Russia announced the PD-8 engine to power Sukhoi Superjet SSJ-100 and Beriev Be-200 Altair after discovering the troubles with the SaM-146 engine built by the Powerjet, a joint venture between the Snecma unit of French Safran and United Engine Corporation Saturn division. Snecma failed to create the hot parts which led to frequent servicing of the engine and other associated troubles.
PD-8, which the Russians initially called PD-7, finished the technical design stage in 2021, the working design documentation in 2022, and the technological preparation for the production of prototypes of cruise power plants (CPP) with PD-8 is planned for 2023. However the prototypes of CPP manufacturing were postponed to 2014, and a type certificate for the new engine was expected to be received in the same year. About half of the allocated amount from the amount allocated for the creation of the Sukhoi Superjet New airliner, 120 billion rubles which is about 1.632 billion USD in 2021 average exchange rate, is to be spent on the development of the engine
The PD-8 engine did not appear out of nowhere. Its creation is linked to the PD-14 engine for the MC-21, which was developed thanks to the remarkable persistence of the Perm engine builders, who started working on it using their own funds. Essentially, the PD-8 is being developed based on both the SaM-146 and PD-14.
In 2023, the first flight of the prototype Superjet-100 (tail number 951570), equipped with PD-8 engines and foreign onboard equipment, did not take place. This aircraft is currently undergoing ground testing. After that, the prototype of the SJ-100 or the SSJ-New, which is the import substituted SSJ-100 will need to be flown and tested. The SJ-100 is a modification of the Superjet, developed since 2018, with the official designation RRJ-95New-100.
This aircraft is designed to use PD-8 engines and maximize the use of Russian components, parts, and systems. In total, 38 systems and components have been replaced in the new version of the SSJ-100. The airliner has switched to domestically produced systems for air conditioning, braking, electrical supply, water supply, waste disposal, the crew’s oxygen system, air leakage sensors, ice and temperature warning systems, landing gear, passenger seats, and more. However, 100% import substitution has not yet been achieved.
There has been a pause in flight testing of the PD-8 prototype, which is installed on an Il-76LL. “Testing of the PD-8 engine as part of an aircraft is exactly the program for 2024,” said Yuri Slyusar, CEO of the United Aircraft Corporation, in a recent statement to the media. The comprehensive flight test program may require more than 200 flights.
In December 2013, the United Engine Corporation reported that “additional work was found to be necessary during PD-8 testing.” At the end of February 2024, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov publicly acknowledged that there were many serious problems with the development of the PD-8 engine. He said, “Probably one of the most difficult aspects, which I would highlight, is the issues related to testing the PD-8 engine.”
On March 1, there was a sensational announcement from the state corporation Rostec: deliveries of the SJ-100 (SSJ-New) aircraft to airlines will not happen before 2026.
It’s known that to solve some issues, specialists from “Energomash,” which makes rocket engines for Russian space rockets, were involved.
Energomash specialists were responsible for creating the combustion chamber of the new engine. However, while the PD-14 is making progress, the situation with the PD-8 is much more challenging—after flight tests, the engine did not meet the project’s declared specifications and was sent back for revision. It seems that after this revision, a new stage of flight testing will be required, which will last at least another year and a half. It probably faces the same problems as the Sam-146 engine and we don’t know if it is better than the previous engine or worse.
Russia tried to create a modern 5+ generation turbofan engine in a short time, which is incredibly complex and might be considered among the most challenging mass-produced technical products used by humanity. Delays in such projects are quite common, both in the West and even worse in China.
Therefore, the return of Russian planes to the Russian skies is being delayed.
Before we end this on a negative note, it is important to keep some facts on the engine. It is being created on a concept of digital certification. The use of digital twin technologies and computer modeling will help reduce the volume of full-scale tests and speed up the certification of the engine. A new PD-8V engine (PD-8B in Russian) is being created for the Mi-26 helicopter family.
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