Two years ago, Russia presented plans to replace aircraft from Airbus, Boeing and other foreign manufacturers with its own domestic models. Since then, the aviation group UAC has been pushing ahead with the certification of the medium-range jet MS-21-300 and a mega freighter to replace the Antonov An-124.
At the same time, the regional aircraft Superjet is to become more Russian. In September, Sergey Chemezov, head of the state-owned technology and armaments company Rostec, to which UAC belongs, declared that the Sukhoi Superjet might need a new name. The name could be a Russian one, he said. According to Chemezov, the aircraft should also contain fewer foreign parts.
Landing gear from Russia
The plan is now becoming more specific. Rostec's Technodinamika company announces that it will develop its own landing gear for the Superjet by 2023. The Russian product will replace the current one from Safran in France. Work has already started. The replacement of the engines has also been an issue for quite some time. Instead of the French-Russian Power Jet Sam 146, Aviadvigatel PD-14 is to be used.
The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to increase the share of Russian components in the superjet to 50 to 60 percent. Currently, all the hydraulics have come from the USA (supplier: Parker), the flight control system comes from Germany (Liebherr) and the cockpit seats are produced in Great Britain (Ipeco). The russified aircraft will then be called Sukhoi Superjet - New. It is to be built from 2024.
More reliability
According to the plans, the exchange of foreign parts for Russian parts should also make the superjet more reliable. That has been a problem again and again. Many operators are not satisfied with service and spare parts supply. In the first half of 2019, Sukhoi hardly made any money with the superjet.
