Mitsubishi Electric \u2060plans to build three facilities to produce electronic systems for the advanced fighter being developed by Japan, Britain and Italy, and expects the project to contribute to profits by the end of the decade, its chief financial officer \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n
The Japanese company is a key participant in the \u200cGlobal Combat Air \u200cProgram (GCAP), which aims to deploy a frontline fighter \u200bby 2035. Its construction plans are a sign that the project is moving beyond government agreements and preliminary design into an industrial buildup.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy \u2060sense is that it could begin contributing to earnings around fiscal 2029 or \u20602030, or perhaps a year before that,\u201d Kenichiro Fujimoto said in an interview. The company will receive compensation for \u200bdeploying personnel and building prototypes, he \u2060added.<\/p>\n
GCAP is led industrially by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, BAE Systems in Britain and \u2060Leonardo in Italy. Canada \u200bhas joined as an observer, while Germany and \u200bSaudi Arabia have been discussed as possible additional partners, although \u200bproject officials \u200chave said new entrants must not delay the 2035 rollout target.<\/p>\n
The Japanese maker of radars and missiles is seeking to increase annual defense business sales by more than half to \u200c\u00a5690 billion ($4.4 billion) by March 2031.<\/p>\n
The company expects exports to account for a significant portion of that growth, including GCAP work, equipment for the Mogami-class warships Japan will supply to Australia and components for AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air \u200bmissiles \u200bmade by U.S. defense company RTX.<\/p>\n