Russian Civil Aviation: News #5

CR929 - how the wide-body aircraft project is developing

17.08.2023, 15:45 11 607

Russia is a key contractor in the CR929 wide-body long-haul aircraft project and calls on Chinese partners to develop key components and assemblies as part of joint work. About this I told you in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel during the Army-2023 International Military-Technical Forum, the General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation, Yuri Slyusar.

According to him, the UAC was forced to change the format of cooperation on this aircraft due to sanctions restrictions that were imposed on Russian civil aviation and aircraft construction.

"All those world technology leaders who cooperated with us, with us and with the Chinese side on this project, have stopped this cooperation. Therefore, we have now moved to the so-called contract scheme, where we become key suppliers for the aircraft. And we are considering various options for cooperation, starting from the design and production of a composite wing based on the solutions that we use in the MS-21, and ending with the supply of aggregates: this is the PD-35 engine, which is being developed by colleagues from the UEC, as well as individual systems," said the head of the UAC.

In his opinion, COMAC projects, such as the regional ARJ21 aircraft, the medium-haul C919 and the promising SHFDMC CR929, are also sensitive to the supply of foreign components.

"Just like with us: in one day they will stop delivering key components, assemblies, products, and there will be no aircraft. Therefore, we urge them to consider all the" stuffing "of the aircraft as part of joint projects and reduce the sensitivity of Western companies," said Yuri Slyusar.

Earlier, Russian Aviation reported that UAC stopped its participation in the development of the CR929 airliner. At the 54th International Aviation and Space Salon Paris Air Show 2023, which was held in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget from June 19 to 25, the Chinese aircraft corporation COMAC showed a large photo of a wide-body airliner CR929, which does not have the logo of the United Aircraft Corporation on board.

The demonstration in Le Bourget of a photo of the airliner without the UAC logo indicates that Russia has actually withdrawn from the CR929 project, and the preservation of the letter R in the name indicates the continuation of cooperation with COMAC in terms of developing, testing, manufacturing and supplying a composite wing for this aircraft, as well as an engine and other systems.

https://aviation21.ru/cr929-kak-razvivaetsya-proekt-shirokofyuzelyazhnogo-samolyota/

Import-substituting aircraft SJ-100 made its first flight, 08.29.2023.

"A prototype of the Russian short-haul aircraft SJ-100, manufactured by the Production Center of Yakovlev PJSC (part of the UAC of the Rostec State Corporation) in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, made its first flight. During the tests, the stable operation of all domestic systems, controllability and the stability of the aircraft in the air," the ministry said.

In total, about 40 systems and units were replaced on the imported SJ-100.

The aircraft was piloted by a crew of test pilots Leonid Chikunov and Dmitry Demenev, as well as test engineer Denis Velizhanin. The flight duration was 54 minutes, it took place at altitudes up to 3000 meters and speeds up to 343 kilometers per hour. In accordance with the flight task, the crew performed a check of the stability and controllability of the aircraft in the air, a check of the automatic pressure control system in the cabin, and also made a “cloud landing” and a go-around approach, the ministry said.

"Russian developers and manufacturers managed to implement and put on the aircraft their own design solutions and technologies, including avionics, landing gear, auxiliary power unit, integrated control system, as well as power supply systems, air conditioning, fire protection and many others," the vice-president commented on the event. prime minister, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade recalled that to speed up the test program on the first prototype of the aircraft, Franco-Russian SaM146 engines are used. The second prototype will soon begin a flight test program with domestic PD-8 engines, which are now undergoing a series of bench tests and flight tests as part of the Il-76LL flying laboratory.
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“We proved, first of all to ourselves, that we can develop and produce modern civil aircraft on our own, without involving imported technologies,” said Yury Slyusar, General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

According to Andrey Boginsky, UAC Deputy General Director for Civil Aviation, Head of PJSC Yakovlev, the SJ-100 has become the embodiment of the best practices of the domestic aviation industry, taking into account the experience of developing, certifying and operating more than 200 Superjet aircraft over the past years.

"Four years have passed from the start of the preliminary design to the first flight - given the amount of design work, this is close to a record time, at the level of the world's leading manufacturers. The same amount of time, for example, was spent on the creation of the A320neo, and even more on the Boeing 737 Max", he stressed.

https://ria.ru/20230829/samolet-1892811081.html

New Airborne Collision Avoidance System Boosts Russia's Tech Independence, by Ekaterina Blinova for Sputnikglobe.com. 08.31.2023.

Russia's unique airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) SPSV has successfully undergone tests, lifting the nation to the next level of technological independence and dodging Western sanctions.

The proximity warning system SPSV by Russia's Navigator Company has been tested on the Let L-410 Turbolet, a twin-engine short-range transport aircraft, and is due to be installed on the Sukhoi Superjet 100 type civil planes.

Previously, Navigator Company CEO Sergei Baburov said in an interview with Sputnik that Russia had created its first domestic unique mid-air collision avoidance system for all types of aircraft: Il-96, SJ-100 (Superjet-100), Il-114-300, MS-21, etc. Prior to that, all Russian civil planes were equipped with the ACAS system by the American company Collins, which possesses a global monopoly in the field.

"The main task of the system, its functionality, [is to prevent collision]: if one plane approaches another at a dangerous distance during the flight, [the system] gives commands which aircraft to send where. One plane goes down; the other goes up to safely disperse. The uniqueness of the system lies, among other things, in the fact that for the first time in Russia such a domestic system has been created, regardless of the supplies of the American company Collins," Viktor Pryadka, aviation expert, CEO of the Alliance of Aviation Technologies Avintel, told Sputnik.

Under the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (also known as Rosaviatsiya), flights of aircraft unequipped with ACAS systems are prohibited. At the same time, it has become almost impossible to acquire such systems due to anti-Russian sanctions slapped by the West on Moscow after the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

That's how Western sanctions gave Navigator an opportunity to bring its proximity warning system to the market. SPVS is made according to all international standards and can be integrated with foreign airborne collision avoidance systems.

Per the producer, SPSV is designed and suitable for:

· Crew awareness of air and ground traffic using Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)/Airborne Collision Avoidance System II (ACAS II);
· Air Traffic Control (ATC) secondary radars support;
· Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)/Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS) support;
· Providing ground ATC and surrounding aircraft with position information using ADS-B Out technology.

The Russian proximity warning system SPSV's onboard functions include: Airborne collision avoidance (TCAS II); airborne transponder operating in modes А/C/S; automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast ADS-B. According to the manufacturer, SPSV collects data from GNSS, FMS, SINS, Air Data computer systems and shows surrounding traffic, ТА service, and RA recommendations at the airborne display.

As per Pryadka, the new system is largely based on domestic components thus substantially reducing Russia's dependence on foreign manufacturers. He noted that Russia's mainline, short-haul, and long-haul aircraft will soon be equipped with the system. "Let's say, Superjet-100, MS21, Il-96-300, on which, among other things, our President [Vladimir Putin] flies," the expert said.

"We remove the issue of deliveries – which are now very difficult – of the western components for the [ACAS] system, and we work independently, at any time we can install [domestic] systems on any aircraft. That is, the competitiveness of our aircraft will increase, since we have our own system that can be installed on aircraft," Pryadka said.

He noted that, theoretically, SPSV can also be installed on Russia's military aircraft:

"In military aviation, it can theoretically be used," the expert said. "But here is an important point: when an aircraft is used on the battlefield, then all emitters, electromagnetic and others, must be turned down, because they can work as a source for aiming enemy missiles at our aircraft. Therefore, only those systems that are necessary for air combat are used."

Pryadka expects that Collins will retain its leadership on the world market over the next 10 years. However, the expert suggested that Russia's SPSV can be supplied for aircraft within BRICS, a group of major economies. As BRICS expands, it offers a large market for Russian producers, including those making new efficient aviation systems, according to the expert.

Pryadka noted that the SPSV is not the only example of Russia's shift to the domestic component base. Little-by-little, the country is replacing sophisticated Western tech products with Russian-made equipment and software. Fortunately, Russia has the industrial and scientific base as well as experience and expertise to make its own technological leap to catch up or outperform its foreign peers.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230831/new-airborne-collision-avoidance-system-boosts-russias-tech-independence-1113016477.html

Cabinet prepares new measures for Russian aviation sector support — PM, 08.31.2023.

"This sector is critical to achieve technological sovereignty and economic growth of the entire country, and to accomplish tasks set by the Russian President," Mikhail Mishustin stressed.

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. The Russian government has prepared a package of extra measures to help the domestic aviation sector, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a Cabinet meeting.

"The government continues making decisions to support the national aviation industry. This sector is critical to achieve technological sovereignty and economic growth of the entire country, and to accomplish tasks set by the Russian President," the Prime Minister said.

Rules of subsidies from the federal budget will change to expand production of MC-21 advanced medium-range passenger jets. Furthermore, the program of loan interest rate subsidizing for acquisition of domestic aircraft will be extended for this year. Preparation of the component and equipment reserve and partial compensation of airline costs for fleet maintenance will also be simplified.

"We expect such measures will help expediting the upgrade of the domestic aviation complex and facilitate development of related branches of industry," Mishustin stressed.

https://tass.com/economy/1668153

Helicopter ATM-121 - Russia's answer to Airbus, 09.04.2023.

At the end of August, the presentation of the promising Russian light single-engine coaxial helicopter ATM-121 went unnoticed in the media. The car was shown at the Heliport Istra helicopter center near Moscow, where light single-engine machines Robinson R44 / R66, Airbus H125 / H130 and others are based,reportedTG-channel "e-Prom - Import substitution of industry".

The ATM-121 project is being carried out by AeroTechMash (ATM LLC), which is a subsidiary of JSC Aeroelectromash (AEM), a manufacturer of electrical equipment and automatic control systems for domestic aircraft. ATM-121 is not the first project of AEM in the helicopter industry: in 2019, at HeliRussia, the company, together with the Kumertau Design Bureau Rotor, presented the R-34 ultralight coaxial helicopter.

ATM-121 is being developed by a design team led by chief designer Shamil Suleymanov, previously chief designer of the Kamov Design Bureau and Ka-32. ATM LLC is headed by the ex-head of Aero-Kamov, the director of the Ka-32 Helicopter and its modifications program at the Mil and Kamov NTSV Sergey Astapenko, he also worked at Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, as did designer Anatoly Mezhevov .

Comfortable cockpit with a panoramic view of the ATM-121 helicopter is designed for one pilot and four passengers. The maximum takeoff weight is 1350 kilograms. The flight range is 650 kilometers, the speed is 210 km/h. The practical flight altitude is 3000 meters, the maximum flight duration is up to 5 hours. The helicopter can be operated at temperatures from -45 to +40 degrees.

As a power plant, a rotary piston engine AN3-250VK with a power of 250 hp is used. Fueled by aviation kerosene, the engine delivers fuel efficiency unmatched by gas turbine engines. The helicopter is designed in accordance with the requirements of NLG-27 safety standards. The well-designed and optimized internal volumes made it possible to harmoniously place a large cargo compartment in the tail section of the cabin with a volume of more than 1.15 m³, which allows you to freely place up to six suitcases of a standard size or a load weighing up to 400 kg. Access to the cargo compartment is provided through wide rear doors.

According to the developers, ATM-121 is capable of performing a wide range of tasks: from the transportation of passengers and cargo, surveillance, law enforcement, corporate or VIP transportation to rescue and other special tasks. The coaxial design of the main rotors provides simplicity and reliability of control and makes the helicopter ideal for both initial pilot training and missions in difficult conditions and when flying in mountainous areas. Three-blade top and bottom rotors, optimum peripheral speed of the rotor blades and specially shaped blade tips reduce vibrations and reduce noise levels.

https://aviation21.ru/vertolyot-atm-121-nash-otvet-airbus/

Wonder when Russia will get hold of a turboshaft in the 300hp range, suited for light helos like this.

I am skeptical towards piston powered helicopters. Sure, the Robinsons have been quite successful, but the (latest?) R66 dropped the piston engine in favor of a turboshaft.

Turbines are heaps more reliable and less picky about fuel. Okay, harder to fix on the fly I guess, but they rarely fail.

I suspect the future of light helicopters like this will be electric motor driven main rotors with a small gas turbine engine that generates the electricity to run the electric motors.

Would allow a dramatic reduction in weight for such a helicopter because the gearbox for a coaxial rotor system is traditionally quite heavy and complex.

I do not think that is a valid set-up. The reason for a hybrid electric and internal combustion configuration in a car is that the engine can run at its optimal
efficiency regime all the time and not have to go through inefficient regimes while changing gears. The electric system includes batteries which can be
charged during braking that can then be used to accelerate the car from stopped states.

But a helicopter does not operate like a car. The propeller rotation is not dialed up and down all the time. The internal combustion engine is operating in
one regime outside of start up and shut down. There is also no battery storage of energy from braking and batteries would just add weight which is a
bigger issue than for land-bound vehicles. So the hybrid set-up is just a net loss of energy. The electricity generation stage, transmission stage and
electric motor stage all involve losses of the electrical energy to heat. May as well use the mechanical energy of the IC engine to drive the propellers
instead of having less of it drive them via an electric motor.

Russia defies sanctions with homemade Sukhoi Superjet
A Russian passenger jet built almost entirely with domestically manufactured components completed its first test flight on August 29, a launch that gave Yakovlev Design Bureau and United Aircraft Corporation’s (UAC) respective shares on the Moscow Exchange a buoyant lift. Crucially, the SSJ-100 jettisons a previous reliance on Western-made parts and systems in an import substitution program that tracks China’s C919

I do not think that is a valid set-up. The reason for a hybrid electric and internal combustion configuration in a car is that the engine can run at its optimal
efficiency regime all the time and not have to go through inefficient regimes while changing gears. The electric system includes batteries which can be
charged during braking that can then be used to accelerate the car from stopped states.

You are correct to question the logic... cars get electric propulsion to stop using fossil fuels but hybrids make sense because batteries are still too heavy and too limited to be relied upon, so the solution of a hybrid means a small fossil fuel burning electricity generating device can help you if your batteries fail.

For short commutes to work electric is great because you don't use power when you are not moving and rolling downhill you can recover some small amounts of power too, but for longer trips or in case of extreme cold or memory lapse that you didn't plug the car in overnight means with a hybrid you can continue to use the car and charge the car at the same time so a long commute to work means you get to work on time without remaining at home for three or four hours charging your batteries and while you travel to work the turbine charges your batteries and runs the motors to get you there.

With a helicopter the issues are different because weight is critical so despite going for electric drive I would not carry a lot of batteries and would use a gas turbine with fuel as much as the greenies will hate me for it.

In the case of the helicopter I am suggesting electric drive main coaxial rotors to simplify and reduce the weight of the design because the gearbox of a coaxial rotor helicopter is a significant lump which is big for a large helicopter but remains quite significant even for a smaller aircraft.

You could stack the two electric motors vertically below the main rotor drive shaft with the drive shaft of the bottom motor going through the centre of the top motor with each running its own set of rotor blades. Obviously you would also need mechanisms for changing the angle of the blades but Kamov are old hands at that...

If batteries improve and become lighter and be able to hold more charge for longer then you could adopt more batteries into the mix and carry less fuel, but I suspect nuclear powered cells might win that prize first leading to nuclear powered aircraft and drones that can operate for years at a time before needing a battery replacement... but that is for the future obviously.

Helicopter rotors generally spin at a constant speed with lift and control created by changing the angle of the blades at different locations around the rotor disc.

Crucially, the SSJ-100 jettisons a previous reliance on Western-made parts and systems in an import substitution program that tracks China’s C919

The reliance on western parts was to make the aircraft more attractive to export customers, but unofficially was an act of sabotage by corrupt members of different companies to contain and limit Russian Aerospace in the civilian aircraft sector.

Of course Russia is going to defy western sanctions that are a direct effort to contain Russia and prevent her becoming competition for western brands of civil aircraft technology.

import substitution program that tracks China’s C919

The plane is made nearly completly of western parts.

Russia's Aeroflot, Avia Capital Services Sign Deal to Lease 52 MS-21-310, SJ-100 Aircraft, 09.11.2023.

VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) - Russia's flag carrier Aeroflot and leasing company Avia Capital Services have signed a firm contract on the leasing of 18 MS-21-310 aircraft and 34 SJ-100 aircraft on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Monday.

The contract entails that Aeroflot will lease six MC-21-310 aircraft, and Rossiya Airlines will lease 12 MC-21-310 aircraft and 34 SJ100 aircraft. The first delivery of aircraft for Rossiya Airlines is expected in December 2023, for Aeroflot — in December 2024.

The 8th EEF is taking place on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University from September 10-13. Sputnik is the official media partner of the forum.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230911/russias-aeroflot-avia-capital-services-sign-deal-to-lease-52-ms-21-310-sj-100-aircraft-1113269867.html

Little clip of one MS-21-PD14 machine (test flight kitted):



18 of them are under construction, says Yakovlev, so that means mass production is in full swing, right?
https://tass.ru/interviews/18782299?ysclid=lmuch7bbma938096407

No profit in making parts that last too long, say the accountants at Boeing and Airbus


Rosatom has mastered the production of more than 20 components of foreign aircraft

Over the past year, the Science and Innovations enterprise (part of Rosatom) has mastered the production of more than 20 components for foreign aircraft. Interestingly, the service life of domestic parts is approximately 20-25% higher than their foreign counterparts, which makes our products more economically efficient.

All this ensures the sustainable development of our aviation industry.
4:39 AM · Oct 6, 2023
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KRET began certification of avionics equipment for the SJ-100, 10.12.2023.

Concern KRET of the Rostec State Corporation has begun certification of avionics (avionics) for the import-substituted short-haul passenger aircraft SJ-100.

The development meets all international air navigation requirements. The previous version of the aircraft used avionics from the French company Thales Avionics.

All advanced domestic solutions in the field of on-board computer systems were integrated into the third generation avionics for the domestic civil airliner by specialists from the Zhukovsky branch of the Ramensky instrument-making design bureau KRET.

“Today, large-scale work is underway to replace all components, assemblies and systems of the SJ-100 airliner. The development of Russian avionics for the aircraft is carried out by the cooperation of enterprises in the radio-electronic industry, led by KRET. With this work we are entering the home stretch. Today, designers are finalizing the equipment in accordance with the comments received following the testing of the imported SJ-100 in August of this year. At the same time, documentation for avionics certification is being prepared. The new airliner, including its avionics, has become the embodiment of the advanced developments of the domestic aviation industry, a demonstration of Russia’s technological independence,” said Rostec Executive Director Oleg Yevtushenko.

When creating a digital complex of flight and navigation equipment, the developers relied on the existing experience in creating and successfully operating similar systems for the Il-96-300, Tu-204/214, Il-114, Be-200 aircraft and their modifications.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/154526/

The first tests of the PD-35 engine gas generator "exceeded all expectations".
https://t.me/mash_tech/1321

TsAGI tested the SJ-100 model with a pylon for PD-8 engines
10/18/2023

The PD-8 engine for the SJ-100 aircraft, which is replacing the SaM146, is currently undergoing a series of bench and flight studies. On October 12, the power plant was launched for the first time as part of the aircraft. The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute is testing a semi-model SJ-100 with engine nacelles and modified pylons for the PD-8.

At the first stage of testing, the team under the leadership of the deputy head of the department of aerodynamics of power plants of TsAGI, Alexander Lysenkov, through numerical research, developed a modification of the external contours of the engine pylon for the SJ-100. The calculations were carried out using the EWT-TsAGI software package developed at the institute. At the second stage, a model of the pylon was made for testing in TsAGI wind tunnels. Experimental studies of the SJ-100 half-model took place in the T-128 transonic wind tunnel.

Several configurations of the “wing - engine nacelle - pylon” assembly were compared with the original one provided by Yakovlev PJSC and the engine pylon modified at the institute. During the tests, it was studied how, depending on the configuration of the power plant in a wide range of Mach numbers, the cruising aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft change: lift, drag, torque characteristics. Air flow visualization was also carried out to study the flow around its elements.

“During the tests, the modified pylon for the engine nacelle of the PD-8 engine confirmed its calculated aerodynamic characteristics. The next step will be flight tests of the second prototype SJ-100 with PD-8 power plants,” TsAGI said.

https://aviation21.ru/v-cagi-proshli-ispytaniya-modeli-sj-100-s-pilonom-pod-dvigateli-pd-8/

With the Cr929 news, will Russia be able to make a long range passenger plane?

With the Cr929 news, will Russia be able to make a long range passenger plane?

There is a secret project, called Il-96-400, but don´t tell anyone!