President of Russia Vladimir Putin believes that Russian Federation may secure orders for 100-120 MS-21 aircraft after 2017, TASS reports.

“As for MS-21, this is a very promising aircraft and we already have commitments for 100-120 aircraft of the type, in other words, these are agreements signed before the type certificate is issued,” the President said during the telephone call-in show. He thinks “by 2017 these commitments will be turned into firm contracts after the jet’s certification is complete”.

Putin noted that most orders for these jets are placed by Russian air carriers, for example, Aeroflot – Russian Airlines. “However, foreign carriers, in particular Indonesian ones, are also placing orders,” he added.

“I proceed from the fact that this project will be on schedule and we will prevent any disruptions of the enterprise’s day-to-day activities,” he said.

The President added that Irkutsk Aviation Plant is manufacturing Su-30 fighters and Yak-130 operational trainers. “The plant’s current order backlog represents 2 or 3 years of production. After that we will discuss new contracts. Maybe we will sign a contract for delivery of military aircraft,” the President added.