In the 100-year history of domestic aircraft construction, there have often been episodes when an aircraft has been designed and even produced, but the power plant is not yet ready. Yes, there are objective reasons for this - to create a modern turbojet or turboprop engine is much more complicated, longer in time and more expensive than a new airplane. And the countries possessing such advanced technologies can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But this cannot be an excuse for delays and postponements, especially when the country is in dire need of new domestic aircraft of various types. For this reason, in order to assess the realistic implementation of the program, we will go through the main types of aircraft through the prism of the state of the programs for the development and production of power plants for them.

MC-21. Let's start with the mainline segment. As I see it, the situation here is the most obvious and understandable. On December 28, 2022, Rosaviatsia certified the MC-21-310 aircraft with a Russian wing made of composite materials and a domestic PD-14 engine. In 2022, more than 160 successful test flights were performed on the MC-21 airplane with the PD-14 powerplant, and test pilots of the Yakovlev Design Bureau tested the airliner in various operating modes. During the tests, the PD-14 engine showed characteristics that are not inferior to foreign analogs. In other words, all obstacles for the production of an airplane with a Russian powerplant have been removed. So in this segment it is up to UAC and Rostec, which are now jointly working on import substitution of aircraft systems and units. But the engine builders will also have to solve the difficult task of rapidly increasing serial production.

According to the Comprehensive Strategy, next year airlines should receive the first six MC-21-310 airplanes. That means that 12 PD-14 engines are planned to be produced. At first glance, this is not much. But then their production will have to double every year, with the output of 144 units annually by 2029. In total, 270 airplanes and 540 engines of these modifications are to be produced by 2030. To this should be added 38 replacement engines, which are also planned for production until 2030. This should guarantee uninterrupted operation of the MC-21, especially at the initial stage of mastering the operation of the new product. In a word, the plans are extremely ambitious.

We can only wish them luck, cross our fingers, pray and perform all other possible rituals that are within our power to help engineers and manufacturers to realize the plans of their superiors. However, according to Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostec, more than 10 serial airplanes MC-21 and SJ-100 are already being built and are in a high degree of readiness, the delivery of which is scheduled for 2024. Testing and certification of new domestic systems and units are going on in parallel. Under the import substitution program, the MC-21 is to perform about 200 credited flights. And the flights, according to our information, are going quite intensively. There are no complaints about the engines.

SJ-100. On August 29, 2023, the prototype of the Russian SJ-100 short-haul aircraft manufactured by the Yakovlev Production Center (part of UAC of Rostec State Corporation) in Komsomolsk-on-Amur made its maiden flight. This marked the start of flight tests of the airplane.  In total, about 40 systems and units were replaced on the import-independent Superjet. But the engines have remained the same so far. According to the corporation's statement, "in order to accelerate the testing program, the first prototype of the aircraft uses French-Russian SaM146 engines. The second prototype should also join the flight test program soon, before the end of the year, but with domestic PD-8 engines, which are currently undergoing a series of bench tests and flight tests as part of the flying laboratory. Certification of the engine has not yet been finalized, but they promise to receive the relevant document by the end of this year.

Recall that in December last year, ODK started flight tests as part of the IL-76LL flying laboratory of the PD-8 engine intended for installation on the SJ-100 and Be-200 amphibious aircraft. Since then, very little information about the progress of testing and engine finalization has been leaked. All we have is the statement of the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov that the work on the engine is proceeding according to schedule, and this makes it possible to plan to obtain a type certificate in 2023. However, the other day it was reported that the control system of the PD-8 engine successfully passed tests at extremely high temperatures. Hydromechanical units of the SAU-8 withstood flame tests and remained operational at a temperature of 1100 degrees Celsius. A total of 142 SJ-100s (including 2 prototypes in 2023) and 284 PD-8 engines are planned to be produced respectively until 2030. Another 28 sub-mine engines are also planned to be produced.

There is information from the allied companies. For example, in August 2022, an agreement was signed between NPO Energomash and ODK-Perm Motors for the production and delivery of six prototype combustion chambers for the PD-8 engine. Deliveries began in May 2023, and three products were shipped to Perm during the summer. Three more are to be shipped during the fall. It can be assumed that ODK-Perm Motors was satisfied with the quality of the first products, because in late summer, NPO Energomash and ODK-Perm Motors signed an agreement on serial production of 12 sets of combustion chambers for PD-8 engines per year. I will take a guess that this is only a minor unloading of ODK's own capacities, since next year 2024, according to the Integrated Program, not 12 but 40 PD-8 engines are to be produced, which, in turn, corresponds to the 20 SJ-100s planned for the same year.

IL-114-300. According to the approved program, 2 aircraft of this type are to be produced in 2024, with an annual production run of 12 aircraft over the next two years. A total of 70 airplanes are to be produced by the year 30. The number of TV7-117ST-01 engines also corresponds to the declared circulation - 142 units (including two engines for the prototype produced in 2022). Here, too, the numbers match. Plus, 17 replacement engines.

As for the current status of the TV7-117ST-01 program, the Type Certificate for the engine was issued by Rosaviatsia in December 2022, but with a number of operational restrictions. In May this year, after successfully completed additional certification works, Rosaviatsia issued the Approval of the main amendment to the Type Certificate for the TV7-117ST-01 engine, which removes the established restrictions in terms of operational range. The engine's operational capabilities in terms of altitude (up to 6000 meters) and flight speed (550 km per hour) were extended. And in September, the operating ceiling was extended to 7,600 meters. At the moment, several more applications from the engine developer and manufacturer, ODK-Klimov JSC, aimed at expanding the engine's performance characteristics and improving the engine design, are in the certification work stage.

Two engines were handed over to the aircraft builders last year, and now preparations are underway for flight tests of TV7117ST-01 as part of the IL-114-300 aircraft. In addition, two more redundant engines in a certified type design are being prepared for transfer. Also, according to Vsevolod Eliseev, General Designer of ODK-Klimov, two more engines are to be provided for flight testing of the aircraft by the end of the year. This is in line with UAC's plans to engage three airplanes in flight tests at once. Probably, we are talking about those four engines, which in the Integrated Program are scheduled for delivery in 2024 (zero in 2023).  If so, we can say that the engine builders are ahead of schedule. Now the main thing is reliability, resource and confirmation of operational characteristics. There is also a helicopter version of this engine, but we will talk about it in the second part.