Moscow. March 1st. INTERFAX - The postponement of the start of deliveries of MS-21 and SJ-100 aircraft for 2025-2026 should not affect the overall plans for the production of 600 civilian airliners by 2030, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation reported.
"A reserve of aircraft has already been formed, in particular, 16 Superjets and 12 MS-21s are in varying degrees of readiness and will be equipped with Russian systems as they become available. This makes it possible, after the completion of the tests, to ensure a catch-up schedule for the release and delivery of airliners in order to complete the replenishment of the fleet of Russian airlines with 600 aircraft by 2030," the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Interfax on Friday.
Thus, the "current supply shifts to the right" should not affect the overall execution of the program. A monthly schedule of the industry's work has been formed, which will be under the control of the government, the department noted.
The plans for the supply of Russian aircraft until 2030 are fixed in the comprehensive program for the development of the aviation industry until 2030. According to this document, in 2023-2030, the Russian aviation industry should supply 1,081 aircraft, 597 of them by the forces of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (MOEX: UNAC) (UAC, part of Rostec). This figure includes 142 SJ-100, 270 MS-21, 70 Il-114-300 and 115 Tu-214.
The transfer of the first six MS-21s under the program was expected in 2024, their recipient was to be Aeroflot (MOEX: AFLT). However, the head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, told reporters on February 29 that deliveries of this aircraft were postponed, "most likely to 2025 - maybe even to 2026." The MS-21 tests have not been completed yet, the manufacturer wants to be sure of the safety of this machine, he explained.
The Rostec press service clarified that certification and the start of deliveries of the MS-21 "taking into account the upcoming additional work" are scheduled for 2025. "In the process of replacing foreign components with domestic ones, the weight characteristics of the MC-21 are changing. The final appearance of a fully import-substituted aircraft will be formed in the second half of this year," a representative of the state corporation told Interfax.
According to him, already in its current appearance, the MS-21 meets the flight performance characteristics of "most of the imported fleet of Russian airlines." The gradual lifting of restrictions will allow the liner to be brought to parameters "meeting the highest requirements of airlines." "This also concerns the possibility of ensuring a good operating economy within the widely accepted range of a medium-haul aircraft in the range of 3,000 km and a capacity of about 150-170 passengers in Russian airlines," Rostec said. "In the future, it is planned to expand the flight performance characteristics of the basic modification of the MS-21, as well as create a range of modifications with an increased range."
SUPERJET
Taking into account the "additional work and testing", the program for creating an import-substituted SJ-100 is also being shifted, Rostec reported: certification of the aircraft is expected in 2025, the first deliveries in 2026. According to the comprehensive 2030 program, the first two such aircraft were to be delivered to the customer (Aeroflot) in 2023, while at the end of last year it was reported that deliveries would be shifted to 2024.
"Even with such an adjustment, the timing remains record-breaking," the state corporation believes. - For example, the basic version of the Superjet-100, with close international cooperation, which provided numerous ready-made solutions - avionics, engines, and so on - was created for 10 years. Now this aircraft has to be "reassembled" virtually anew in a much faster time."
In 2026, taking into account the aircraft already at different stages of readiness, it is planned to deliver 30 Superjets, Rostec predicts.
There are 16 new liners of this type in varying degrees of readiness today, the UAC press service reported. "Cooperation companies face objective limitations: completely new systems, the re-creation of competencies from scratch, the need for full-fledged tests and the launch of mass production in a time-limited environment," the company explained.
The import-substituted Superjets will be equipped with Russian PD-8 engines, which are not yet certified. In December last year, during the PD-8 tests, "the need for additional work was identified," a representative of the United Engine Corporation (UEC, part of Rostec) told Interfax.
IL-114-300
The UAC also confirmed the shift to the right of the program for the creation of the Il-114-300 regional aircraft.
"For the IL-114-300, the resumption of testing with the newly certified TV-7-117ST-01 engine will allow obtaining a type certificate in the first half of 2024 and starting deliveries in 2026," the company representative said.
Earlier, the materials posted by the Ministry of Transport on the portal testified to the postponement of IL-114-300 deliveries to 2026 regulation.gov.ru . In them, the new deadline was explained by the impossibility of certifying the aircraft after the crash of a prototype military transport Il-112B in 2021: it is equipped with the same TV7-117ST engines developed by ODK-Klimov.