Deputy General Director of Yakovlev PJSC, Director of the Superjet program, on the creation of a fully import—substituted airliner and its advantages in the commercial air transportation market
On April 23, a significant event took place in the Russian aviation industry: the first flight was made by a fully import-substituted SJ-100 airliner developed by PJSC Yakovlev United Aircraft Corporation. Alexander Dolotovsky, Deputy General Director of Yakovlev PJSC, director of the Superjet program, revealed the details of how this aircraft was created, whether imported systems remained in it, and also spoke about the "rollout" of new routes and a new business model for the operation of Superjets.
— Alexander Viktorovich, tell me, please, how satisfied are you with the flight results?
— I am completely satisfied with the results of the flight and I want to emphasize that it was so successful precisely because it is the result of the enormous preparatory work that has been carried out since the start of the import substitution program. I remind you that it started at the end of 2019.
During this time, dozens of new stands were created, all aircraft systems and all components were completely replaced, starting from complex electronic components and ending with fairly simple products that, at first glance, did not even need import substitution. For example, the glazing on our aircraft is also import-substituted. A very large volume of ground tests has been carried out both on this aircraft and on the partially, as they like to call it, import-substituted 97001 machine, which took off at the end of 2023 and now continues to fly under the certification test program.
Together with the engine engineers, we carried out a large amount of work on the PD-8 propulsion system. I would even say an unprecedentedly large amount of testing, which was caused precisely by the extremely tight deadlines for our project. Such a deep modernization of an aircraft, affecting all its systems, not just the main ones, including the interior of the passenger cabin, is equivalent in volume to a full-fledged aircraft development, which, under the best circumstances, takes, according to statistics from the last 30-40 years, on average from 8 to 12 years. We are now at the very beginning of 2025, and the program started at the end of 2019. It can be seen that the deadlines are much tougher than those that we have faced before or that our competitors face abroad.
— If we give examples from the global aircraft industry, what does it look like? How did we manage to speed up?
— Examples are well known to people familiar with the subject, such as the Bombardier C-series program. The aircraft, which is close in size, ranges in size from 120 to 140 seats. The level of technical novelty of the aircraft is comparable to the Superjet. At the same time, our colleagues passed the "third gate" stage, which corresponds to our draft protection system, even earlier than the "Superjet". But at the same time, the first serial delivery of the Bombardier C-series occurred only in 2016. I remind you that the sketch projection for the Superjet was protected in 2004, and the first serial delivery was in 2011. That is, we completed the first car in about six to seven years. Now we are meeting a much shorter deadline. Less than six years have passed, and the car is already in the air. We are currently at the peak of certification tests, and we plan to complete them in the near future, so that in 2026 we can begin delivering aircraft to our customers, who are very much looking forward to these aircraft.
Nothing was changed on the plane and everything was replaced. From the point of view of aerodynamics, airframe geometry, and basic characteristics, this is the same aircraft that has been flying for more than a decade and carrying passengers. Tens of millions of people have already been transported by Superjets across our country. A million people are transported every year. In terms of functionality and capabilities, this is the same aircraft, even a little better.
Some of the basic options that were previously provided separately are included in the basic configuration.: These are innovative tips, an enlarged landing gear flap, which improves aerodynamic and, consequently, technical characteristics. We have implemented a cabin with wide-angle rectangular displays, which have a better information field compared to what we implemented in the early 2000s. Now it's all included in the basic configuration.
In order to implement this, we completely shook up the entire board. There is not a single component in this aircraft that used to be on those "Superjets" that now fly and carry passengers. This is a completely rebuilt aircraft from scratch.
— Can I list the systems?
— I've already told you about the glazing. The glass of the cockpit is supplied by NPO IM. The car. We manufacture the portholes of the passenger cabin in Samara according to our design documentation from domestic materials. The aircraft has a fully import-substituted interior, ranging from plastic parts to seats and passenger cabin equipment. The aircraft has an import-substituted power supply system, an import-substituted control system, a fully import-substituted display system, an alarm system, a radio communication system, a radio navigation system, inertial systems, an air-speed measurement system, an undercarriage system, an undercarriage wheel brake system, a sustainer power plant, an auxiliary power plant, a fuel system, a crew oxygen system, a passenger oxygen system.
In fact, we open the ATA catalog (this is a standard list of systems that are included in the aircraft) and just tick the boxes from the first item to the last. Once again, there are no non-import-substituted components or systems in this aircraft right now.
This is a lot of work, not only for our company, but also for the enterprises that are part of our cooperation, and these are more than 60 enterprises of only the first level, and each of them has contractors, the second, the third level. In fact, tens of thousands of people work for this program across the country. These people are really performing a small labor feat now, because they are doing something that was either impossible to do before, or people were simply afraid to do it. Now there's just nowhere to be afraid of. People just do it. The most important thing is that they succeed.
— Today's flight is timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Victory. And even on this plane there is a logo of the eightieth anniversary of Victory. Whose idea was it?
— We are all children of this war, oddly enough. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. We all understand that this was a turning point in the formation of our people. Victory is a very serious word that resonates in the hearts and souls of every Russian person. It is impossible to say who first named, who first proposed this idea, it somehow just originated in the team. It was impossible not to mention and make a small contribution to the celebration of this holy date for all of us.
— The new series of aircraft will be placed with different wingtips, which saves fuel. And in general, in terms of its economy, in its segment, how did you rate this aircraft for the airline?
— The Superjet has been and remains a unique offering on the commercial airliner market. We came up with the advertising slogan "Connect the shores" or "Connect the impossible" for him quite a long time ago. To date, Superjet has been and remains the only offer in the segment of 100-seat aircraft that combines comfort and automation of aircraft in larger segments. It is a long- and medium-haul airliner with the cost of operating regional-class aircraft.
A typical regional class aircraft in this dimension, from 70 to 110 passengers, is usually an aircraft with a low level of automation, with a very small, cramped fuselage, very severely compressed, with a low level of comfort, with limited luggage capacity, and with narrow, cramped seats, such as the Bombardier CRG or Yak-40. This is a small aircraft in which everything is maximally subordinated to weight reduction and aerodynamic drag.
But we must understand that these aircraft were designed in the 60s and 70s of the last century. Since then, the science of aircraft engineering has moved forward, and already in the early 2000s there was a real technical and technological opportunity to build an aircraft in this segment, the introduction of aerodynamic and structural innovations will ensure a high level of aerodynamic and weight perfection without compromising passenger comfort. The Superjet was the first aircraft in this line.
The closest competitor, which is as similar as possible to the Superjet in terms of a combination of these factors, is the Bombardier C—series, which is now sold under the Airbus A220 brand. But this is a larger aircraft, from 120 to 140 seats, so it is traditionally classified as a segment of small narrow-body aircraft.
Superjet is an ideal tool for rolling out new routes and is very effectively used by Russian airlines for transportation bypassing large hubs, the so-called interregional flights around Moscow, with passenger traffic of about one and a half to two million per year. This is a small passenger traffic, where it is impossible to load a traditional narrow-body aircraft of the A320 or M737 dimensions by 85-90%, where they generate a profit from operation. Putting the Superjet on such routes allows airlines to significantly reduce the level of subsidies for the transportation of one passenger seat. Due to this, the economic effect of using such an aircraft is achieved. And for passengers, it makes no difference whether you're flying a Superjet or a narrow-body A320 or Boeing 737 aircraft. You will be provided with the same comfortable seat, the same living space, you will have the same or even more luggage rack. You will not be limited, you will fly with the same level of comfort, at the same speed and at the same price.
— Now Superjets are actively used in the shuttle program, they fly from Moscow to St. Petersburg, some flights are carried out with a difference of 15 minutes. This is a fairly intensive operation of the park. Are there any results of this operation? Maybe some conclusions have been drawn?
— The main conclusion that I have drawn is that it is indeed a find of Rossiya Airlines. This is a completely new, unprecedented business model, which has shown a very good effect from using medium-sized aircraft on routes that could not be loaded with larger aircraft with such frequency. They installed the Superjet and got a completely unique, at first glance, situation: in the already busy Moscow-St. Petersburg traffic, where there are a large number of flights, Sapsan runs, there is an excellent toll road, the shuttle nevertheless "rocked" an additional route, dramatically increased passenger traffic in this direction. A very interesting experience. We expect that it will be used by other carriers in other directions. But for us, as developers, it was a very serious challenge. However, this is more of a challenge not even for the developer, but for our remote control system, because in these conditions it is necessary to ensure high flight reliability. The shuttle simply has to fly with high reliability. This is a serious challenge that our colleagues have fully coped with.
Plus, it confirmed the design solutions embedded in the aircraft, including ensuring the convenience of operation not only by the flight crew, but also by ground-technical equipment, which allows you to quickly turn the aircraft around at the airport, quickly find and fix malfunctions if they occur. And airplanes, believe me, always break down and absolutely everything. This is an axiom for civil aviation. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain high reliability.
