French avionics in the cockpit of an import-substituted aircraft will be replaced by Russian widescreen displaysThe United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has published information about the avionics of the new SSJ-New regional aircraft, which is now being created by its subsidiary Irkut Corporation.
Alexander Dolotovsky, Deputy Director for Development of the Regional Aircraft branch of Irkut Corporation, told about the layout of the cockpit in an import-substituted aircraft in the latest issue of the corporate magazine of the Horizons UAC.
According to him, the developers have retained the general philosophy of a "quiet and dark" cabin from the basic version of the Superjet 100, with side control knobs instead of the steering wheel, with a high degree of automation of flight control and on-board systems.
However, the avionics from the French company Thales has been replaced by an on-board complex of Russian design. As a result, instead of five 9-inch portrait format displays, four 15-inch wide-angle displays will be installed on the dashboard. Another similar display will replace two Flight Management System (FMS) control panels with 2.8-inch displays on the central pedestal. In the future, it can be replaced with a touch-controlled display, Dolotovsky noted. To work with FMS, a new control body is introduced — a washer.
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| The cabin of the basic version of the Superjet 100 aircraft with onboard avionics from Thales. |
| Source: Irkut Corporation |
The Deputy Director for the development of the Regional Aircraft branch also said that in addition to import substitution, the developers included many local improvements in the design of the SSJ-New airframe aimed at reducing the cost of production and operation. Among the visible differences from the basic version of the aircraft, he called the access hatch to the rear instrument compartment, large doors of the niche of the main landing gear supports and a niche for placing the built-in onboard ladder. In addition, horizontal saber-shaped wingtips, which were previously offered as an option, will be immediately installed on the SSJ-New.
Dolotovsky also noted that as part of the import substitution program, the developers transferred to SSJ-New all the functionality and architecture of systems previously worked out on SSJ 100 and already certified by the aviation authorities. "This will allow us to reduce the volume and timing of obtaining the main change to the type certificate, as well as simplify the transition of pilots to a new modification of the Superjet,” he explained.
Since the basic design concept of the aircraft and its systems does not change, the certification of SSJ-New, which will receive the official designation RRJ-95New-100, follows the procedure of the main change in the standard design.
Dolotovsky said that two SSJ flight prototypes are being built to conduct additional certification tests. Now the planes are at different stages of assembly at the Regional Aircraft production center in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The 97002 prototype aircraft, intended for resource testing, was delivered to TsAGI near Moscow at the end of July this year.
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| The SSJ-New fuselage is sent from the assembly shop in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for resource testing to TsAGI near Moscow in July 2022. |
| Source: UAC |
Dolotovsky confirmed that the SSJ-New should take to the sky in 2023, when the first two prototype sets of PD-8 engines will be delivered to Komsomolsk-on-Amur. These new Russian engines will replace the currently used Russian-French SaM146 engines. Bench tests of this engine were completed in May. "This year we expect the start of flight tests of the new PD-8 engine at the Il-76 flying laboratory of the M. M. Gromov LII," said the Deputy director of Regional Aircraft.
The development of an import-substituted modification of SSJ-New started in 2019. More than 30 Russian companies of the aircraft and instrument-making industries participate in it. Certification of the new version is scheduled for 2023. At the same time, according to the government-approved comprehensive program for the development of the Russian air transport industry until 2030, the first two production vehicles should be delivered. The government expects that from 2024 the production rate of SSJ-New will increase to 20 cars per year and 142 aircraft of this type will be produced by 2030.
Two-thirds of these aircraft (89 aircraft) were contracted by the Aeroflot Group in early September. Eight more SSJ-New through the leasing company GTLK en/content/pervyy-rossiyskiy-samolet-postupit-v-park-dalnevostochnoy-aviakompanii-avrora-v-2024-godu" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">will receive the Far Eastern carrier "Aurora".
Maxim Pyadushkin
