Mass production of the MC-21 medium-haul aircraft started at the Aviation Plant (IAZ) of the Irkut Corporation. According to a correspondent from the Mangazeya Information Agency, the first aircraft will be delivered to clients within the next one to two years.
Workshop No. 205 has currently completed the assembly of section F2 for the aircraft with the serial number MC.0026. Workshop No. 205 has removed the structure from the assembly jig and is currently applying a protective coating. Subsequently, it will be transported to workshop No. 246, where it will be connected to section F1. Workers are simultaneously preparing the same aircraft for sections F4 and F4A. Furthermore, the section for the landing gear compartment of the subsequent aircraft, MC.0027, is currently in production.
Despite the ongoing certification procedure, the MC-21 program is making progress. The developers are optimistic about the project’s success and have started production in advance. Work has commenced on the 14th aircraft (MC.0027), and components for the 13th aircraft (MC.0026) have already been manufactured. Obtaining the necessary approvals will accelerate the delivery of completed aircraft to customers.
The start of PD-14 engine deliveries from the United Engine Corporation (UEC) has been a significant milestone. Russia has been able to establish a full-cycle production of the MC-21 without the use of foreign components, despite the sanctions. Only a handful of nations, including the United States, possess such capabilities.
Aircraft that had been previously built (ranging from MC.0001 to MC.0013) were used for testing. The facility is currently producing commercial units. Despite external pressure, the company highlights the significant achievement of developing the MC-21.
In the meantime, the Russian specialists took into account the limitations of foreign tools and have created a more sophisticated variant. The primary benefit of the import-substituted drilling machines is their compactness and lightweight design, which is accomplished by using duralumin for the body, thereby reducing the tool’s weight.
The design has been simplified, and more powerful engines have been installed. The controlled supply of lubricating and chilling fluid is another innovation.
Drilling holes in the wing-to-fuselage junction, one of the most intricate assembly areas, requires the use of SMAP devices. This task necessitates an instrument that is both compact and powerful.
Drilling machines manufactured in Irkutsk are three times less expensive than their Western counterparts, and cutting instruments are half the price, all while maintaining a high level of quality.
Regarding the superjet, Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov told reporters that the first flight of the fully localized Sukhoi Superjet 100 is scheduled for April. The minister also recalled that a Superjet equipped with the Russian PD-8 engine recently completed its flight.
“The Superjet has already flown with Russian engines, as you may have seen. A fully import-substituted version—with all domestic systems—is planned for April,” Alikhanov said in response to journalists’ questions.
On March 17, the SSJ-100’s inaugural flight with the PD-8 engine happened. Rostec clarified that the flight was conducted in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and the aircraft remained airborne for approximately 40 minutes, attaining a speed of 500 km/h and an altitude of up to 3,000 meters. “The flight mission was fully completed. The power plant with PD-8 engines performed stably,” Rostec stated.
Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec, stated that the SSJ-100 has been “reassembled from the start” since 2022, with the engine serving as a critical component of import substitution.
Chemezov stated on March 18 that Rostec intends to commence serial production of SSJ-100 aircraft with PD-8 engines that are import-substituted in early 2026. He predicted that the annual production rate could exceed 20 aircraft.
Alikhanov reported in early March that 13 serial-production MC-21 aircraft and 20 SSJ-100 airliners are presently in production. In the interim, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, a subsidiary of Rostec) has previously stated that approximately 40 MC-21 and SSJ-100 aircraft are currently in production.
Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, recently addressed the Superjet’s safety features. “Despite what anonymous internet commenters say, the Superjet is an excellent aircraft. Just listen to professional pilots—they’ll tell you it’s modern and easy to fly,” he noted. The localized version, he added, “will be even better in some respects.”
This aspect was validated by the Interstate Aviation Committee’s (IAC) final report on the investigation into the crash of Aeroflot’s Sukhoi Superjet 100 at Sheremetyevo Airport in May 2019. The actions of the aircraft commander (captain) during landing were, as expected, the cause of the tragedy.
“The cause of the aviation incident was the uncoordinated control actions of the captain during the landing flare and repeated bounces (‘porpoising’), which involved multiple disproportionate and alternating movements of the control stick in pitch with fixation in extreme positions,” the report states. “These control inputs led to three ‘hard’ landings. During the second and third landings, the absorbed energy significantly exceeded the maximum values considered during the aircraft’s type certification, resulting in the destruction of structural elements, fuel tanks, fuel spillage, and the outbreak of a fire.”
IAC specialists identified the following as contributing factors:
Pilot training programs are inadequate for handling “special (complex) situations when transitioning to Direct Mode” in the aircraft’s fly-by-wire system.
The operational documentation of the aircraft contains ambiguous language.
A substantial rise in the captain’s psycho-emotional duress
The captain’s deliberate “ducking under the flight path” during the final approach
The IAC formulated a sequence of flight safety recommendations subsequent to the investigation.
UAC released a statement shortly after the report was published, emphasizing that the IAC commission had not identified any design defects in the SSJ-100 that would hinder its continued operation. Yakovlev’s Regional Aircraft division, the aircraft’s developer, has implemented the recommendations to guarantee the aircraft’s safe and consistent operation, according to UAC.
Nevertheless, the IAC also published a dissenting opinion from an unnamed Aeroflot representative, who contended that the standard SSJ-100 design does not comply with the aviation regulations under which it was certified, in addition to the report. An aircraft’s landing gear system must be designed according to these regulations to prevent fuel leakage that could cause a fire if there is structural failure from excessive loads during takeoff and landing.
On May 5, 2019, the Aeroflot SSJ-100 crashed. After departing Sheremetyevo for Murmansk, the aircraft returned to the airport and experienced a hard landing, resulting in a conflagration. There were 78 individuals on board, and 41 of them perished.
Authorities investigated the potential causes of the incident, including pilot error, mechanical failure, and weather conditions.
The Investigative Committee determined in October 2019 that the commander, Denis Yevdokimov, was accountable for the fatalities. Yevdokimov was sentenced to six years in a penal colony by a municipal court in Khimki, Moscow region, in June 2023. In addition, 2.5 million rubles were ordered to be paid to two victims, and he was prohibited from working as a pilot for a period of three years.
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