The fully Russian product withstood a bird strike at a speed of more than 600 km/h

Obninsk Research and Production Enterprise Technologiya named after A.G. Romashin has successfully completed the strength test of new cockpit glazing for the MC-21. The fully Russian product withstood a bird strike at a speed of more than 600 km/h. This is one of the additional aircraft certification test phases.

The MC-21 cockpit windscreen has a sevenplex configuration — four silicate glass panes bonded together by polymer film. It is electrically heated. This prevents fogging of the glazing in case of temperature drops and ensures high optical performance at all times. 

The product also features high strength. This is achieved through ion-exchange strengthening of silicate glass. This technique offers tools for fabricating complex geometry glazing that is six to eight times stronger than traditional products. Due to this, the cockpit can withstand a potential bird strike in air, thus, increasing flight safety. 

“The tests have completely confirmed the design specifications. Another domestically-built airliner — SJ-100 — is provided with similar products to ensure safety and comfortable cockpit visibility. Production volume of the Russian passenger airliners will be increasing. Therefore, we are planning to increase the supplies of the glazing by a factor of 2.5 for the Superjets and by a factor of more than 11 for the MC-21,” said Andrey Silkin, General Director of ORPE Technologiya. 

The additional certification test is necessitated by the substitution of foreign airliner components with local products.