Mitsubishi Electric to erect three factories for multinational fighter program

Mitsubishi Electric disclosed that it will set up three production sites dedicated to electronic components for the Global Combat Air Programme, a joint fighter effort among Japan, Britain and Italy. The company's chief financial officer, Kenichiro Fujimoto, indicated that the project could begin contributing to the firm’s earnings by fiscal 2029 or 2030, after receiving payments for staff deployment and prototype builds.

GCAP is industrially coordinated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, BAE Systems and Leonardo, with Canada observing and Germany and Saudi Arabia discussed as possible future partners, provided they do not delay the 2035 rollout goal. Mitsubishi Electric aims to lift its defence sales to 690 billion yen by March 2031, counting on exports of GCAP work, warship equipment for Australia and missile components for RTX Corp. Recent Japanese easing of arms-export rules may open further opportunities as Western supply chains face strain. Fujimoto noted that broader market conditions could favor Japanese manufacturers, though specifics remain undisclosed.