Posted on 02 Apr 2024
Japan has unveiled plans to invest as much as JPY 5 trillion ($33 billion) in a public-private partnership to develop a next-generation aircraft based on strong domestic technologies.
According to the ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI), such technologies may include hybrid electric, hydrogen combustion and hydrogen fuel cell, Kallanish notes.
“We aim to transform the aircraft industry from being component suppliers to one that can take the initiative in providing value-added products,” METI’s vice minister Kazuchika Iwata said in a recent meeting.
The project would be developed by multiple companies, leveraging public and private knowledge and experience, including from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ’s cancelled SpaceJet. The airliner is expected to debut around 2035, though the government is yet to confirm further details of its strategy, including how much it would directly invest in it.
Last year, Mitsubishi Heavy said it lacked the technological know-how for SpaceJet to materialise. Decarbonisation pressure, as well as struggles to obtain regulatory approval in the US, were also cited as headwinds for its success.
Source:Kallanish
