Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is taking a 7.5% risk-sharing stake in the troubled Pratt & Whitney (P&W) PW6000 engine programme. MHI has previously partnered with P&W on the JT8D-200 and PW4000. The deal gives MHI responsibility for the powerplant's combustion chamber.
The PW6000 was supposed to enter service later this year powering the Airbus A318, but problems have pushed the in-service date back to at least mid-2005 (Flight International, 30 April - 6 May).
P&W's move to offload some of the financial risk follows the defection of several key launch customers to CFMI.
A team of MHI engineers has already been dispatched to P&W's East Hartford, Connecticut, headquarters in the USA to start work on the PW6000, the design of which is being heavily revised as a result of performance shortfalls.
The US engine manufacturer, meanwhile, has completed tests of the MTU-designed high-pressure compressor proposed as a solution to the PW6000's excessive fuel consumption, and is "encouraged by the performance". If the compressor is selected, as expected, the German company will also become a risk-sharing partner.
Source: Flight International
