It was supposed to be Russian, it didn’t come out very well. Now the Russians are trying again with their Superjet

The flight of the prototype, tentatively referred to as SJ-100R or SJ-100New, took place on August 29 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where one of the production plants of the Sukhoi concern is located. There was a crew of three on board. The plane made a simple flight lasting less than an hour, during which it reached only 3 kilometers of altitude and 343 km/h. The aim was to test the basic operation of the numerous new Russian systems fitted to the machine. According to official announcements, everything went smoothly.

Almost everything to be replaced

These new systems of Russian origin include all avionics, i.e. electronics that enable the control of the machine. Previously, it came from the French concern Thales. The entire chassis, which was previously from the French concern Safran. Auxiliary engine, which by analogy was from the American Honeywell. In addition, there were also foreign hydraulic, fuel and oxygen systems, air conditioning, fire extinguishing system, elements of the hull structure, interior development and many others. In general, in 2018, the head of the civilian business of the Sukhoi concern, Alexander Rubtsov, admitted in an interview with the portal “FlightGlobal” that the SJ-100 contains only about 15 percent of elements of Russian origin. Reaching the level of 100 percent is therefore a huge challenge, given the lack of experience of the Russian industry in the production of modern passenger aircraft.

The prototype of the new version, which was flown, was missing one key new component, i.e. the Russian engines. In order to speed up the test program, the original French SaM146 was installed, which was theoretically produced in French-Russian cooperation for the Superjet program, but in practice it was the French who supplied all the essential elements. Currently, the Russians are working on their own replacement, Awiadwigatel PD-8. It is a scaled-down PD-14 engine that has been in development for more than a decade for Russia’s next generation larger airliner, the Irkut MC-21. This engine, in turn, is an evolution of the Soviet PS-90. However, work on new Russian engines for passenger and transport aircraft has been delayed for many years, so – wanting to finally start testing the Russified SJ-100 – it was decided to stick with the French ones. Only the second SJ-100R prototype is to have the PD-8 installed.

The Russians claim that their new domestic systems will not only replace Western ones, but will improve the quality and performance of the aircraft. – This is the best demonstration of our country’s technological independence. We showed, first of all to ourselves, that we can develop and produce modern civil aircraft on our own, without imported solutions – announced after the flight the head of the United Aviation Corporation (a state monopoly that controls the entire Russian aviation industry), Yuri Slusar. He added that the next step is certification and start of deliveries.

Plane on a political drip

However, the official statements of the heads of Russian aviation companies should be treated with caution. There is a long way from the first prototype flight to production and delivery. Officially, for sure, everything will work great and better than its Western counterparts. In practice, Russian companies have little experience in technologies related to modern civil aviation. They will certainly be able to create a flying Russian SJ-100, but how reliable and economical it will be is another matter. It will take years to refine the design and launch real series production.

Even if the SJ-100R is worse than its western counterparts, it won’t matter much. Russian airlines are unable to buy Western planes. The maintenance of the approximately 500 they now have is based on a network of intermediaries that allow them to bypass sanctions on the supply of spare parts. In addition, Superjet is a project of political importance and the Kremlin will certainly encourage airlines to buy.

The entire Superjet program would generally not have had a chance to exist without the Kremlin’s patronage. Plans from the beginning of the 21st century assumed that it would be a competitor to Western regional aircraft such as Embraer or Bombardier. The Russians ambitiously assumed the acquisition of up to 1/3 of the market for this type of machines. Ended up with plans. Decisive factors were delays in deliveries, a very unfavorable image disaster in 2012 during a demonstration flight in Indonesia (the pilot chatted with a guest in the cabin), and above all, frequent breakdowns and faults, compounded by a very poor technical support system by the manufacturer… The problems were compounded by the first round of sanctions after the 2014 aggression against Ukraine. All this made even Russian airlines prefer to buy Western machines. To date, only 206 Superjets have been delivered, and they are almost exclusively used by companies and institutions in Russia. The exceptions are three used by Thailand and one by Kazakhstan in the colors of the state aviation.

Considering that the first version of the Superjet turned out to be a failure mainly due to problems with reliability, availability of spare parts and manufacturer’s technical support, one can imagine how the purely Russian variant will fare. Operating on new systems developed by companies with little experience and not produced on a larger scale, and relying entirely on the technical support of a state-owned monopoly concern. It will fly. It’s officially going to be great. In practice, it may be different.