. Throughout much of the
Cold War era, the Japanese conglomerate
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) engaged in numerous aerospace programmes, which were typically
licensed production arrangements on behalf of the
Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF). In April 1995, development of the MH2000 was formally launched. It is a medium-sized multipurpose helicopter powered by a pair of Mitsubishi's own MG5-110
turboshaft engines. This engine features a single-stage high-pressure centrifugal compressor and is controlled by a dual-channel
Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC); power is delivered through a three stage
transmission that possessed a maximum continuous power capacity of 1,250 shp. The MH2000 has an
articulated four-bladed main rotor; the rotor blades are of an all-
composite construction that comprised both
glass fiber and
carbon fiber. The main rotor head comprised a
titanium hub, composite yokes, elastmeric
bearings, and an elastomeric
damper. It was decided to adopt a
ducted fan tail rotor primarily due to the superior safety to ground personnel provided. The tail fan constituted ten composite blades and an aluminium hub. Safety was bolstered by the MH2000's twin-engine configuration as well as the adoption of a crashworthy design, an automatic
flight control system and a map display system. The design of both the FADEC system and rotor blades were shaped by the desire to reduce external noise, while the location of the transmission in the rear of the airframe was influenced by the preference to reduce cabin noise and vibration. For ease of maintenance, all electronic equipment was centralised in a single rear avionics compartment; furthermore, efforts were made to use high reliability components and apparatus. All of the major dynamic elements, including the rotor and transmission, were produced by MHI, as well as the airframe. Atypically, MHI undertook development not only of the rotorcraft itself but also its propulsion in parallel. Despite this, efforts were made to compress the development timeframe as well as the overall costs of the programme. Accordingly,
type certification testing formally commenced in May 1996, which involved a total of two prototypes performing roughly 300 flights and 500 flight hours. the basic type certificate for the MH2000 was issued on 26 June 1997. That same month, type approval of the rotorcraft's engine had also been issued. During this late 1990s, multiple different methods of vibration minimisation were explored. By mid-1997, quantity production of the MH2000 commenced; later stage flight testing was performed by both prototype and production-standard rotorcraft, securing approval for additional procedures on the production model in September 1999. During the late 1990s, Mitsubishi publicly stated its ambition to sell 100 MH2000s by 2010, and that each one would have a base unit cost of $3.5million, or 15-20 percent cheaper than competing rotorcraft. On 1 October 1999, MHI delivered the first example; furthermore, it had manufactured three production standard MH2000s by this point. It was intended for early deliveries to be focused towards the domestic market, and that only after sufficient satisfactory feedback had been gathered would MHI start to market and sell the MK2000 on the international export market. During early 2000, MH2000 business development director Shinichiro Sakamoto stated that the company was holding discussions with the
Japanese Ministry of Defense regarding potential military applications for the type; the delivery of an MH2000 to the
National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan was also observed. Furthermore, a demonstration aircraft crashed during 2000, while complications with the indigenously-developed rotor blade were also identified. During November 2004, it was announced that, in response to a lack of interest from prospective operators, sales efforts for the MH2000 were being discontinued. ==Specifications==