Unexpectedly strong demand for the Boeing 787 has led Kawasaki Heavy Industries to consider building a second plant. The Japanese company, which builds one-piece forward fuselage barrels for the 787, stresses that it is only drawing up contingency plans that would depend on Boeing's future sales success. Japanese daily business newspaper Nikkei says the extra plant would double Kawasaki Heavy's capacity to 14 shipsets a month.

Japanese industry is making a renewed attempt to break into the first ranks of aircraft builders, with a range of large aircraft proposed or under development that compare well with those of any single European country. The international market remains a challenge for Japanese companies, but it's hard to dismiss the ambition in their latest projects, which include: *A maritime patrol aircraft, comparable with the BAE Systems Nimrod MRA.4, sporting a combat system and high-bypass turbofans developed domestically.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is aiming straight at the Embraer and Bombardier large regional jets with its sophisticated MRJ proposal and is betting it can beat the Brazilian aircraft with a much smaller cross section, defying the trend toward roomier cabins. The first detailed specifications, released ahead of an expected early 2008 program launch, show a big rise in installed thrust from earlier sketch data but otherwise stick to the concept of a conventionally arranged jet with pylon-mounted engines under the wing.