From the transcript of Dmitry Medvedev’s meeting with deputy prime ministers.
Meeting with deputy prime ministers
Dmitry Medvedev: We are interested in our aircraft industry developing new models that will be in demand on the market. We are putting a bet on the Sukhoi Superjet and the family of new MS-21 medium-haul aircraft. What is the status of the MS-21 programme?
Dmitry Rogozin: The MS-21 programme is mainly concerned with a segment of aircraft that can carry between 130 and 230 passengers; in other words, there are several options there.
At present, we are developing a plane that will be quite competitive. As a result of significantly lower flight weight (we are using composite materials and new alloys), it will be approximately 13-15 percent cheaper to operate than Airbus and Boeing aircraft in the same category. Just two days ago, the first section, the first MS-21 airframe, was assembled, with a capacity of 180 passengers. We plan to make the maiden flight between April 2016 and the middle of the year.
The aircraft will use two different types of engines. For the foreign market, we provide a Pratt & Whitney engine option. At the same time, the PD-14 engine is being developed in Perm. This modification will go to the Russian market.
The Irkut company plans to sell up to 1,000 aircraft in 20 years. We have firm orders for 175 aircraft. The total portfolio of orders is for 276 aircraft. Importantly, orders are coming from quite serious foreign companies, such as Lufthansa. In other words, the aircraft is generating considerable interest on the market.
We are also working within a narrower segment: an aircraft with a capacity of 56-64 passengers. This is a very deep modification of the Il-114 plane, which was previously manufactured in Tashkent. Now, considering that the Defence Ministry has made an order for an Il-112V light military transport aircraft, there is an opportunity to integrate the project and build a passenger plane as well. There is an engine for it – the TV7-117ST -- and we plan to put the aircraft into series production by 2018. This aircraft can land on rough terrain. By 2018-2019, we will start crowding foreign-made aircraft out of the domestic carrier market.
Dmitry Medvedev: To make a good aircraft, high quality components are needed. Is that a problem for the MS-21?
Dmitry Rogozin: Foreign components account for about 75 percent of the Sukhoi Superjet’s parts, including the engine. There are no such problems with regard to the MS-21. Nor are there any restrictions on the provision of the required manufacturing tools. They have already been installed.
Dmitry Medvedev: Why did I ask about this? Because naturally, this is yet another reason to develop import substitution programmes where possible, under which a product similar in quality to those that we buy abroad can be made quickly. Needless to say, we cannot do everything on our own, but we should do the best we can.
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