This website uses cookies
More information
Navigate directly to favourite company, aircraft and sector pages with our tracker feature.
Future Superjet will feature more Russian parts
Thursday, 21 January 2021
The new version Superjet will use the PD-8 engine, with planned certification in 2023, and dozens of foreign systems and components will be replaced with domestic Russian ones.

The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is working on a new version of the Superjet 100 aircraft. The program, called SSJ NEW, envisages the development of a liner in which dozens of foreign systems and components will be replaced with domestic ones. It is planned to install the promising Russian PD-8 engine on the aircraft, which is being developed by the United Engine Corporation.

Import substitution is not the only goal of the creators of the car. UAC and other holdings of Rostec State Corporation are aimed at increasing the efficiency of the aircraft by introducing new generation domestic systems. Some of them are already undergoing bench and flight tests. Details are in our material.

The Superjet 100, launched in 2011, became the first passenger aircraft developed in Russia in the post-Soviet era. The liner has a combination of range and capacity that is optimal for the Russian market, good efficiency and an increased level of comfort compared to foreign analogues. Its role in Russian air transportation is constantly growing. According to the results of 2019, according to the Transport and Clearing House, Superjets accounted for over 51% of the total passenger turnover performed by Russian airlines on all civilian regional jet and turboprop aircraft.

"Superjet" was created in deep cooperation of the domestic aviation industry with foreign companies. In the early 2000s, most domestic manufacturers of systems and avionics were not yet ready to supply components for the SSJ100, which could be certified according to tougher aviation regulations, including foreign ones.

Integration into international cooperation contributed to the development of the domestic aviation industry. Digitalization has been developed, promising production technologies have been introduced, experience has been gained in joint development in broad international cooperation with leading developers of aviation systems, and interaction with leasing companies has been worked out.

In parallel, under the auspices of Rostec, a merger of domestic manufacturers of aviation systems, including engines and avionics, was carried out. Today they offer competitive new generation products for new civil aircraft. This, in particular, is evidenced by the recent flight of the MS-21-310 aircraft with the Russian PD-14 engines.

All this made it possible to make a decision to develop an SSJ NEW aircraft with predominantly domestic systems. Some of the equipment will be unified with the latest Russian MS-21 airliner.

The main innovation in SSJ NEW will be the promising Russian PD-8 engine. The new power plant is being developed on the basis of the technologies used in the PD-14 engine.

The absence of a domestic aviation engine in the 7-10 ton thrust class held back the development of many aviation programs and increased dependence on imports. PD-8 allows you to solve this problem. It can be installed on the SSJ NEW, the Be-200 multipurpose amphibious aircraft, as well as on advanced helicopters.

Deputy General Director - UEC General Designer Yuri Shmotin emphasises: “We understand that the Superjet family of aircraft needs an engine that will surpass the SaM146 in performance”.

The serial production of SSJ NEW directly depends on the timing of the creation and certification of the PD-8 engine. According to the deputy general director of Rostec Vladimir Artyakov, the gas generator - the main part of the engine - will be tested next year , and the PD-8 certification will take place in 2023. “The volume of investments is sufficient to ensure that all work on the creation of a new engine is carried out efficiently and on time,” notes Artyakov. Development work on the gas generator of the promising engine is being carried out by UEC-Saturn of the United Engine Corporation of Rostec.

At present, the engines of the Russian-French joint venture PowerJet are installed on SSJ aircraft, which can also be used as part of SSJ NEW if potential customers of the aircraft are interested.

A large number of Rostec enterprises are involved in the creation of SSJ NEW. Like the SSJ100, the new version of the aircraft is being developed entirely in a digital environment. Thanks to the use of modern IT solutions based on virtual desktop technology, Regional Aircraft, a subsidiary of the Irkut corporation, did not lose a single day of work on the project in a pandemic.

The enterprises of the Concern Radioelectronic Technologies of Rostec are developing their systems of onboard radio-electronic equipment for SSJ NEW. Many of them are already at the testing stage, which will shorten the production time for the new aircraft. In particular, a new inertial navigation system SINS-2015, developed by the Moscow Institute of Electromechanics and Automation, will be installed on the SSJ NEW. System tests began this summer.

The enterprises of the Technodinamika holding create a number of systems for SSJ NEW : oxygen, engine vibration control, power supply and others.

The power supply system, consisting of power generation and distribution systems, is created by the Ufa Aggregate Manufacturing Enterprise. Ufa NPP "Molniya" develops vibration control systems for engines, a computer for an integrated air conditioning system and an anti-icing system icing alarm.

According to Sergei Chemezov, General Director of Rostec State Corporation, about 97% of foreign components in the new Superjet will be replaced. “I believe that this is a promising aircraft and the demand for it will be not only here in Russia, but also abroad,” says the head of the Corporation.

Contact details from our directory:
Irkut Regional Aircraft (was Sukhoi Civil Aircraft) Airframer
Related aircraft programs:
Sukhoi SuperJet 100 (SSJ)