RuAviation

Superjet 100 aircraft will receive new windshields developed under the SJ‑100 import-substitution program. A Yakovlev representative announced this at an industry conference on aircraft maintenance and repair. The program includes retrofitting existing aircraft and registering changes to the type design.

The original SSJ100 configuration used imported laminated heated windshields (Laminated Heated Windshield, LHW) designed for transport-category aircraft. The glass incorporated conductive layers for the anti-icing system and interlayer polymers to provide impact resistance and maintain geometric stability under pressure variations.

Saint‑Gobain (France) supplied the cockpit glazing. Open sources identify the company as the developer and supplier of cockpit windows and passenger cabin portholes for SSJ100. Competence and design responsibilities rested with Saint‑Gobain Sully, while manufacturing and shipment were handled through Saint‑Gobain facilities in China (Sekurit/Hanglass and associated sites). Detailed supply chain configurations and potential involvement of other suppliers are not publicly disclosed.

Between 2021 and 2023, NPP Tekhnologiya named after A.G. Romashin in Obninsk developed a domestic windshield and established serial production. The new windshield uses a seven-layer “7-ply” laminated structure with silicate glass and polymer interlayers, incorporating an anti-icing heating system for the cockpit.

The glazing meets standards for multilayer impact-resistant glass, with enhanced bird-strike resistance and a wide operational temperature range. Side windows are made of triplex acrylic glass. These technical solutions align with those of leading global aerospace glazing suppliers, including PPG Aerospace and GKN Aerospace.

The shift to domestic glazing is driven by operational factors and the need to reduce reliance on external suppliers. The replacement standardizes the fleet, lowers maintenance costs, and simplifies spare parts logistics. Certification and airworthiness validation for transport-category operations are required before deployment.

Unifying the cockpit glazing system reduces spare parts variety, streamlines inventory management and maintenance procedures, and provides operators with more predictable recovery times after glazing failures. Over time, this will improve the fleet’s mean technical readiness rate.