Russian Civil Aviation: News #2

Sukhoi Superjet 100 celebrates its 10th anniversary since rollout this year, but the Russian manufacturer already is already planning a new generation of this regional jet. The SSJ 100, with extended capacity, new wing and new engine, is expected to appear after 2025, Vladislav Masalov, the new president of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Corp. (SCAC), told ShowNews.

He explained that the SSJ 100 modernization will be done in several stages. The first effort till 2020 calls for the improvement of the current aircraft. “This includes the improvement of runway performance and airframe reliability and retrofit under the requirements of the European SESAR air traffic management project,” explained Masalov.

He said that the next step will be the development of a completely new 130-seat platform with a new wing by 2023. The previous effort to expand the capacity of the existing airframe, known as SSJ-100SV (stretched version), has been abandoned.

The large aircraft will require a new powerplant. The existing SSJ 100 has a single-engine option – SaM146, manufactured by French Safran in cooperation with Russia’s United Engines (UEC) – but the future modification may have a Russian powerplant.

“We will talk with both Safran and UEC. The latter plans to scale down the PD-14 engine for 7 to 9 tons thrust,” explains Masalov, who headed the Russian engine manufacturer in 2012–15. The 14-tons-thrust PD-14 designed for Russia’s MC-21 narrowbody airliner is being flight-tested now, with certification planned for 2018–19.

After the new powerplant is selected, it will also be used to re-engine the current 100-seat aircraft. This enables Sukhoi to offer to the market de facto a new family consisting of 100- and 130-seat variants after 2025. “We will have a new regional aircraft with flight range, operational efficiency and runway requirements significantly improved to satisfy the market demand,” mentioned Masalov.

He explained that this modernization program has yet to be approved by the board of United Aircraft Corp. (the parent company of SCAC), following discussion with leasing companies, airlines and key suppliers. The program cost is estimated at about RUB60 billion (roughly US$1.1 billion) with 50 to 60% of this sum to be financed by SCAC. “But approval or disapproval of this program doesn’t rule out the improvement of the aircraft’s basic version,” Masalov said, adding that the company allocated RUB1.5 billion for this effort for this year.

The SSJ 100 modernization plan was announced shortly after Sukhoi took full control of the program after Italian Finmeccanica reduced its participation to only a 10% stake in Venice, Italy–based joint venture SuperJet International, the latter offering SSJ 100 customization for Western customers, as well as training and after-sales support.

According to Masalov, SCAC’s main priorities are now the increase of sales and improvement of after-sales support. The Russian manufacturer expects additional orders from two major SSJ operators – Russia’s largest carrier, Aeroflot, and Mexican Interjet – as well as to launch a re-marketing scheme with Russian GTLK State Transport Leasing Company for Russian carriers. “So the annual output of 35 airframes we are planning for the next several years is very much achievable,” Masalov hopes.

Ten years after the SSJ 100 rollout, SCAC is preparing to build its 150th airframe. The manufacturer delivered 26 aircraft in 2016, and 25 in 2015. For the past few years, the program enjoyed strong financial support from the Russian government, which provided the company with resources to cover its financial debt and subsidized the aircraft leasing to Russian airlines. The sales plan for this year stands at 34 aircraft, with a further 38 and 37 airframes to be sold in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

More than 120 aircraft are now in operation in Russia, Mexico, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Europe. At the beginning of June, Irish carrier CityJet, which became the SSJ 100’s first European operator, received its sixth aircraft of the type. It wet-leased the jetliner to another European operator, Brussels Airlines, that already operates two Russian aircraft. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft is at Chalet 349.—Maxim Pyadushkin

A larger and improved Superjet is coming after 2020, but the new head of civil aircraft at United Aircraft Corporation is not waiting to restock the programme’s order backlog.


After averaging about 20 deliveries from 2014-2016, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) has delivered 11 Superjets already this year and is on track to hand over a total of 33 aircraft to customers, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer. Only 30 orders remain in the backlog with deliveries dated beyond 2017, but SCAC is preparing to sustain aircraft shipments at an annual rate of about 35-36 through 2019, says chief executive Vladislav Masalov.

To keep the production rate stable, Superjet needs to collect orders for around 40 new aircraft within about a year. For a regional jet programme with roughly 90 aircraft six years after entering service, that is an ambitious target to hit, but Masalov is feeling good about his chances.

Opportunities overseas

The export market is suddenly heating up. Iranian carriers are reportedly interested in placing an order for dozens of new Superjets. In Europe, Brussels Airlines has started operating three Superjets leased from Ireland-based CityJet, a potential breakthrough in Superjet International’s attempts to open the Western Europe market.

"We expect that operations in Brussels will attract interest from other European Airlines, although we may now also tell about certain interest form other European companies to our aircraft," Masalov says. "We and CitiJet are agreed to sign a further five deliveries of Superjet. By the end of this year we’ll deliver all eight aircraft agreed."

Negotiations with Air France were expected to begin during the second quarter. Russian media reported in February 2016 that the SkyTeam carrier was intended to wet lease the 98-seat regional jet from CityJet, but no deal materialised.

"In the second quarter this year we plan to restart negotiations with Air France on wet lease operations for Superjet from CityJet," Masalov says.

Within Russia, prospects appear even brighter. Seeking to restore air routes that once connected towns deep in the interior, the federal government has committed to subsidising regional airlines using Russian Aircraft. A start-up carrier, Rostov-on-Don-based Azimuth, expects to receive four leased Superjets this summer before launching operators.

New orders are also possible from major Russian carriers such as Oneworld alliance partner S7 Airlines. The Moscow-based airline has an agreement to lease 20 Embraer 170LRs from GECAS for domestic and international routes, but UAC believes the carrier could also add Superjets to the fleet in the near future. Rather than replace the smaller E170s, the Superjets could be used to replace a larger aircraft in the S7 fleet – 38 Airbus A319s.

"S7 is planning to change their outdated A319 aircraft and we have prepared an initial proposal for S7," Masalov says. "In about three years S7 is planning to substitute this aircraft and we are planning to participate in these plans."

So far, the list of sales prospects is based on the aircraft in service today that seats 98 passengers in a standard layout. UAC is designing a series of upgrade packages, including a stretch version that could seat up to 124 passengers. But Masalov says airlines are not waiting for the larger aircraft to become available before lining up for orders.

"We haven’t had negotiations with any airlines about a stretched version as it is still in development – except for Interjet," says Masalov. "We asked them if they would be interested. They said: 'Okay, it would be interesting but only with the existing engine'."

The Superjet first flew nine years ago with the 15,400lb-thrust (69kN) SaM-146 engines produced by PowerJet, a joint venture between Russia's Saturn and France's Snecma. To improve performance and sales, the Superjet will be upgraded in three phases stretching over the next six years, Masalov says.

In the first phase, UAC has targeted a package of minor efficiency and system reliability improvements. In the next step, the Superjet's relatively high-aspect ratio wing will be extended slightly with winglets, while the fuselage will be lightened to improve efficiency. After 2021, UAC plans to introduce the stretched model with a 16,000lb-thrust engine.

Engine options

Although Interjet’s notional interest in the stretched model is contingent on preserving the SaM-146 engine, UAC is open to looking at other suppliers. Such a re-engining presents an opportunity to introduce a new Russian-made engine. United Engine Corp is developing the PD-14 engine for the Irkut MC-21, but the core could be resized for larger and smaller applications. At the moment, however, Superjet prefers to stick with existing options, including PowerJet and Pratt & Whitney.

"We need to start our search with SaM-146 or Pratt & Whitney because of course we’re not sure the PD-14 will be ready in this short period of time to propose," Masalov says.

PowerJet partner Safran may also be able to offer improvements to its portion of the SaM-146, he adds. Since introducing the engine, the French manufacturer has also developed the 12,000lb-thrust Silvercrest engine for the business jet market and collaborated with GE Aviation as part of the CFM International consortium to develop the Leap powerplant family.

"I have doubts that Silvercrest will have the same power characteristics as SaM-146 but Safran may consider some experience from Silvercrest when they prepare their proposal for our aircraft," Masalov says. "Silvercrest is usually used for business jet aircraft and has other operational performance."

The regional jet market is becoming increasingly crowded with sophisticated competitors. Embraer plans to introduce the E190-E2 into revenue service next year with P&W geared turbofan engines, a new wing and fly-by-wire flight controls. Bombardier has introduced the CS100 with a composite wing, P&W geared turbofan engines and fly-by-wire flight controls. The Superjet was designed to compete with the original E-Jet and CS100 in the 90-110-seat segment. The stretched model with an improved engine will form Superjet's response to Embraer’s latest E-Jet model.

"We think that by 2021 to 2023 we’ll have better operational efficiency and characteristics than Embraer or Bombardier," Masalov says.

Russia’s state-owned United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has ordered two Ilyushin Il-96-300 widebody airliners in special VVIP configuration from its subsidiary Voronezh Aircraft Production Association (VASO). Both airliners are to be fitted out in the Il96-300PU(M1) “command-post” variant, similar to the aircraft currently used by the Russian president.

The two airframes will have serial numbers 0024 and 0025, says VASO, which puts their price at 7.1 billion rubles ($118.5 million) apiece. The company’s newsletter for September 2016 read that the airliners were to be delivered in July 2018 and July 2019.

No potential operator for the aircraft has been announced. This version of the Il-96 is currently operated only by Russia’s Special Flight Squadron (abbreviated to SLO in Russian), a government organization whose functions include transporting the head of state. The SLO took delivery of the first such airliner, serial number 0022, in July 2016.

Last year it was reported that VASO was testing a VIP version of the IL-96-300. The aircraft, RA-96023, was also expected to be delivered to the SLO eventually.

According to Masalov, SCAC’s main priorities are now the increase of sales and improvement of after-sales support. The Russian manufacturer expects additional orders from two major SSJ operators – Russia’s largest carrier, Aeroflot, and Mexican Interjet – as well as to launch a re-marketing scheme with Russian GTLK State Transport Leasing Company for Russian carriers. “So the annual output of 35 airframes we are planning for the next several years is very much achievable,” Masalov hopes.

Ten years after the SSJ 100 rollout, SCAC is preparing to build its 150th airframe. The manufacturer delivered 26 aircraft in 2016, and 25 in 2015. For the past few years, the program enjoyed strong financial support from the Russian government, which provided the company with resources to cover its financial debt and subsidized the aircraft leasing to Russian airlines. The sales plan for this year stands at 34 aircraft, with a further 38 and 37 airframes to be sold in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

miketheterrible wrote:How many orders do they have now? As well, if they get an additional 50, that is good.

The program of modernization and restart of serial production of the regional airliner Il-114-300 is carried out pursuant to the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation of August 9, 2014 and November 3, 2015. The objective of this work is to provide the domestic air transport market with modern domestically manufactured aircraft in the class of passenger aircraft with 52-64 seats and up to 7 tons of payload.

In February 2017, PJSC UAC and subsidiaries, OJSC “Il” and “RAC “MiG”, concluded contracts for development works and preparation for production under the Il-114-300 program.

The leading manufacturer is JSC “RAC “MiG”. Their plants will manufacture aggregates and perform final assembly of the Il-114-300.

The IL-114-300 aircraft is designed to replace imported aircraft of similar type (ATR-42, ATR-72, Q400) and old types of An-24/An-26 aircraft on the domestic routes.

GarryB wrote:
Wonder what its low speed handling performance is like now...