Militarization of Japan Aviation Industry

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Conflicting reports over the fate of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries SpaceJet program has again highlighted the cloudy outlook for Japan’s passenger jet industry, and the firm may be looking toward militarization as its escape hatch to profitability.

SpaceJet was launched fifteen years ago with high hopes. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has reportedly spent about ¥1 trillion (US$7.5 billion) to create a passenger jet model which would seat about eighty people. But the project has faced serial delays and disappointments.

The company suspended the project in October 2020 and, according to a Kyodo News report released this week, the plug is about to be pulled completely.

However, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries balked at that report, issuing a short press release which reads:

There were multiple reports that the development of the SpaceJet project had been discontinued, but this was not announced by our company or our subsidiary, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation.It is true that we are considering various possibilities, but we will promptly announce any matters that should be disclosed in the future if they are decided.

While this is not exactly a denial, it does indicate that the firm is still grappling with its policy direction.

Sources agree that a key problem for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is that pushing forward with the SpaceJet project doesn’t make sense economically. Although it has hundreds of orders for its jet, the US Federal Aviation Administration may not grant it a type certificate–a matter which would cripple its commercial prospects.

However, there is a third option for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries aside from moving forward with SpaceJet or cancelling it altogether; that is to shift from commercial aviation to military aviation.

It was reported last December that the company would be involved in a Japan-UK-Italy project to develop a sixth-generation fighter aircraft by 2035. Moreover, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada announced that profit margins for private companies with military contracts are being revised upwards to 15%. He even describes the strengthening of Japan’s military-industrial complex as “an urgent task” for the government.

It may thus be that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is about to pivot toward a return to its prewar history, when it designed and produced Yamato-class battleships and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter aircraft. The firm may be about to become once again a premier weapons manufacturer and exporter, in line with the Kishida administration’s decision to massively boost the nation’s military budget.
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