Superjet 100 flies with Russian engines

:: Yakovlev

Superjet 100 test aircraft has made the first flight with the new Russian-made PD-8 turbofan engines, the aircraft’s manufacturer United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) announced on March 17. During its 40-minute flight from Komsomolsk-on-Amur the aircraft reached the speed of 500 km/h and climbed to 3,000 m. The test flight with Russian engines was made by the Superjet test aircraft MSN95157 produced in 2018.

The new engine is the key component of the “import phase-out” localized modification of the aircraft. It replaces the Franco-Russian SaM146, the production of which was suspended in 2022 following Safran and other Western suppliers exited Russia.

In fact, the PD-8 program development had started in 2019 – albeit as an alternative engine option for the type. Some issues detected during the initial flight tests on the flying testbed in 2023 required additional modifications, which resulted in delays in deliveries of the Russified version of the Superjet 100 regional jet– dubbed SJ-100, until 2026, almost two and a half years behind the original schedule.

The next pair of PD-8 engines are to be delivered to UAC by late March, director of United Engine Corporation (UEC) Alexander Grachyov promised. They will be installed on the SJ-100 aircraft in their fully import-free version. The aircraft will then join the flight-test program in April.

Grachyov said that “type certification of the PD-8 engine is slated for the autumn of this year.” This pushes the first deliveries of the localized SJ-100 to February 2026. UAC has been testing some new systems for the modified version since 2023, using an aircraft powered by SaM146.

Earlier this month, at a meeting with Russia’s prime-minister Mikhail Mishustin, head of UAC Vadim Badekha revealed that the certification program which encompasses 200 flights, had been done by 20 per cent.

Russian authorities expect UAC to deliver 142 SJ-100s by the end of 2030, head of Rosaviatsiya Dmitry Yadrov confirmed recently.