Boeing to act as a consultant on Mitsubishi’s regional jet project
10 Sep 2008
Boeing and Mitsubishi Aircraft have inked a contract where Boeing will support the Japanese aircraft manufacturer as a consultant on its 70-90 seat Mitsubishi Regional Jet programme.
The terms of the contract stipulate Boeing's assistance with marketing, development and aftermarket activities for a pair of new regional jets, the first of which are expect to hit the market in 2013. The regional jets will be Japan's first domestically manufactured passenger aircraft since the YS-11 turboprop, which ceased production in 1973.
Development costs of the MRJ project have been estimated in the range of Y180 billion.
Mitrubishi and Boeing have a longstanding relationship in the field of commercial aircraft production, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries currently making composite wing boxes for the Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, and parts for the 747, 767 and 777 series. The composite wing boxes include the outer skins, stringers, girders and ribs.
The wings of Mitsubishi's regional jet will be made largely of composites, which is where the company will apply its learnings and refinements gained from experience on Boeing's Dreamliner project.
Other new aviation technology that will be part of the regional jet would be a version of Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1000G engine, which was formerly called the Geared Turbofan. Pratt & Whitney is said to be ready to start work on the detailed design of the version of the PW1000G that will power the MRJ sometime by the end of 2008, well in time for the first MRJ engine to enter testing around a year later.
With the PW1000G, lightweight composite parts and state of the art aerodynamics, Mitsubishi says the MRJ will offer a 20 per cent advantage in terms of operating costs over any competing aircraft.
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