TOKYO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Forces (MSDF) grounded its newly equipped P-1 patrol planes due to engine failure, local media reported Thursday, citing the country' s defense ministry.
A P-1 anti-submarine patrol jet developed instable combustion at some of its four jet engines during a test flight on May 13 above Aichi prefecture, after diving to an attitude of about 8,000 meters from 10,000 meters, said Japan's Kyodo News agency.
The MSDF grounded the first two P-1s deployed to the MSDF's Atsugi Air Base in Kanagawa prefecture after the incident, the report said, adding the accident will postpone the ministry's plan to deploy more such planes by the end of this month and put the new patrol jet into full operation in two years.
The ministry planned to replace MSDF's current 80 American P- 3C aircraft with about 70 P-1s, which could fly 1.3 times faster than the former.
The newly designed jet was manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. at cost of around 20 billion yen (210 million U.S. dollars).
The P-1 development started in 2001 and planned to finish in March 2012. The process was delayed for one year due to cracks that found in its wings and bodies.
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