Reuters reports that Russia “flew a new passenger airliner with domestically-built engines for the first time since the Soviet era on Tuesday.” The “medium-range MC-21 plane took off from a Siberian airfield powered by Russian-built PD-14 turbo-fan engines. The plane first flew in May, 2017, but with U.S.-made engines.” The MC-21 “is built by Irkut Corporation, part of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), and the engines are built by United Engine Corporation, all of which are majority owned by Rostec, Russia’s state aerospace and defence conglomerate.”
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Tag: MC-21
International Sanctions Threaten MC-21 Jetliner Program
Fortune reports that international sanctions threaten the rollout of Irkut Corp.’s MC-21 jetliner, “due to commence deliveries to Russian airlines this year.” The MC-21 “is the first full-size aircraft designed in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago” and features composite wings and a passenger capacity of 211 people. The MC-21 sources avionics, brakes, tires, and its Pratt & Whitney engines from international suppliers, though a version using a Russian produced engine was flown at the Dubai Air Show last November.
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