After researching foreign aircraft such as the C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, and Airbus A400M, the Japanese Ministry of Defense concluded that there was no aircraft in production that possessed the capabilities that the JASDF required.
Several powerplants were considered for the C-X, including the Rolls-Royce Trent 800, the General Electric CF6-80C2L1F and the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 [REF].