Russia is the key contractor in the CR929 long-range wide-body aircraft project and encourages Chinese partners to develop key units and assemblies as part of joint work. This was told in an interview with the TV channel “Russia 24” during the International Military-Technical Forum “Army-2023” by the General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation Yuri Slyusar.
According to him, UAC was forced to change the format of cooperation on this aircraft due to the sanctions restrictions that were imposed on Russian civil aviation and aircraft construction.
“All those world technology leaders who were co-operating with us, with us and with the Chinese side on this project, this co-operation has stopped. So now we have moved to the so-called contracting scheme, where we become key suppliers for the aircraft. And we are considering different variants of co-operation, starting from the design and production of composite wing based on the solutions we use in MS-21, and finishing with the supply of units: it is the engine PD-35, which is being developed by our colleagues from UAC, as well as individual systems,” said the head of UAC.
In his opinion, COMAC’s projects, which are the ARJ21 regional jet, the medium-range C919 and the promising CR929 SFDMC, are also sensitive to the supply of foreign components.
“Just like with us: one day they will stop supplying key assemblies, units, products and there will be no aircraft. That is why we urge them to consider the entire “stuffing” of the aircraft within the framework of joint projects and reduce sensitivity from Western companies,” Yuri Slyusar noted.
Earlier “Aviation of Russia” 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 19 to 25 June, the Chinese aircraft corporation COMAC showed a large photo of a wide-body CR929 airliner, on board of which there is no UAC logo.
The demonstration at Le Bourget of the photo of the airliner without the UAC logo indicates that Russia has actually withdrawn from the CR929 project, while the retention of the letter R in the name indicates continued co-operation with COMAC in terms of development, testing, manufacture and supply of the composite wing for this aircraft, as well as the engine and other systems.
