High performance and compliance with the latest environmental requirements grant the PD-8 engine a competitive edge on the market.

"PD-8 will be in line with other engines appearing on the international market during the next decade in terms of reliability, operating safety and maintainability," noted Yuri Shmotin, Chief Designer of UEC. "PD-8's design allows us to create a whole series of modern gas turbine engines with the ability to improve fuel consumption, reduce life cycle costs and strengthen focus on customers and operators."

The final design of the engine has already been finished. The project has established responsible companies for further design and production, issued design documentation, and manufactured the first sample of the gas generator, which has successfully passed the first stages of technical trials. In the future, it is necessary to make full prototypes of the engine for certification tests. Several components of the first prototype have already been put into production.

The PD-8 propulsion system for the SSJ-NEW airliner is being created in broad cooperation between various UEC subsidiaries. It is completely built from Russian materials and components. The project utilises engineering solutions, materials and technologies developed in various other UEC projects, which significantly reduces development costs and technical risks that could potentially hamper successful implementation. The use of digital twin and parallel engineering technologies allow keeping up with tight development deadlines.

The project is scheduled for the certification of SSJ-NEW airliner, which will ultimately use the PD-8 engine. Obtaining a type certificate for the PD-8 engine is scheduled for 2023. This document will confirm its compliance with requirements for airworthiness, safety and environmental regulations.