68 aviation week & space technology/March 17, 2008 aviationweek.com/awst

itsubishi Heavy In-dustries is Japan’s largest aerospace manufacturer and a premier collabo-rator with Boeing, Bombardier, Lock-

heed Martin and others on fighters, business, regional and commercial jets. But it hasn’t built a commercial airplane of its own for more than three decades and its last attempt, a turboprop, was an economic disaster.

Now the company is poised to put it-self—and Japan—back in the business of designing and building commercial aircraft. The board of directors has granted its aerospace business unit au-thority to offer the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) to airlines. By about Apr. 1, the start of fiscal 2008 in Japan, a formal launch decision is expected, says Senior Vice President Nobuo Toda, a member of the board and director of the MRJ project.

The Japanese government is expected to foot a substantial portion of the esti-mated $1.9-billion development cost, al-though Toda says the specific contribu-tion is still being negotiated. Early this month Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed that it was considering a substantial in-vestment in the project, and a Mitsubi-shi official says the company is in talks with several other potential Japanese investors.

A go-ahead this spring would pave the

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aviationweek.com/awst aviation week & space technology/March 17, 2008 69

BIG AMBITIONSMitsubishi aims to muscle into aircraft manufacturing with a ‘green’ regional jet

MMichael MechaM and Joseph c. anselMo/Tokyo

way for flight testing in late 2011 with cer-tification and delivery set for early 2013. The four-abreast jet will be offered in two sizes, the 70-seat MRJ70 and 90-seat MRJ90, each with extended range and long-range variants (see table, p. 70).

By launching the MRJ, Mitsubishi would be mounting a head-on challenge to Brazil’s Embraer and Canada’s Bom-bardier, the two companies that dominate the regional jet business and are profiting from booming orders (AW&ST Feb. 25, p. 42). But the Japanese are hardly unique in regarding regional jets as a good entry point for their aviation aspirations.

China has made clear that it, too, has broad ambitions in jet manufacturing, starting small with the 70-seat ARJ21-700. The aircraft was expected to enter flight testing this month but its sched-ule has slipped. Certification is now anticipated in mid-2009 (AW&ST Sept. 17, 2007, p. 76). Russia’s big aerospace industry also is looking at regional jets as its entry point, with the Sukhoi Super Jet 100 due to begin flight testing this spring (AW&ST Feb. 4, p. 34).

Mitsubishi is confident the technol-ogy and stylish passenger cabin incor-porated into the MRJ will position it a notch above the other newcomers. The regional jet offerings from China and Russia “are not a serious threat to our plane,” Toda maintains.

The MRJ is being designed to tackle the twin challenges of soaring oil prices (currently more than $100 per barrel)

and the mounting pressure to reduce emissions from commercial jets. After studying CFM International’s LEAP56 engine technology research and Rolls-Royce’s RB282 effort, the company gave Pratt & Whitney a boost by selecting its geared turbofan (GTF) to power the new jets (see p. 72).

Coupled with improved aerodynam-ics, Mitsubishi expects the GTF-powered MRJ to offer a 20-30% reduction in fuel consumption over current-generation competitors, along with reduced CO2 and NOx emissions. The jet is designed to meet the International Civil Aviation Authority’s most stringent noise require-ment (Chapter 4) and emissions rating (CAEP 6). “This should be the world’s greenest aircraft,” says Toda.

And, the company points out, this aim for lower operating costs does not come at the expense of the passenger.

Although thinner seats will be used to provide more leg room, they are report-ed to be extremely comfortable. Roomy overhead bins and big windows round out the presentation.

While they appreciate the MRJ’s low-cost, environmentally friendly design, skeptics point out that Mitsubishi has been talking about developing a new commercial aircraft since it ceased pro-duction on the YS-11 turboprop—the only commercial aircraft produced in Japan since World War II—in 1974. Ultimately it sold 161 YS-11s to customers in seven countries, but sustained a $600-million loss on the program (AW&ST Aug. 26, 1996, p. 29).

At one point, the company was in talks with Boeing to jointly develop a medium-haul transport known as the Y-X. Later, it met with Bombardier to explore devel-oping a regional jet. And the MRJ was

originally proposed early in this decade as a 20-40-seat aircraft.

Mitsubishi has had more success carving out an increasingly important role on the development of every Boeing wide-body jet since the launch of the 767 in 1978. The company also was a risk-sharing partner on Bombardier’s Global Express long-range business jet. Given its previous ties to Boeing, the Japanese company is likely to turn to the Ameri-can manufacturer’s design, engineering and marketing teams in Seattle for ad-vice. A Boeing official’s cautious reply to a query about that relationship acknowl-edges that discussions are underway “to define a consulting role in their regional jet program, so it would be premature to discuss details.”

A longtime engineer at a potential competitor says Mitsubishi clearly has strong technological abilities. The real

challenge, he believes, will be integrating those technologies, managing suppliers and cost-effectively producing aircraft in an increasingly competitive market. He also believes that Japan’s conservative, consensus-driven business culture could make it harder for the company to become a major player in the aircraft business.

Still, suppliers, potential customers and competitors across the industry be-lieve there’s a good chance the MRJ re-ally will fly. In addition to Pratt’s engine, Mitsubishi has named five other major MRJ suppliers—Rockwell Collins, Parker Aerospace, Hamilton Sundstrand, Nab-tesco and Sumitoma Precision Prod-ucts—and is in advanced negotiations with others.

Steven Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of aircraft leasing giant International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC), says his company has held several meetings with

Mitsubishi sees improved operating costs and better environmental performance as key selling points for the MRJ70/90 regional jet, which it’s ready to launch.

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ANA says it is interested in the MRJ, but an official notes that it also is evalu-ating the possible selections from Bom-bardier and Embraer. It has not begun a detailed engineering study of any of the offerings. That raises serious questions about whether Mitsubishi can meet its Apr. 1 target for launching the program.

But a long-time observer of Japanese aerospace says that particular deadline is only an official government marker to get the program underway by the start of fiscal 2008. A survey of Mitsubishi’s suppliers by Aviation Week showed no concern if that deadline slips quietly by, unfulfilled.

And winning a launch customer in Japan would only be a first step. Toda acknowledges that for the MRJ to be a commercial success it will have to crack the passenger-rich markets of North America and Europe. With a maximum range of up to 1,800 naut. mi. for the

long-range variant of the MRJ90 and 1,960 naut. mi. (2,250 mi.) for the MRJ70LR, Mitsubishi’s new jets have a reach that can span those con-tinents.

Mitsubishi further recognizes that it will need to demonstrate to prospective airline cus-tomers that it will have a global support net-work in place, says MRJ Deputy General Manag-er Masakazu Niwa. The company plans to team with Saab Aerospace to provide customer sup-port outside Japan. But critics question whether that is enough.

An investment by Toyota, the world’s sec-ond-largest automobile manufacturer, would be the second major ven-ture by a Japanese auto maker into aerospace. After years of study, Honda is now set to build the HondaJet.

Toyota’s interest, if it happens, will be a coup for Mitsubishi in no small measure because the com-pany is so well-respected throughout aerospace for its lean manufacturing techniques. The Asahi Shimbun reported that Toyota could invest about $100 mil-lion in the venture. � c

With Robert Wall in Singapore.

70 aviation week & space technology/March 17, 2008 aviationweek.com/awst

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Mitsubishi and has made a series of rec-ommendations for improving the MRJ’s design. At the same time, ILFC has been in talks about buying Bombardier’s pro-posed CSeries jet, which has also signed on to use Pratt’s GTF engine (AW&ST Feb. 18, p. 78).

“What I have told [Mitsubishi] is, ‘If you guys can pull it off and do what To-yota has done in cars, you can be a for-midable player,’” Udvar-Hazy tells Avia-tion Week & Space Technology. “But it has to be done right.” His major concern is the aircraft’s price.

Udvar-Hazy says Mitsubishi wants ILFC to be more than just a buyer, ask-ing it to serve as a marketing distributor of the aircraft outside Japan. The idea of a manufacturer pulling a big aircraft leasing company into a closer relation-ship with its sales and marketing team isn’t new. One of Scott Carson’s first deci-sions after becoming sales chief at Boeing Commercial Airplanes in 2005 was to add a new sales team dedicated solely to leasing compa-nies to the six already es-tablished, geographically organized teams (AW&ST June 20, 2005, p. 30).

Paying closer atten-tion to the big leasing companies proved to be symbiotic because the two traded notes about who was in need of air-craft to lease and buy. “We used to look at them as competitors,” Carson, now BCA’s chief execu-tive, said of the leasing companies. “We now look at them as partners.”

Toda says Mitsubishi needs to sell 300-400 MRJs to recoup its in-vestment. The company is counting on airlines at home—All Nippon Airways (ANA) and/or Japan Airlines (JAL)—to launch the project. Besides covering all of Japan’s domestic desti-nations, the MRJ70/90 would provide regional route opportuni-ties into South Korea, Taiwan, the heav-ily populated east coast of China and as far south as Vietnam.

Both JAL and ANA currently oper-ate regional flights abroad from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, but they do so under the rubric of charter operations. The coming of a fourth runway in 2010 will

allow them to introduce regularly sched-uled regional operations. Each carrier hopes Haneda’s extra capacity will allow it more flexibility to use smaller aircraft to assure peak load factors, especially in off-peak hours. Currently, they are so hemmed in by capacity constraints at the airport that they schedule larger-

gauge aircraft to ensure themselves sufficient capacity. More slots will allow them to better customize schedules.

In anticipation of Haneda’s expansion, JAL already has ordered 10 Embraer 170s and holds five options. It also op-erates Bombardier Q400 turboprops. It has barely begun its analysis of the MRJ, an official said.

MrJ70/90 spECiFiCationsMRJ70Passengers 70-80

Length-Width-Height Dimensions 107.7 - 101.3 - 32.8 ft.

Engine thrust 15,530 lb.

Max. takeoff weight 81,200 lb. (STD) / 84,200 lb. (ER) / 88,600 (LR)

Max. landing weight 79,800 lb.

Range* 920 naut. mi. (STD) / 1,400 naut. mi. (ER) / 1,960 naut. mi. (LR)

Cruise/max. speed M 0.78/.082

Takeoff field length 4,270 ft. (STD) / 4,590 ft. (ER) / 5,020 ft. (LR)

Landing field length 4,560 ft.

MRJ90Passengers 86-96

Length-Width-Height Dimensions 107.4 - 101.3 - 32.8 ft.

Engine thrust 17,340 lb.

Max. takeoff weight 87,300 lb. (STD) / 91,400 lb. (ER) / 94,400 (LR)

Max. landing weight 84,900 lb.

Range* 880 naut. mi. (STD) / 1,400 naut. mi. (ER) / 1,800 naut. mi. (LR)

Cruise/max. speed M 0.78/.082

Takeoff field length 4,760 ft. (STD) / 5,180 ft. (ER) / 5,480 ft. (LR)

Landing field length 4,760 ft.

*with full passenger payload Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

large passenger windows, thinner seats and full-sized overhead luggage bins are selling points for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet.

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