Mitsubishi says MRJ nearing design freeze
The time for refinements to the Mitsubishi MRJ has nearly passed, as Mitsubishi Aircraft expects to freeze the regional jet’s design within the next two mo

The time for refinements to the Mitsubishi MRJ has nearly passed, as Mitsubishi Aircraft expects to freeze the regional jet’s design within the next two months. The company has frozen all the interfaces between the various systems and the structural components, both in the 88-seat MRJ90, scheduled for Japanese certification in late 2013, and the 76-seat MRJ70, which would likely gain its certification roughly a year later.

“The next milestone will be critical design review, then we will start manufacturing parts,” said Mitsubishi Aircraft executive vice president Junichi Miyakawa, who explained that the company will undertake a series of critical design reviews (CDRs) between now and the end of September. “As far as the major features of the structures or systems are concerned, they’re not going to be changed,” he told AIN.