UH-2s over the next 20 years. In its 2019-2023 Mid-Term Defense Plan (MTDP), released in December 2018, the Department of Defense outlined plans to purchase the first 34 new helicopters over a five-year period at a unit price of approximately $16.2 million.
Development of the prototype UH-2 (then known as UH-X) began in fiscal year 2015 (FY). Images of prototypes painted in JGSDF camouflage colors and undergoing ground engine tests surfaced in mid-November 2018. The prototype then achieved its maiden flight in December and was handed over to the Ministry of Defense in February 2019 after further flight testing.
The UH-2 design is based on the jointly developed Subaru Bell 412EPX commercial helicopter and is powered by Pratt & Whitney’s PT6T-9 Twin-Pac turboshaft engine. It is based on the Subaru Bell 412EPI commercial helicopter and features a four-blade main rotor, which, unlike the single-engine UH-1J with a two-blade main rotor, increases payload capacity and operating range. The UH-1J itself is a licensed and locally updated variant of Bell’s UH-1H Iroquois platform.
The Ministry of Defense expects the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to use the UH-2 for a range of missions, including supporting the defense of Japan’s remote islands and transporting personnel and supplies during interventions in response to national emergencies such as natural disasters.
by Jr Ng
