Hawker 400

The Hawker 400 (also known as the Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond and Beechjet 400) is a light business jet. Initially designed and produced by the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it has been further developed and updated by the American company Beech Aircraft Company, now part of Textron Aviation. Development was launched by Mitsubishi as the MU-300 Diamond during the 1970s as a jet-powered companion to its existing Mitsubishi MU-2. Performing its maiden flight on August 29, 1978; however, the certification process was protracted due to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) being more cautious following the loss of American Airlines Flight 191. The Diamond was cleared to enter service in on November 6, 1981. Production proceeded at Mitsubishi's US-based subsidiary. In 1985, Mitsubishi sold the rights to the Diamond II, along with numerous unfinished airframes, to Beechcraft. Adopting the Beechjet 400 naming scheme, production of the type continued into the twenty-first century. In 2003, Raytheon launched production of the enlarged Hawker 400XP, which could seat up to nine passengers and featured thrust reversers and new avionics. In 2007, Hawker Beechcraft announced a programme to develop an improved model of the aircraft, the Hawker 450XP, although it was cancelled one year later and production of new aircraft ceased entirely shortly thereafter. During the 2010s, both Nextant Aerospace and Hawker launched separate upgrade packages that replace the original powerplant with newer Williams FJ44-3AP engines alongside new avionics and refurbished interiors. The majority of aircraft were flown by civilian operators, a large portion of these being based in North America and Brazil. A militarised trainer variant, the T-1 Jayhawk, was also produced for the United States Air Force.