News Story: China Outfitting MA60 Military Variant With P&W Canada Engines

A Civilian Xian MA-60 (Image: Wiki Commons)

Wendell Minnick

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China’s commercial airliner MA60 is now being advertised as a military troop and cargo transport, according to a new product booklet furnished by the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp. (CATIC).

The manufacture, Xi'an Aircraft Industry Company, has been producing the aircraft since 1999. The commercial airliner is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PW127J turboprop engines and other US and Canadian avionics and equipment.

The problem with building a military variant of the MA60 equipped with Canadian/US engines and avionics is that they have been banned for export to China for military use since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Read the full story at DefenseNews