State corporation Rostec, which develops and produces Russian high-tech industrial products, denied a reduction in the fleet of operational Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft by the end of this decade, TASS news agency reported.
Earlier, Russian companies had estimated that only 28 aircraft of the type could remain in operation by 2030 due to the depletion of their PowerJet SaM-146 engines, which are jointly produced by Russia and France.
For their part, the manufacturers had asked airlines to estimate the number of aircraft whose engines would need to be replaced by the new Russian-made PD-8s.
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Rostec says Sukhoi Superjet 100 engine maintenance guaranteed
According to Rostec comments quoted by TASS, earlier calculations predicting more negative scenarios were dismissed. In this regard, they explained that the various players in the Russian aviation industry «are doing everything possible to ensure that the country has aircraft and that the current fleet continues to fly».
They also highlighted the work currently underway to replace as many imported spare parts as possible with domestically produced ones. Since the invasion of Ukraine and the start of the war, Russia has faced sanctions that make access to Western-made components difficult or impossible.
However, Rostec assured that Sukhoi Superjet 100s equipped with SaM-146 engines could continue to operate unchanged «for a long time». In this regard, the state corporation stated: «We will carry out all the necessary maintenance of these engines ourselves, without the West».
The maintenance programme to ensure the airworthiness of the engines until the end of this decade is already stipulated. «The progress of the implementation of this programme allows us to confidently state that the efficient operation of the SaM-146s will be guaranteed at least until 2030, taking into account the needs of Russian airlines», Rostec concluded.
A new Russian-built powerplant
Last April, it became known that the Russian authorities were planning to certify the new PD-8 engine, which will power the Sukhoi Superjet 100, in September this year. This was stated by Oleg Bocharov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, at a meeting on the present and future of the local aviation industry.
While certification was originally planned to be completed in 2024, the situation in the Russian industry, which is affected by international sanctions, led to an earlier deadline. The first aircraft equipped with the new powerplant would be
gin regular operations later this year, according to the official, in order to sustain Sukhoi Superjet 100 operations.
See also: Russia brings forward certification of the new Sukhoi Superjet 100 engine
