Can anyone introduce Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries?

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is Japan's largest military manufacturer. In 2003, the amount of military industry orders accepted by the Self-Defense Agency was 280 billion yen, ranking first among all military industry enterprises. Equipment produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, such as F-2 and F-15J fighter jets, and Type 90 tanks, play a core role in the Air Self-Defense Force and Ground Self-Defense Force. In the Maritime Self-Defense Force, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries builds almost half of submarines, and a third of destroyers. Its status in the Japanese military industry is evident.

Historical evolution and summary

The predecessor of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries can be traced back to the Meiji Restoration. In 1884, Mitsubishi founder Yataro Iwasaki leased the Nagasaki Shipbuilding Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Industry from the government and named it Nagasaki Shipyard, which later developed into Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. By 1934, as the company's business had expanded to heavy machinery, aircraft, railway vehicles and other fields, the company was renamed Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.

After the end of World War II, due to the policy of the US occupation authorities to dismantle the Zaibatsu, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was divided into West Nippon Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., Central Nippon Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., East Nippon Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and others in 1950. company. However, with changes in U.S. policy and Japanese domestic politics, the three companies merged in 1964 and rebuilt Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. to this day. During this period, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' automotive division became independent as "Mitsubishi Motors Corporation" in 1970.

Currently, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' business covers machinery, ships, aerospace, atomic energy, electric power, transportation and other fields. As of April 1, 2004, the registered capital was 265.6 billion yen and the number of employees was 34,306. It has 9 overseas offices or representative offices, 9 branches, 6 research institutes, and 9 business offices. The annual order volume is 2,159.2 billion yen (from April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004), and the annual sales is 1,940.1 billion yen (statistical date is the same as before). Among them, based on the proportion of departmental sales to total sales, the shipbuilding and marine department accounts for 8%, the nuclear energy department accounts for 23%, the machinery and steel structure department accounts for 20%, the aerospace and aerospace department accounts for 17%, and the vehicles, machine tools and other industrial sectors Accounting for 29%, other industries accounted for 3%.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a member of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu. Today's Japanese chaebols appear in the form of so-called keiretsu (the pronunciation of the Japanese kanji for "series"). Mitsubishi series companies are all members of the Mitsubishi Group organization "Golden Yao Club" (meaning Friday Club). They include (for the sake of uniformity, this article uses their Japanese names in Chinese characters or their original English names):

Asahi Glass ( Glass and chemical companies), Kirin Beer, Nippon Oil, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Nikon Camera, Nippon Yusen Line, P.S Mitsubishi (engaged in the construction industry), Mitsubishi Aluminum, Mitsubishi Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical Machinery, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Mitsubishi Estate (real estate), Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Plastics, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Trust Bank, Mitsubishi Shindo, Mitsubishi Steel, Mitsubishi Paper, Mitsubishi Warehouse, Mitsubishi General Research Institute (the Japanese characters are "Mitsubishi General Research Institute"), Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Cable Industries, Mitsubishi Fuso Trucks and Buses, Mitsubishi Materials (Mitsubishi Materials), Mitsubishi Rayon, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance.

Companies in the same series can cooperate more closely. Each company can provide other brother companies with good products or lower prices in their own areas of responsibility. For example, Nippon Yusen Kaisha is a major orderer of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' shipping department, and Mitsubishi Electric provides electromechanical products for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Companies such as Mitsubishi Steel, Mitsubishi Steel, Mitsubishi Aluminum and Mitsubishi Materials can provide Mitsubishi's shipping and aerospace departments. Provide reliable raw materials. Companies such as Mitsubishi Bank and Tokio Marine can provide loans and special insurance services (such as space launch insurance). Optical products produced by Nikon and new materials produced by Mitsubishi Plastics are all indispensable components for high-tech weapons.

The Mitsubishi Group also has some affiliated companies and social groups as peripherals, including:

"IP Talk" Group (engaged in phone card business), Atami Yowadong (Iwasaki Koyata Memorial Hall), MT Insurance Services Co., Ltd., Kantokaku (a hotel renovated from the former residence of the Iwasaki family), Koiwai Farming, Shonan Suburban Club, Jinggado Bunko Museum of Art, Zongtong Group (a property management company mainly for Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank), Dai Nippon Paint, Dia Aged Society Research Foundation, Diamond Family Club (a matchmaking agency jointly funded by 29 companies of the Jinjinkai Association, mainly for internal services within the group), Chitose Kosan, Toyo Bunko, Marunouchi Yorozu (a company engaged in real estate intermediaries and advertising agencies), Mitsubishi Jinkai (a networking organization for chairman and general managers of 29 Mitsubishi companies), Mitsubishi Club, Mitsubishi Economic Research Institute, Mitsubishi Broadcasting Committee, Mitsubishi Foundation, Mitsubishi CC Research Association (IT industry research institutions), Mitsubishi Trademark Committee, Mitsubishi Market Research Association, Mitsubishi Yowakai (a club with the theme of sports and health), LEOC Japan (a company engaged in medical and company canteen management).

It can be seen that through the collaboration and division of labor of large groups, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries can obtain a variety of support in terms of capital, technology, raw materials, upstream products, financial services, sales, etc. from brother enterprises and groups. This is very beneficial to the development of enterprises.

The following is an introduction to the military-related departments of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries:

Shipbuilding and Marine Business Division

The shipbuilding industry is the earliest department of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Currently, among the four subordinate shipyards of this division, three shipyards including Nagasaki, Kobe, and Shimonoseki build military products.

Nagasaki Shipyard: Nagasaki Shipyard built the "Musashi" battleship during World War II and is currently the main destroyer manufacturer of the Self-Defense Forces. It has built the Tatokaze class, Hagikaze class, and Haruna class. , Asagiri-class, Kongo-class, Takaha-class and other types of ships. The latest Takaha-class destroyer No. 4 ship "Ren" (さざなみ, sazanami) was commissioned at Nagasaki Shipyard in February 2005.

It has the headquarters, Incense Factory, Komachi Factory and Isahaya Factory. The total area is 2,420,127 square meters (the following data are all in 2004), the construction area is 929,976 square meters, and the number of employees is 6,299. The factory is the main surface ship construction site for the Maritime Self-Defense Force. As of April 2004, it has built 105 ships with a displacement of 522,000 tons and repaired 266 ships with a displacement of 858,000 tons for the Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The headquarters currently has a 225,000-ton dock, an 80,000-ton slipway, and a 300,000-ton and 95,000-ton ship repair dock. It has 5 sections of 1,120 meters of shore wall and a water depth of 6 to 10 meters.

Xiangshao Factory is a shipbuilding factory completed in 1972. It has a 1 million ton shipyard with a length of 990 meters, a width of 100 meters and a depth of 9.55 to 14.5 meters, and a 5 million ton ship repair dock. , and has 3 sections of shore wall of 1053 meters, with a water depth of 9.5 meters.

The Komachi Factory is a manufacturer of marine engines, generators, steering gears, compressors and other equipment.

The Isahaya Factory is a final assembly plant for military products and a manufacturing site for attitude, orbit control systems and solar cells used in rockets and satellites.

According to data provided by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the annual production capacity of Nagasaki Shipyard is: 1.9 million gross tons of new shipbuilding and 5.5 million gross tons of ship repairs. Land and ship steam turbines of 4 million kilowatts and 100 ship propellers. In 2004, the factory's product production volume was 379.6 billion yen, of which shipbuilding and steel structure products accounted for 39%, marine equipment accounted for 9%, land boilers and steam turbine equipment accounted for 42%, and aerospace and other products accounted for 10%.

Kobe Shipyard: Kobe Shipyard produced submarines before World War II. After the war, it became a professional submarine manufacturer for the Self-Defense Force. Submarines of the Maritime Self-Defense Force were built at this plant and Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ Kobe Shipyard. Kobe Shipyard has built Harushio-class, Yushio-class, and Oyashio-class submarines. The latest Oyashio-class submarine, the "Takami", also entered service at the shipyard in March 2005.

In fact, the main products of the plant are concentrated in the fields of nuclear energy and power generation. The products include pressurized water reactors, nuclear power generating units, etc. So far, it has completed the construction of 23 nuclear power units, with a power rating of 20 million kilowatts, forming a complete design and production capacity for nuclear power and nuclear power units. In 2004, of the shipyard's sales of 291.8 billion yen, 53% came from the generator and nuclear power fields, and only 22% came from the shipbuilding and marine fields. It is a very remarkable situation that one factory is responsible for the construction of submarines and reactors at the same time.

The shipyard's construction department includes the headquarters and Futami Plant. The headquarters is responsible for ship repair and shipbuilding, and the Futami Plant is responsible for casting, large machinery assembly, and the production of nuclear power-related products. The two factories currently cover a total area of ??1.17 million square meters, with a construction area of ??452,300 square meters and 4,607 employees.

Shimonoseki Shipyard: Shimonoseki, located at the western end of Honshu, is one of the production sites for small ships of the Self-Defense Force. Boats 1 and 2 of the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s latest missile boat, the Hayabusa class, are produced here. of. At present, the factory has a 33,000-ton slipway and a 600-ton special slipway for lightweight alloy hulls. There are one dock each for 40,000 tons, 17,000 tons, 4,000 tons and 1,000 tons.

Yokohama Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: This factory is mainly engaged in the production of diesel engines, steam turbines, and marine auxiliary engines. It also undertakes ship repair business. Its Honmaki factory has two ship repair docks.

Banyong Machinery and Special Vehicles Division

"Banyongji" refers to various civilian machinery, and "Special Vehicle" is the abbreviation of "Special Vehicle" in Japanese, which means Military or security vehicles. This division produces the main armored combat vehicles of the Ground Self-Defense Force, including Type 90 tanks, Type 89 infantry fighting vehicles, Type 87 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, Type 90 tank rescue vehicles, Type 91 bridge tanks and other models. It also produced 6NMU non-magnetic engines for the Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweepers.

Sagamihara Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: This factory is affiliated to the General Motors Vehicle Business Headquarters and is located in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo. It is also the production site of military vehicles of the "Special Vehicle Division". In addition to military vehicles, the factory also produces construction engineering machinery, various generators and engines and other civilian products.

The Fanyong Motorcycle Division has established a new production base in Chitose, Hokkaido in recent years.

Aerospace Business Headquarters

The Aerospace Business Headquarters consists of the Aerospace Business Department, the Military Aircraft Department (Japanese: "Defense Aircraft Department"), and the Guidance Weapons Department (Japanese: " "Induction Machinery Division"), Civil Aircraft Division ("Civil Aviation Machinery Division" in Japanese), and Aerospace Division ("Space Machinery Division" in Japanese).

The aviation department of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has a long history. In the 1920s, it manufactured the Type 10 carrier-based fighter, the earliest domestically produced fighter of the Japanese Navy. Its famous products before and during World War II also include the Type 89 ship attack and the Type 96 land attack. , Zero ship combat, Type 1 land attack and other types of aircraft. After World War II, the department imitated the F-86F fighter jet in the 1950s, the F-104J fighter jet in the 1960s, and entered the stage of large-scale military production in the 1970s. At present, the main products of this division are as follows:

Aviation products (including licensed production and assembly): including F-2, F-15J, F-1, F-4EJ and other fighter jets, T-2 trainer aircraft, SH-60J, UH-60J, HSS-2B, MH-53E and other helicopters, YS-11, MU-300 and other civil aircraft, a variety of aero engines, and responsible for Boeing 777, Boeing 747, Airbus Subcontract production of A-340 and other aircraft parts.

Aerospace products: H-IIA rocket, Japanese part of the International Space Station. And it is developing cryogenic rocket engines with greater thrust and other spacecraft such as space shuttles.

Other weapons and equipment: "Patriot" missiles, ASM-2 air-to-ship missiles, SSM-1 ship-to-ship missiles, AAM-3 air-to-air missiles, and Type 97 torpedoes.

Nagoya Aerospace Systems Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: This factory is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ fighter and helicopter production plant. Its products cover the various types of aircraft and rockets produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries mentioned above. The main manufacturer of fighter jets and helicopters for the Guards.

The factory has three factories. The Dajiang factory is responsible for research and development, management and some parts manufacturing, and the Feidao factory is responsible for the final assembly of aerospace products and some subassembly of aerospace products. The Komaki Minami Plant is responsible for the final assembly and flight testing of aviation products.

The factory is also responsible for the testing and production of Japan's maglev train technology. The trains currently used on the Yamanashi Line, Japan's maglev train test line, were jointly developed by the factory and Tokai Railway Co., Ltd.

Nagoya Guidance and Propulsion System Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: This factory is responsible for the production of various types of aircraft engines and rocket engines, guided weapons and guidance heads. Affiliated headquarters factory and Tashiro proving ground. In the fiscal year 2003-2004, the factory produced 139.6 billion yen, of which 50% were missile products, 34% were aviation and rocket engines, and 16% were other guidance equipment. Its products include various types of missiles and guided weapons produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries mentioned above, as well as engines used in H-2A rockets.

The company is currently the main manufacturer of "Patriot" missiles for the Self-Defense Forces and is about to start producing "Patriot" III missiles. If Japan participates in the ballistic missile defense system, the factory will be a naval base. Prime contractor for ground-based and ground-based interceptors.

Other production facilities

Hiroshima Manufacturing: The product areas of this factory cover various mechanical products. It is worth noting that this plant is responsible for the construction of Japan's uranium enrichment plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture. The plant uses centrifugal methods to obtain enriched uranium. It has a design capacity of 1,500 tons of SWU (separation work units) and is the world's largest nuclear waste processing base. , whose name is for the safe disposal of nuclear waste.

Takasago Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: This factory mainly produces various power devices. The current annual production capacity is: thermal and nuclear power generating units of 4 million kilowatts, gas turbines of 7.2 million kilowatts, and hydroelectric power units of 2 million kilowatts. The factory covers an area of ??980,500 square meters, with a construction area of ??223,206 square meters and 3,380 employees.

R&D system and organization

The R&D organization of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the Technology Headquarters.

The Technology Headquarters has various research institutes and technical training departments, technology planning departments and intellectual property departments.

The main institutions engaged in R&D in the Technology Headquarters are various research institutes, which include:

Advanced Technology Research Center: Located in Yokohama City, its main research directions are electric power, environment, transportation and defense , cutting-edge technologies in industry, such as solar cells, thin film technology, new elements, laser technology and various sensing technologies.

Nagasaki Research Institute: The main direction is fluid power, materials, technology, acoustics, guidance and other technologies related to the shipbuilding industry. The institute has the world's largest private enterprise-owned test pool group, including propulsion performance pools, navigability pools, shallow water pools, water tunnels, and ice sea pools. The institute can be regarded as one of the most important scientific research bases in the Japanese shipbuilding industry.

Takasago Research Institute: Located in Takasago City, Hyogo Prefecture, it is mainly engaged in research on energy, transportation and power, including gas turbines, nuclear power, highway information systems, air conditioning refrigeration or heating equipment, robots, and power generation unit management etc.

Hiroshima Research Institute: The main research direction is cutting-edge technology, including new materials, solid polymer batteries, fuel cells, X-ray cameras, high-purity hydrogen production equipment, etc. The institute also conducts research in steel, chemicals, construction, transportation, printing and wind power technology.

Yokohama Research Institute: The main direction is environmental protection related technologies, including garbage treatment, sewage treatment, etc., and also conducts research in the fields of diesel engines, steam turbines and other engines.

Nagoya Research Institute: The specialty of this institute is to provide industrial design solutions for various fields including machinery, ships, architecture, etc. He is also engaged in research on fluid dynamics, acoustics, electronic guidance, polymer chemistry, new materials and new processes.

To sum up, after hundreds of years of development, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has a complete R&D, manufacturing and sales system within the company, and has also formed a good division of labor and cooperation with other Mitsubishi brothers. Its current military production scale is only a reflection of its "maintenance" status. Compared with the real military production potential behind it, it is just the tip of the iceberg.