- Rostec says it’s successfully flown its regional jet after replacing the engine with a Russian one.
- It’s been trying to remake its Superjet-100, which relied on Western parts, with Russian components.
- The state-owned firm hopes to certify the modified jet this year as it deals with wartime sanctions.
A Russian state-owned conglomerate said it’s rebuilt its regional jet using locally sourced parts — and successfully flew a prototype for 40 minutes.
Rostec said on Monday that the test flight showed the Yakovlev Superjet-100 can fly with the Russian PD-8 engine, which replaces a previous engine reliant on a French manufacturer.
The project is part of Rostec’s effort to “Russify” its aircraft as international sanctions cut off the flow and maintenance of the Superjet’s parts, many of which were previously Western.
The French company Thales, for example, supplied the Superjet’s avionics, while US firms provided flight controls and auxiliary power units. Thus, the sanctions posed a critical problem for Russia’s commercial fleet, making it difficult for them to receive the servicing needed to fly safely.
Rostec’s solution is ambitious. It seeks to replace all foreign parts of the Superjet with Russian components and have the airliner certified to enter service by 2025. By 2030, it hopes to fill an order for 89 of the “Russified” jets.
The replacement plan was already floated in 2021 as Moscow’s tensions with the West soured, but the need for it was exacerbated by the Western sanctions that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“After 2022, the Superjet will have to be essentially reassembled from scratch,” said Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec, in the company’s statement.
Chemezov acknowledged that completing the project by the deadline could be difficult, saying it was “being implemented in a very tight timeframe by the standards of the global aircraft industry.”
The Superjet was Russia’s 2011 answer to regional aircraft like the Embraer E-jets and the Bombardier CRJ, with about 100 seats.
These are typically designed for shorter trips, with distances similar to flights from New York to Miami.
Rostec and the United Aircraft Corporation, its subsidiary company responsible for the Superjet, said they’ve been adjusting the Superjet by gradually replacing its Western parts and conducting tests.
A prototype of the Superjet successfully flew for 54 minutes in August 2023, but that was with its old French-Russian engine — the PowerJet SaM146.
The company said that after the recent test flight with the replacement engine, the PD-8, it expects to get certification for the Russian component by the fall of this year.
With Russia largely sanctioned from the international market, Rostec will likely be unable to sell its modified Superjet, which it now calls the Superjet-New, to most countries and airlines.
Rostec also hopes to similarly replace the foreign parts on its flagship airliner, the MC-21. Local airline Aeroflot has ordered 339 “Russified” planes, including the Superjet-New and the MC-21.
The US Treasury Department and the European Commission did not respond to requests for comment on the Superjet tests sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.
