Flight International – 11 June 2019

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fiightglobal.com 11-17 June 2019 | Flight International | 7

Unlikely attraction

At first glance, Mitsubishi’s pursuit of the ageing CRJ line seems illogical, but

while the jet itself may be of little interest, other aspects are clearly appealing

So what do you want?

T

he Paris air show serves many

purposes, but none so much as an arms

bazaar – expect more brass at Le Bourget

than D-Day’s 75th anniversary events.

Great sport it is, too, counting spangly gen-

erals shopping for new fighters.

But what are they buying? And what,

exactly, are their eager hosts selling? Not

speed, aerobatics or stealth but, rather,

machines to fulfil a mission. Alas, the

world is no longer so simple.

For years, stealth has been the word, but

radar is now beating that technology. As

detailed in our preview report, the mighty

Lockheed Martin F-35 is not the obvious

go-to air power choice it was even as re-

cently as the last Paris air show. Serious

talk says iterative enhancements of other

in-service types could see some air forces

through to the 2030s or 2040s and a new

era of sixth-generation fighters.

The military mission is also changing.

Destroying assets, enforcing no-fly zones

or protecting supply routes will remain on

the tactical menu, but the real action is

shifting to achieving dominance of an

evolving information network enabled by

exotic technologies.

So what must sixth-generation fighters

do that existing options cannot? Neither

buyers nor sellers can say with the cer-

tainty needed to plan long-term acquisi-

tion or product development strategies.

For big defence contractors, the future

depends on mastering technologies that

remain untamed, undefined or even un-

known. Mergers, acquisitions and mas-

sive R&D budgets may see them through.

But it is equally possible they will be leap-

frogged by outsiders with new ideas.

Perhaps some of the big name compa-

nies occupying the huge chalets at Le

Bourget this month may, five or 10 Paris

air shows from now, be suppliers to a new

generation of primes. ■

E

mbraer probably views the CRJ as a

competitor that just will not go away.

There was a time when Embraer and its

E-Jet family nearly put the CRJ out of busi-

ness. But now the Canadian regional jet pro-

gramme could cause a big competitive head-

ache for the folks in Sao Jose dos Campos.

That is because Mitsubishi Aircraft – an

arriviste that has promised to upend the

regional aircraft market for years, but has not

clawed its way to certification – is considering

buying the CRJ, via its parent company.

Put the pieces together and you can see

how the ex-Canadair jet could be the saviour

the tardy MRJ has long needed.

True, the CRJ is an ageing platform built on

yesterday’s technology with a claustrophobi-

cally narrow fuselage. True also that Bombar-

dier’s CRJ production line seems about to

draw its final breath, as it churns through the

remaining 44 orders for the CRJ900.

But none of that matters. Mitsubishi

Aircraft probably does not care for the jet itself

• indeed, it might rather not have it. But it
  does want everything that accompanies the
  CRJ: an inventory that the MRJ patently lacks.
  The CRJ is a fully-established global pro-
  gramme. From it, Mitsubishi Aircraft could
  gain the certification expertise needed to fi-
  nally gain approval for the long-delayed
  MRJ90 – or at least help validate the next MRJ
  variant. This, if rumours are true, is aimed
  squarely at the US market.
  The production experience embedded in
  the Bombardier jet could help Mitsubishi

(^) Aircraft produce MRJs without the kind of
hiccups that plague certification and have a
tendency to crop up in all new programmes.
And few aircraft types have as developed a
global service network as the CRJ’s. If
Mitsubishi Aircraft expects airlines to start
queuing at its door, it must convince buyers it
has the resources to address the in-service
problems that will certainly materialise.
Equally valuable are Bombardier’s customer
relationships, which Mitsubishi Aircraft could
use to line up more orders. After all, Bombar-
dier – or its forebears – essentially invented the
regional jet as we know it, and nearly every
major US regional airline at one time operated
CRJs. Bombardier has relationships that count.
For all these reasons, the CRJ could answer
many of Mitsubishi Aircraft’s problems.
Should a deal actually close at a price that
works for both parties (one analyst values the
CRJ programme at anywhere between $
million and $1 billion), the MRJ will sudden-
ly become a force to be reckoned with.
And Embraer had better watch out. ■
Yesterday’s technology, today
AirTeamImages
See Paris Preview P52, 54 & 70
See This Week P
Mitsubishi Aircraft probably
does not care for the jet itself,
but it does want everything
that accompanies the CRJ
Hau Dinh/AP/Shutterstock
Vision thing