OREANDA-NEWS A significant postponement of the delivery dates of the latest Russian SJ-100 and MS-21 aircraft is associated with the unavailability of many key components and the need for further testing. This reason was given by representatives of responsible companies and their own sources, Kommersant writes.

For example, the United Engine Corporation (UEC) indicated that the PD-8 engine for the SJ-100, as shown by tests at the end of December 2023, is not yet suitable for operation. It has not confirmed its stated characteristics and cannot provide reliability in all modes and safety.

According to the interlocutors of the publication, the problem for the MS-21 was a sharply heavier airframe. Compared to the version with foreign components and engines, the weight of the empty import-substituted aircraft increased by 5.75 tons. This result was the result of the use of domestic composite and new systems.

As a result, the new claimed flight range at maximum commercial load dropped by half to less than 2.8 thousand kilometers. At the same time, some sources even talk about less than two thousand kilometers. Without weight reduction, one of them notes, it will be impossible to achieve planned technical characteristics.

Rostec said that the final appearance of the aircraft will be formed in the second half of 2024. The representative of the state corporation stressed that "the phased implementation of the program of lifting restrictions as flight tests will allow the liner to be brought to parameters that meet the highest requirements of airlines."

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and Rostec reported that deliveries of SJ-100, MS-21, Il-114-300 are postponed to 2025-2026. In turn, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) indicated that this year it will be possible to deliver only one Tu-214, the same number as in the past.

In accordance with the program for the development of the air transport industry until 2030, adopted in the summer of 2022, in 2024 the production of the SJ-100 was to reach the planned level of 20 aircraft per year, and the MS-21 was to assemble at least six machines.

The airlines also promised to transfer three Tu-214s in 2023 and seven in 2024, in order to then reach the assembly level of ten sides. In addition, it was planned to release 14 Baikal aircraft in 2024, but plans have been revised for certification. To date, none of the new aircraft models has made its first flight in an import-substituted modification.

In August last year, the head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, warned that from 2025 in Russia "the retirement of all foreign companies will begin, because major repairs of aircraft will be necessary." In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with members of the government, called for the transfer of domestic aircraft to airlines as soon as possible, because plans have already been drawn up for these purposes.