HISTORY
Mitsubishi Aircraft Company
(Mitsubishi
Kokuki)
was the new name given by
the Mitsubishi Company (Mitsubishi
Shokai),
in 1928, to its subsidiary,
Mitsubishi Internal
Combustion
(Mitsubishi
Nainenki),
to reflect its changing role
as an aircraft manufacturer
catering to the growing
demand for military aircraft
in Japan.
Mitsubishi Nainenki had been
established in Nagoya in
1920, and signed a
technology agreement with
Junkers in 1925. By 1926, it
had become one the largest
aircraft manufacturers in
Japan with an output of 69
aircraft and 70 engines.
In 1932, Mitsubishi Aircraft
was among the companies that
involved in a consolidation
process calalysed by the
Imperial Japanese Navy's
Aviation Arsenal. The Navy
launched a three-year
program to have the
manufacturers develop
certain types of aircraft
under competition. Most
important of them were the
Mitsubishi A5M (96-Shiki)
Carrier Fighter and
Mitsubishi G3M (96-Shiki)
Attack Bomber developed by
Mitsubishi with engines made
by Nakajima Aircraft
Company. Introduced in 1936,
it had a maximum speed of
450 km/h. The famous
Mitsubishi A6M ("Zero")
fighter was an improvement
of the A5M and had a maximum
speed of 500 km/h. Also well
known was the Mitsubishi
Ki-46 (100-Shiki)
reconnaissance plane with a
maximum speed of 540 km/h.
In
1934 the company was merged
with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding
to become Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries (Mitsubishi
Jukogyo).
After the surrender of Japan
at the end of World
War II,
Mitsubishi divided into
three companies in January
1950: Mitsubishi Nagasaki
became West Japan Heavy Industries, Ltd, the Kobe Shipyard became Central Japan Heavy-Industries, Ltd., and the
Yokohama branch became East
Japan Heavy-Industries, Ltd.
On 28 April 1952 the Occupation
of Japan ended,
which meant that the ban on
using zaibatsu names was
lifted. Accordingly,
all three companies changed
names again on 7 May 1952:
West Japan Heavy Industries
(the Nagasaki Shipyard) was
renamed Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd., Central Japan Heavy
Industries, Ltd. was renamed
Shin-Mitsubishi Jukogyo K.K.
(also trading
as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Reorganized, Ltd.; shin meaning "New"), while East Japan Heavy-Industries
became Mitsubishi Nippon
Heavy Industries.
In
the 1950s the company began
to re-enter the aerospace
industry in earnest. Along
with other major Japanese
companies it was involved in
design and production of
the NAMC YS-11, the first
Japanese airliner to enter
production after World War
II. In 1956 work started on
the design of the Mitsubishi
MU-2, which became the
company's first postwar
aircraft design.
In
the defense sector, MHI has
produced jet fighters for
the Japan Air Self-Defense
Force and anti-submarine
helicopters for the Japan
Maritime Self-Defense Force,
as well as aero-engines,
missiles and torpedoes. It
produced North American F-86
Sabre, Lockheed F-104
Starfighter and McDonnell
Douglas F-4 Phantom
II fighters. It manufactured
139 Mitsubishi F-15J fighter
aircraft from 1981 and
produced 200 Sikorsky
S-70 family Mitsubishi
H-60 helicopters from 1989,
in both cases under license
production. The company also
plays an important role in
the Japanese Ballistic
Missile Defense System
program.
In
the space systems sector,
MHI is the producer of
the H-IIA and H-IIB launch
vehicles, Japan's main
rockets, and provides launch
services for national
institutions and companies
around the world. The
clients
include JAXA, KARI, Mohammed
bin Rashid Space Centre,
and Inmarsat. The company is
also involved in
the International Space
Station program as a cargo
spaceship contractor.
On 1
April 2008, MHI
established Mitsubishi
Aircraft Corporation as a
subsidiary to develop and
produce the MRJ
or Mitsubishi Regional Jet,
a 70 to 90 passenger
regional airliner. MHI is
the majority shareholder of
the new company, with Toyota
Motor Corporation owning
10%.
On
December 12, 2012, MHI
acquired Pratt & Whitney
Power Systems, the small gas
turbine business of United
Technologies.
In
the civil aircraft sector,
MHI develops and
manufactures major airframe
components, including
fuselage panels for
the Boeing 777 and
composite-material wing
boxes for the 787. In June
2014, the company joined
four other major Japanese
companies in signing an
agreement to build parts
for Boeing's 777X aircraft.
On 25 June 2019, MHI
announced the acquisition
of Bombardier
Aviation's CRJ programme, in
a deal expected to close in
the first half of 2020,
subject to regulatory
approval. MHI will benefit
from Bombardier's global
expertise in areas ranging
from engineering and
certification to customer
relations and support,
boosting its SpaceJet
(formerly MRJ) programme,
and potentially enabling the
SpaceJet to be produced in
North America. The deal
includes two service centres
in Canada and two in the US,
as well as the type
certificates for the
CRJ. Bombardier will retain
its assembly facility
at Mirabel, near Montreal,
Canada, and will continue to
produce the CRJ on behalf of
MHI until the current order
backlog is complete. In
early May 2020, MHI
confirmed that all
conditions had been met and
that the transaction would
be closed on 1 June. The
acquired aviation unit was
then renamed MHI RJ Aviation
Group.
MHI
recorded a loss in FY 2020
partly because of the
continuous delays of the
first delivery of the
SpaceJet. At the height of
the COVID-19 pandemic that
crippled the aviation
industry, MHI decided to put
a halt to the project.
Source:
Wikipedia
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