Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aero Engines Completes Assembly of First Pratt & Whitney GTF PW1200G Engine

December 13, 2018

William Kucinski

The first Pratt & Whitney PW1200G Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine assembly was completed at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aero Engines Ltd. (MHIAEL) facility in Komaki, Japan, and successfully passed Pratt & Whitney's production acceptance test. The engine is designated to be used in Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation ’s Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) flight test program.

"Thanks to extensive and close cooperation with Pratt & Whitney, MHIAEL is developing a facility in Komaki to perform final assembly of the PW1200G engine powering the MRJ," says Katsuyuki Shimauchi, president and CEO of MHIAEL. "We're gearing up intensely as we prepare for production by building the capacities and expertise, we need to perform this critical work. Our facility is in the process of obtaining approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to produce these engines."

The MHIAEL Komaki facility will be one of two production assembly and test sites for the PW1200G engine, after Pratt & Whitney's Mirabel Aerospace Center in Quebec, Canada. Pratt & Whitney is a subsidiary of Farmington, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corporation .

Read more: Early growing pains have not stopped Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine orders

"The assembly and test of the first PW1200G engine at MHIAEL in Komaki is a key milestone for the PW1200G program," says Graham Webb, vice president of Pratt & Whitney commercial engine programs. "We greatly appreciate our long-standing partnership and high level of collaboration with the MHI Group. Congratulations to the MHIAEL and Pratt & Whitney teams that ensured this achievement was successfully accomplished."

(Image source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aero Engines Ltd.)

The MRJ is Mitsubishi Aircraft's next generation regional jet, powered exclusively by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines. The MRJ aircraft is currently flight testing and Mitsubishi Aircraft anticipates the first delivery in mid-2020.

The GTF engine's geared fan architecture enables double digit reductions in fuel consumption, noise footprint and regulated emissions. Producing 7-8 tons of thrust, the PW1200G will exclusively powering Mitsubishi Aircraft's MRJ aircraft.

William Kucinski is content editor at SAE International, Aerospace Products Group in Warrendale, Pa. Previously, he worked as a writer at the NASA Safety Center in Cleveland, Ohio and was responsible for writing the agency’s System Failure Case Studies. His interests include literally anything that has to do with space, past and present military aircraft, and propulsion technology.

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