In 2021, Russia will start testing units of the latest PD-8 and PD-35 aircraft engines.

The managing director of UEC-Saturn (Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region) Viktor Polyakov told TASS about it.

“We carry out development work on a promising engine, but we do it in cooperation with the UEC enterprises.

We plan to assemble the demonstrator of the gas generator and conduct the first tests in March 2021, ”Polyakov said.

Also, next spring, Russian engineers plan to test prototypes of PD-35 engine blades.

These products are made from composite materials.

Rybinsk specialists use the 3D weaving method for their production - the blades are produced on a specialized weaving machine using composite threads.

Towards import independence

PD-8 and PD-35 are being developed on the basis of the first completely Russian turbofan engine PD-14, which will be used in the fleet of MS-21 passenger aircraft.

One of the modifications of the airliner (MS-21-310) should complete the first flight with this power plant by the end of 2020.

Earlier, the PW1400G units from the American company Pratt & Whitney were purchased for the MC-21.

According to experts, in the context of the sanctions regime, the creation of the PD-14 allows Russia to not depend on the West in the supply of its aircraft to domestic and foreign customers.

  • Russian airliner MS-21 with domestic units PD-14

  • © uacrussia.ru

The PD-14 project was launched as part of the program to create engines with thrust from 9 to 18 tons. According to Rostec, Russian specialists created this unit “based on time-tested design solutions” using modern domestic technologies and materials.

“The designers have developed and implemented 16 key technologies, for example, turbine blades made of the lightest titanium intermetallic compound or an advanced cooling system that allows the turbine to operate at temperatures up to 2000 ° K (1726.85 ° C. -

RT

),” the corporation said.

The appearance of the PD-14 opened up a technological opportunity for Russia to manufacture highly efficient engines of various capacities.

One of them is PD-8 with a thrust of 8 tons, work on which should be completed in 2022.

Such a unit is necessary for equipping the narrow-body passenger airliners An-148 and SSJ-100, as well as the Be-200ES amphibious aircraft.

At present, Sukhoi Superjet 100 flies on the Russian-French SaM146, An-148 and Be-200 - on the D-436 manufactured by the Zaporozhye Motor Sich company.

In 2018, the Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex named after I.

G.M.

Beriev announced the remotorization of the Be-200 fleet, which involves the replacement of Ukrainian units with SaM146.

Nevertheless, as noted in Rostec and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), in the future, Russian amphibians and SSJ-100 will still be equipped with PD-8.

In addition, the technological base of this unit allows its installation on helicopters.

“Now there is hope that we

will receive the

engine (PD-8. -

RT

) in 2022.

In 2023, we will go first of all on the SSJ-100, and then on the Be-200 we will reach absolutely 100% import independence from Ukraine, ”the head of the UAC, Yuriy Slyusar, told reporters in October on the sidelines of the Hydroaviasalon-2020.

From the terms of reference for the PD-8 project, which is posted on the public procurement website, it follows that the cruising speed of an aircraft equipped with this unit will be 0.78-0.82 Mach numbers, the maximum flight time is up to 10 hours, the temperature range of work on the ground - from -55 ° С to +55 ° С.

The design of the engine should allow the carrier to rise to an altitude of 14 km.

PD-8 will receive a digital electronic automatic control system and will comply with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on noise and emissions of harmful substances.

Another important feature of PD-8 will be the power supply and switching system of the SEPK-8 units, which is subject to stringent vibration and explosion protection requirements.

It is being created by the Tekhnodinamika holding.

  • Aircraft engine assembly

  • © United Engine Corporation

“I believe that this power plant will be in demand on the domestic aviation market, since it has a wide range of applications on regional aircraft, as well as being used in promising helicopters.

In addition, I am sure that the acquired competencies in the development of systems for PD-8 and PD-14 will help us in similar work for the PD-35 aircraft engine, "said Igor Nasenkov, General Director of the Tekhnodinamika holding.

In an interview with RT, the executive director of the Aviaport agency, Oleg Panteleev, noted that the launch of the PD-8 production will allow Russia to remove almost all restrictions on the development of narrow-body aircraft projects.

“Soon enough we should see the first results of work on PD-8.

Its appearance will allow Russia to produce and promote amphibious aircraft to customers without looking back at Ukraine, as well as reduce the share of imported components in the SSJ-100, ”Panteleev said.

"Key technologies"

According to experts, the most time-consuming task for the Russian industry is the creation of a super-powerful PD-35 engine with a take-off thrust of 33 to 40 tons. Flight tests of a full-size demonstrator of this power plant should begin in 2025, serial production in 2028.

This unit is necessary for equipping promising heavy-duty transport vehicles, wide-body long-range aircraft Il-96 and CR929 - a promising Russian-Chinese airliner, the project of which is being developed by the UAC and the state-owned company COMAC (Shanghai), which specializes in the production of aerospace equipment.

A full-size mock-up of the compartment of this aircraft was presented at MAKS-2019 in Zhukovsky, near Moscow.

The Russian-Chinese car should be produced in three versions.

The basic version will be represented by the CR929-600 model, the extended version - CR929-700, with a shortened fuselage - CR929-500.

“It

takes 15 years in world practice to

create such engines (like PD-35. -

RT

)… 18 key technologies are being developed.

Including the most complicated part - a composite fan blade.

She's already ready.

Thanks to this, the weight of the engine was significantly reduced, ”said Anatoly Serdyukov, industrial director of the Rostec aviation cluster, in an interview with RBC on September 1.

According to Alexander Inozemtsev, the general designer of the UEC-Aviadvigatel enterprise, in a July comment to TASS, the use of a new composite blade for PD-35 made it possible to reduce the mass of the unit where it is installed by 30%.

Serial production of blades will be launched at UEC-Saturn.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally pays much attention to the development of a new generation super-powerful aircraft engine.

In mid-August, at a video conference with the Acting Governor of the Perm Territory Dmitry Makhonin, he said that the Russian authorities would provide all the necessary support in the implementation of this ambitious project.

“As for PD-35, this is an important project not only for the Perm Territory and not only for the engine-building cluster of Perm and for the engine-building cluster of the country as a whole - this is a very important project for the whole of Russia, bearing in mind our ambitious plans for the development of aviation, including including our work on a wide-body aircraft, ”Putin stressed.

  • Full-size layout of CR929 compartment at MAKS-2019

  • © UAC

Oleg Panteleev believes that the creation of new aircraft engines, including the PD-35, is aimed at ridding the domestic aviation industry of dependence on the part of Western states.

“These projects are of great importance for the Russian aviation industry.

Their implementation will reduce the dependence on foreign suppliers of aircraft engines and reduce the risks associated with sanctions against the Russian Federation and certain Russian enterprises, "Panteleev explained.

In turn, in a commentary on RT, Honored Pilot of Russia, Major General Vladimir Popov, drew attention to the fact that the implementation of ambitious projects in the engine-building cluster stimulates the development of new domestic aircraft, materials and various electronic systems.

“This will make it possible to create new aircraft not only in the civilian sector, but also in the military sphere.

Thanks to the ongoing development of new engines, a large number of our engineering teams, design bureaus receive the necessary financial support.

All this together is pushing our high-tech industry forward, ”concluded Popov.