The final shape of the fully import-substituted MC-21 aircraft will be formed in the second half of this year. In the process of replacing foreign components with domestic ones on the MC-21, its weight characteristics are being changed. This is reported by "Izvestia" with reference to Rostec press-service.
Earlier, on the sidelines before the annual address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly, the head of the state corporation Sergey Chemezov said that the start of deliveries of MC-21 airplanes had been postponed to 2025 and "maybe even to 2026".
Certification and the start of MC-21 deliveries, taking into account the upcoming additional work, increasing the timeframe for the creation, testing and delivery of serial samples of Russian systems and units, are scheduled for 2025, the press service of Rostec and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) specified.
"The initial terms of the program of import-substituted civil aircraft were focused on 2026. Then they were shifted to the left (to 2024. - "Izvestia"). Partially realized technical risks move the terms of the program implementation to 2025, which is still earlier than the original terms," UAC pointed out.
Rostec noted that the MC-21 already in its current form meets the flight characteristics of most of the imported fleet of Russian airlines both in terms of flight range and number of seats. And the step-by-step implementation of the program to remove restrictions as flight tests progress will make it possible to bring the airliner up to parameters that meet the highest requirements of airlines, the state corporation added.
"This also applies to the possibility of ensuring good operating economy within the range of range of a medium-haul airplane within 3,000 kilometers and a capacity of about 150-170 passengers widely accepted in Russian airlines," Rostec said.
In the future it is planned to expand the flight characteristics of the basic modification of MC-21, as well as the creation of a line of modifications with increased range, added in the state corporation.
UAC called the MC-21 an innovative aviation project for both the Russian industry and the global aviation industry because of the high level of technical novelty of the project.
"For comparison: the level of technical novelty at the stage of development work on the Airbus A320neo program was 18%, the newest wide-body Boeing 787 - 40%, and in MC-21 this parameter is a record 70%," the aircraft corporation said.
They explained that this gives a new quality of the product, but carries additional risks in terms of the time of creation due to the need to work out innovative systems and units.
