Russians join the jet set

After a period in the doldrums, Russia's airliner industry is making real efforts to recapture market share, not least in the Middle East. For many years, the massive Soviet national airline, together with the airlines of the USSR’s many client states and Warsaw Pact and Cold War allies, provided a guaranteed market for the Soviet commercial aerospace sector. Its products did not necessarily have to compete with rival Western airliners on a commercial basis and could, instead, be tailored to meet local requirements – whether that was an ability to operate from more primitive runways, or the facility to load passengers who would carry and stow on board their own luggage and even livestock.

Following the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, everything changed. Economic reforms meant that new airlines in the former Eastern Bloc had to operate commercially, and there was a rush towards the acquisition of modern Airbus and Boeing jets.

The new airliner programmes underway at Ilyushin, Tupolev and Yakovlev withered. The new jetliners developed as the Cold War drew to a close (including Tupolev’s Tu-204 and Ilyushin’s Il-96) were commercial failures. They were built in tiny numbers, they failed to win significant export orders, and Aeroflot (and the 300 smaller regional ‘babyflot’ airlines which emerged out of the old Aeroflot) ditched them with alacrity in favour of Airbus A320s, 319s, 321s and 330s and Boeing 767s.

But the Russian aerospace industry is fighting back, and is working hard to re-establish itself. Companies like Sukhoi and Irkut urgently need to diversify, and new civilian programmes promise to allow this. It is no longer enough to rely on Russian military programmes (and associated exports), as Russian military aircraft procurement continues to stagnate.

Under the so-called Federal Civil Aviation Programme (FCAP), the potential new airliner market has been divided up according to passenger capacity, and different companies or groupings are addressing these market opportunities.

The initial priority is to produce indigenous alternatives to the various versions of the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, since these now dominate the jetliner market but also have full order books and long backlogs. Russia hopes that its new offerings might meet the need of airlines that need an aircraft now and can’t wait for a new 737 or A320 – or in some cases can’t afford one.

At the smaller end of the spectrum, Sukhoi is forging ahead with its Superjet 100 family, seating 68-83 passengers in SSJ 100-75 form, and 86-103 passengers in SSJ 100-95 form. These are just a little smaller than the smallest offerings from Boeing and Airbus, and take on the new Regional Jets from Bombardier and Embraer.

Sukhoi and its partners aimed to provide 10-15 per cent lower operating costs than were achieved by the Embraer or Bombardier competitors by embracing advanced leading-edge technologies to reduce operating costs, including a sophisticated third generation supercritical wing, a low weight airframe and aircraft control laws that were optimized to minimize drag.

Sukhoi also selected a slightly wider fuselage cross-section to ensure greater comfort and passenger appeal, with the same cross-section as a ‘mainline’ aircraft, with a wide aisle, full-sized seats and full-sized luggage bins.

The Sukhoi programme is the most advanced of the new Russian jetliner projects. The first of four flying prototypes made its maiden flight on May 19 2008 and a fourth aircraft flew on February 4 this year.

The Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (AVPK Sukhoi) announced its new Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) programme in June 2001 and aimed primarily to gain export orders, rather than relying on any commitment from Aeroflot. The company, therefore, ensured that its aircraft was competitive on the global market and designed it from the outset to meet Western certification standards and to feature main systems supplied by what Sukhoi called “the most important and reliable Western Suppliers”. The company even formed an early teaming with Boeing for joint development and marketing of the aircraft.

The aircraft was renamed as the Sukhoi Superjet 100 in July 2006. In 2007, Sukhoi formed a strategic partnership and joint venture with Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica. Finmeccanica acquired 25 per cent of Sukhoi’s civil division and undertook to provide no less than 25 per cent of programme financing in return. The resulting SuperJet International consortium was co-owned; 51 per cent by Alenia Aeronautica and 49 per cent by Sukhoi.

Finmeccanica was responsible for marketing, sales, aircraft delivery and logistics and aftersales support in ‘mature markets’ in Europe, North and South America, Africa, Japan and Oceania, as well as offering aircraft customization for western customers.

More than 30 foreign partnership companies are involved in the Superjet project. Thales, for example, provides the open architecture integrated modular avionics, including the cockpit displays, communication, navigation and surveillance systems; Ipeco supplies the crew seats; CMC Electronics is responsible for the CMA-9000 flight management system and Leibherr Aerospace (with the Voscod Design Centre) supplies the digital fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system, the environmental control and the air conditioning system.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is the first regional aircraft employing an advanced digital FBW flight control system (without mechanical back-up).

B/E Aerospace designed the cabin interior layouts and fittings, as well as the crew and passenger oxygen systems, while the twin-wheeled tricycle landing gear is the product of Messier-Dowty, with Goodrich wheels and brakes. Other companies involved include Autronics/Curtiss Wright, Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Intertechnique, Parker, and Vibro-Meter.

The SaM146 turbofan engines are also the product of an international collaboration, with NPO Saturn and France’s Snecma forming the PowerJet Consortium. The engines are fitted with state-of-the-art full authority digital electronic controls (FADEC), and feature a 20 per cent reduction in engine parts count, for maximum reliability and maintainability with reduced maintenance costs. The engines exceed existing ICAO noise and emissions requirements.

Meanwhile, a team led by the Irkut group, is working on the three aircraft that form the MS-21 family, whose prototype will be completed in 2013, leading to a maiden flight in 2014, with certification and first deliveries following in 2016.

The 162-seat MS-21-200 will be pitched against aircraft like the Airbus A319 and the Boeing 737-700, while the planned 181-198 seat MS-21-300 will compete against the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737-800.

The stretched 212-230 seat MS-21-400 is intended to compete with aircraft like the Airbus A321 and Boeing 737-900ER.

Oleg F Demchenko, president of the Irkut Corporation, has outlined fairly modest targets for the new aircraft, stating: “Half of the Russian market and 10 per cent of the world market will be enough.”

The MS-21 team includes the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, the new Irkut AviaSTEP Design Bureau, the Russian Avionics Design Bureau, and Beta Air, with Sukhoi responsible for the whole wing, Yakovlev designing the aluminium fuselage and Beriev taking responsibility for the empennage.

The MS-21 will make extensive use of advanced technologies and materials to achieve a 15 per cent reduction in weight compared to equivalent aircraft, and will use more modern efficient engines to leverage a 15 per cent improvement in fuel consumption.

MS-21 aircraft for the Russian domestic market will be powered by the Russian Aviadvigatel PD-14 engine, but for export the aircraft will also be offered with Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G – the first in that company’s new line of PurePower engines, also been selected to power the Bombardier C Series, and the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ). These promise double digit reductions in operating costs, fuel consumption, and in CO2 and NOx emissions, and noise.

The Russian designers are confident that their new aircraft will be more advanced and more cost-effective than the older Airbus and Boeing competitors (by virtue of coming to the market later) with 10-15 per cent better cost-efficiency than aircraft like the A320.

Like the Sukhoi Superjet, the MS-21 will incorporate a large number of Western systems, provided by a broad base of US and European partner companies.

Hamilton Sundstrand will supply the auxiliary power unit, an advanced electric power-generating system, the secondary electrical power distribution system and wing anti-icing and bleed air conditioning for the nitrogen-generation system. Rockwell Collins (partnering with Avionika) is contributing avionics systems and controls, including electronic flight bags, communications and navigation equipment, as well as sidestick controls, speed brake control lever modules, the rudder control system, and the trim control panel. Goodrich, teamed with Russia’s Aviapribor, is providing actuation systems for the advanced fly-by-wire flight-control system.

For operators in the Middle East, the new Russian airliners promise to offer cutting-edge technology at very competitive prices, and to allow much more rapid deliveries than can be offered by Boeing and Airbus. And they promise to be every bit as commercially competitive as their Western rivals, using similar avionics systems and with similar performance characteristics.