RuAviation

The first flight of the SJ-100 powered by PD-8 engines took place on 17 March 2025. This milestone was achieved through the coordinated efforts of specialists from Yakovlev, UEC-Saturn, and GosNIIAS, where components and systems of the aircraft’s onboard equipment complex were tested using the “Electronic Bird” rig. This was reported by the GosNIIAS press service.

“During the tests, the interaction between the aircraft systems and the new engines’ equipment was fine-tuned, along with cockpit display indications and informational messages in both normal operational modes and failure scenarios,” the statement said.

The semi-natural “Virtual Bird” rig (referred to as the “Electronic Bird” by Sukhoi) for the SSJ100 was developed during the aircraft’s design phase in the 2000s. For the import-substituted version of the aircraft, GosNIIAS was tasked with creating a new complex integrating domestic onboard systems. According to the technical specifications, the development of the rig for the SSJ-New version was divided into two stages.

During the first stage, the aircraft’s onboard systems were developed and integrated into the “Virtual Bird” software-mathematical complex at the level of specifications and preliminary models. This stage was completed on 27 December 2021. The second stage involved the development and integration of design models and a digital twin of the onboard systems, carried out between 11 January and 30 December 2022.

To thoroughly verify the integration of the PD-8 engines with the aircraft’s systems, an engine simulator was added to the rig in 2024. GosNIIAS is currently participating in the SJ-100’s certification tests. Working groups are checking the equipment on the “Electronic Bird” to ensure its reliability ahead of the next stages of the programme.

The rig includes a full-scale crew cockpit with all aircraft control panels and interfaces. All onboard control units, including the avionics and remote control systems, were assembled according to the aircraft’s cable network schematics. In addition to the PD-8 engine simulators, the rig also features hardware and software simulators for the landing gear, brakes, remote control, and other systems.

GosNIIAS also developed systems for testing the PD-8 engines on the Il-76LL flying laboratory and ground test rigs. These solutions accelerated the refinement of technologies to operational readiness and reduced the engine’s development timeline. Work on the PD-8 engine began in 2019. In April of that year, Oleg Bocharov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, announced the final decision to replace the Ukrainian D-436TP engines in the Be-200 amphibious aircraft with the Russian PD-8, which was to be developed within five years.

On 24 August 2022, the head of the innovative development department at UEC stated during the Technoprom forum in Novosibirsk that UEC-Saturn planned to reduce the development and production timeline for engines, including the PD-8, to four years. For comparison, previous engine programmes took significantly longer: the PS-90 required about 12 years of development, while the PD-14 took eight years.

Viktor Slavyantsev, a top-category project manager for innovative development at Rostec, noted at the time that forming a complete scientific and technological foundation before production typically takes around five years.