Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aero Engines (MHIAEL) has finished assembly of the first license-built Pratt & Whitney PW1200G geared turbofan at its facility in Komaki, Japan, Pratt & Whitney announced Wednesday. The PW1200G, developed by Pratt & Whitney to power the Mitsubishi MRJ90 and MRJ70 regional jets, also passed the Connecticut-based company’s production acceptance test. Established as a subsidiary of MHI in 2014 with investment from 10-percent owner Development Bank of Japan and 1-percent stakeholder IHI Corporation, MHIAEL supplements PW1200G production by Pratt & Whitney in Mirabel, Canada.

“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,” said MHIAEL president and CEO Katsuyuki Shimauchi. “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.”

Expecting to achieve certification by early 2020, the MRJ program team as of October had clocked more than 2,400 hours of flight testing with four flying MRJ90 prototypes.