The much-publicized Mitsubishi Regional let (MRJ), a recently launched short-haul 70- to 90-passenger single-aisle aircraft, will be the first commercial passenger aircraft produced and assembled in Japan since the YS-11 turboprop entered service in 1965. Significant R&D funding for the jet initially evolved out of the environment-friendly, high-performance, small-aircraft program begun by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO. Kanagawa, Japan), with component prototyping and testing conducted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, Tokyo). In March 2008, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced it will build the prototype aircraft and production models of the new plane at its Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works, and on April 1, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. was formed at that location to conduct MRJ business.
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