Tests of the fourth flight model of the Russian medium-haul MC-21 aircraft will start this year, head of the International Cooperation and Regional Policy department of Russia’s state corporation Rostec Viktor Kladov told TASS at the IDEX 2019 international defense exhibition.

"The third experimental MC-21-300 aircraft is preparing for the start of factory testing in the flight test department of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. The plant is assembling a fourth experimental flight that will join the flight tests in 2019," he said.

According to him, the Central Aerohydrodynamics has conducted static strength tests of the MC-21-300 aircraft since 2017.

"They are also assembling the airframe of the aircraft designed for endurance tests. The obtained results of flight and ground tests confirm the correctness of the main design and technological solutions," Kladov added.

At the end of December 2018, a third experimental aircraft was handed over for testing.