The Beechjet 400 is a light business jet. Initially designed and built by Mitsubishi, it has been further developed and updated by the Beech Aircraft Company, now part of Textron Aviation. A military version, the T-1 Jayhawk, was also produced. The Beechcraft 400 is a small, low-winged twin-turbofan aircraft of all-metal construction. It is flown by a crew of two pilots and up to eight passengers in a pressurized cabin. Its wings use a computer-designed supercritical surface to minimize drag. It was originally designed as the Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond.
The Beechjet 400 first flew as the Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond on August 29, 1978. It was designed to complement other Mitsubishi aircraft and provide Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with a top-of-the-line corporate aircraft model. Nearly three years after the maiden flight, the aircraft was certified as a transport aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In 1985, Beechcraft purchased the rights to the airframe and several unfinished airframes.
Redesigned as Beechjet 400, it was certified by the FAA in May 1986. The upgraded Beechjet 400A model was introduced in 1990 after Raytheon and Beechcraft made improvements for longer range, higher takeoff weight, luxury appointments, and an all-glass flight deck. In 1993, Raytheon acquired the Hawker business jet division from British Aerospace and renamed the Beechjet 400 the Hawker 400. Aircraft production ended in 2009 with six variants and approximately 951 jets produced: 92 Mitsubishi MU-300s, and nearly 859 Beechjets.
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