www .rusaviainsider.com RRuussssii aa&&CCIISS OObbsseerrvveerr November 2018 special focus on airshow china 2018 Russi a &CIS Observer from the publisher of november 2018 2 24 10 18 21 • AEROSPACE INDUSTRY Russia becomes largest warplane Russia/CIS Observer is produced by: Russia keeps its ambition in manufacturer ....................................12 Publisher commercial aircraft ..............................2 Su-30SM to get new engines ..............12 Evgeny Semenov VSMPO and Boeing expand titanium EditiorinChief • AIR TRANSPORT Maxim Pyadushkin partnership in Russia ............................6 China-friendly Russia and Russia- Art Director Aerosila showcases hi-tech ..................7 Andrey Khorkov friendly China? ..................................14 Sales & Marketing Director Aeropribor-Voskhod goes innovative ....8 Oleg Abdulov PD-14 engine for Russian MC-21 • BUSINESS AVIATION Commercial Director Sergey Belyaev receives certification ............................9 Russian business aviation enjoys All rights reserved. upward cycle ......................................19 No part of this publication may be • DEFENSE reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of TMC demonstrates precision-guided • SPACE BUSINESS A.B.E. Media. weapons ............................................10 Uncertain future of International A.B.E. Media cannot be held responsible for any claim, error, omission or inaccuracy in advertising Su-57 to enter service in 2019 ............10 Space Station ....................................22 material supplied by advertisers. © № 45, November 2018 Cover photos (clockwise): NASA; Leonid Faerberg / Transport-Photo.com; UEC; Tel.: +7 (495) 626 5356. E-mail: [email protected] Fyodor Borisov / Transport-Photo.com Correspondence: P.O. Box 127, Moscow, 119048, Russia Web site: www .rusaviainsider.com Read more news and stories at ww w.RusAviaInsider.com RUSSIA/CIS OBSERVER NOVEMBER 2018 1 AEROSPACE INDUSTRY Russia keeps its ambition in commercial aircraft plies powerplants for UAC and the As of October 2018, there country’s rotorcraft manufacturer – were some 132 Superjet 100 Russian Helicopters also owned by aircraft in operation globally Rostec. After the merge, Rostec’s avi - ation cluster will have an estimated turnover in excess of one billion rubles ($15 billion). But the manufacturer’s efficiency is nevertheless will be affected by external political influences which will not only affect the prospects for further interna - tional cooperation but also the future marketing of Russian-built aircraft in the global arena. o t o h P - t r o p 100 s n a r T TSuhep eSSrjJe1t0 0 remains UAC’s only rev - / v e y e enue-generating aircraft program, oth - k i n A m er projects are in development. In 2017 o y t r A the number of deliveries reached 30, partly as a result of effective state sup - Maxim Pyadushkin largest producer of civil aircraft (name - port mechanisms, with all domestic de - ly, jet and turboprop airliners with a liveries financed via state-run lessors. ussia’s only planemaker seating capacity above 20 seats). As of September 2018, there were United Aircraft Corpo - The situation can change after UAC some 132 SSJ100s in operation, mostly ration (UAC) became the fell under control of the industrial giant with Russian airlines, although some R world’s largest manufac - Rostec during another round of consol - are with commercial and governmental turer of combat aircraft, but it also idation of the country’s aircraft indus - operators in Europe, Mexico, Thailand plans to increase its share in the com - try. Russian president Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan. The program received mercial segment. The Russian manu - issued a bill in October allowing to a serious boost on the same month facturer’s ambition is to raise its current transfer the government share of when its largest customer Russia’s 1.8 per cent share of the global market 92.31% to Rostec. largest airline Aeroflot placed a new or - to 4.5 per cent by 2035. This may be - Rostec is the state-owned corpora - der for 100 aircraft of the type. come achievable only after the launch tion governed by Putin’s close friend The deliveries are planned for 2019- of serial production and deliveries of Sergey Chemezov. It was founded in 2026. The deal will provide UAC with a the corporation’s new civil products: 2007 on the basis of Rosoboronexport guaranteed capacity load to keep the MC-21 narrow-body and the arms trade agency and gradually take steady, average rate of between 25 and CR929, the wide-body program which control over the government assets in 30 deliveries a year now, achieved in re - is being developed jointly with China’s the defense and automotive industries. cent years. COMAC. It has already become the largest However, threatened by the existence In 2017, the Russian manufacturer UAC supplier, providing the manufac - of new-generation, western-built com - delivered 32 commercial aircraft to turer with 70% of aircraft components petitors, such as the Embraer E-Jet E-2 customers. Of this number, 30 were and subsystems, including engines, and the Airbus A220, as well as by the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) regional avionics, hydraulics and composites. might of the Airbus/Boeing duopoly’s jets. According to UAC’s own esti - Rostec’s most important asset is expansion into this market segment too, mates, this places it as the world’s sixth United Engine Corporation that sup - the SSJ100’s future now hangs on the 2 RUSSIA/CIS OBSERVER NOVEMBER 2018 AEROSPACE INDUSTRY manufacturer’s ability to significantly is the aim of the SSJ100R, the special the end of this year, for 50 of the version improve the aircraft’s performance. ‘Russianised’ version. dubbed SSJ75, with an option for up to In response to this competitive chal - However, while these efforts may help 25 more. lenge, SCAC is working in two marked the program to remain airborne, more Work on an improvement of the directions. The first is to expand the radical modifications are needed to suc - company’s after-sales support is also operational capabilities of the existing cessfully compete with the arrival of underway. platform to match customer demands. new models envisioned by Embraer, One such effort resulted in a modifica - Bombardier and, potentially, 21 tion – dubbed the SSJ100B-100 – Mitsubishi. Typically, the recent change DMeCve-loped by Irkut Corporation, the which features more powerful PowerJet in SCAC’s top-management has redi - MC-21 narrow-body is destined in the SaM146-1S18 engines, improved soft - rected the likely flight path of Superjet’s short term to become the flagship prod - ware for avionics and enhanced high- future away from the stretched version uct of the Russian civil airspace indus - lift devices control systems. The testing to the shortened, 75-seat variant. try. It made its maiden flight in May of aircraft equipped with blended Notably, a decade ago, the short ver - 2017 and, one year later, the second winglets (Sabrelets), which will be of - sion was considered as the base option flight prototype joined the testing. fered for both new aircraft and as a at the program’s launch. In reality, the Neither UAC, nor Irkut have been retrofit option, is also underway. desired outcome is de facto a virtually particularly diligent in their reporting The second path to a more sustainable new model, with new engines and pos - on the test results. In July 2018 the future is the positive targeting of politi - sibly a composite wing. Russia’s second manufacturer announced that the sec - cally-sensitive clientele, such as govern - largest carrier – S7 Airlines – has al - ond flying prototype had been ferried to mental operators and countries under ready voiced a cautious interest in the Zhukovsky to join the certification test - western sanctions. This requires a major aircraft, which may enter the market in ing program, and that three more air - reduction of western-produced aircraft the 2022-2023 timeframe. A letter of craft were in the process of being assem - parts and components by replacing them intent, inked by S7 and SCAC in April, bled at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. By with Russian-made alternatives, which could mature into a firm order before July, the second flight prototype had ac - РЕКЛАМА | ADVERTISING AEROSPACE INDUSTRY cumulated some 14 hours of flight time, tions, it will enter a highly competitive the base CR929-600 platform, with 280 during which it reached an altitude of marketplace, as the demand for next- seats in a three-class configuration; the 12,000 meters and a top speed of 0.8M generation narrow-bodies may by then shortened iteration CR929-500 for 230 (TAS 850 km/h). Further testing is to be be significantly satisfied by the re-en - passengers; and the stretched version conducted at the premises of the freshly gined Airbus A320neo family and the CR929-700, with seating capacity for upgraded Flight Testing Facility (FTF) Boeing 737 MAX. Both types have al - 320 passengers. The general layout, in - of Yakovlev Design Bureau, which re - ready entered service in 2016 and 2017 cluding the shape and span of the cently acquired a new hangar and a new and, as iterations of tried and tested ex - wings, the length of the fuselage, the hub for the collection, processing and isting designs, by 2020 will have proba - parameters of the nose and tail sec - analysis of flight data. bly overcome any teething problems. tions, and the location of the engines, The certification of the aircraft’s base landing gear and doors were all final - version, the MC-21-300 powered by 929 ized in June 2018. According to these Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engines, is IRnu thsseo w-iCdeh-binodeys ese CgmR ent, UAC’s new parameters, the CR929 should be still scheduled to complete before the product, the CR929, is being developed somewhat more spacious than the rival end of 2019, with the first deliveries jointly with China’s COMAC.