The Rostec State Corporation received a certificate from the Federal Air Transport Agency for serial production of PD-14 engines for the Russian MS-21 passenger aircraft.

This was reported on the Rostec website.

“The certificate of approval of the production organization gives the right to serial production of the newest aircraft propulsion engines PD-14 and supply them to customers for installation on serial MC-21 aircraft.

The Rosaviation document was issued to the UEC-Perm Motors enterprise of the United Engine Corporation, ”the corporation's website says.

According to Rostec, certification took place in two stages.

In the course of the first, a commission consisting of representatives of the Federal Air Transport Agency and the Aviation Register of the Russian Federation analyzed the quality management system for compliance with the requirements of the Federal Aviation Rules.

At the second stage, specialists checked the "technological processes of manufacturing, assembly and testing of aircraft engines."

As part of the production certification, qualification tests of one of the new PD-14 engines were also held, during which the compliance of its technical characteristics with the design documentation was confirmed. 

According to Anatoly Serdyukov, industrial director of the Rostec aviation cluster, several new PD-14s are planned to be released in 2021.

“PD-14 became the ancestor of a whole family of domestic power plants, which use the most modern technologies and materials.

The received certificate makes it possible to start serial production of these engines.

In 2021, it is planned to produce several new PD-14s, which will be used as a reserve during flight tests of the new MC-21-310 aircraft, ”he said. 

A day earlier, Rostec reported that the design bureau of UEC-Aviadvigatel JSC (part of the United Engine Corporation), which developed the PD-14, “received an addition to the type certificate of the PD-14 engine of the 2020 model”.

It confirmed that the Russian unit fully complies with the ICAO requirements for harmful emissions.

Additional certification was required due to the appearance in January 2020 of a new international standard, which changed the smoke and emission standards of non-volatile particles.

“The addition to the type certificate of the PD-14 engine is an important stage for the development of the entire Russian aviation industry,” said Yury Shmotin, Deputy General Director - General Designer of UEC.

- Aircraft MS-21-310 with PD-14 engines will be able to operate international flights.

The second important point is that Russia will now be able to supply aircraft with engines manufactured by the UEC to the international market. "

Rostec also reported that PD-14 has "a reserve in terms of mass concentration of non-volatile particles and is ready for future changes in standards."

So, it is known that already from January 1, 2023, new, more stringent emission standards for non-volatile particles will come into force.

According to them, PD-14 has a reserve of 85%. 

"Unconditional Victory"

According to experts, the project to create the PD-14 engine has become a landmark for the domestic industry.

Primarily because it is the first turbofan engine created in the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR.

The UEC-Aviadvigatel specialists received the terms of reference for its creation in 2007.

Five years later, the first launch of the demonstrator engine took place.

Three years later, in 2015, tests of the engine started on the wing of the Il-76LL flying laboratory.  

In 2018, the unit received a type certificate from the Federal Air Transport Agency - this is the main document confirming the compliance of aircraft with airworthiness standards.

It should be noted that attention is paid to this project in Russia at the highest level.

In the fall of 2015, President Vladimir Putin inspected the new Russian PD-14 engine during a working trip to Nizhny Tagil.

On the same day, at a meeting of the State Council, he congratulated the developers of the apparatus on the success.

“I would like to congratulate the General Designer and all your colleagues, the creative team with an unconditional victory in the nearly thirty-year history of our engine building.

Such an event that we have today has not happened, to be more precise, for 29 years, ”Putin said.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects PD-14 engines

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Nikolsky

It is planned that the PD-14 will be installed on the Russian medium-range narrow-body passenger aircraft MS-21.

Its creation is now also at the final stage.

On December 15, 2020, the first flight of this airliner with installed PD-14 engines took place.

The flight task included checking the operating modes of the power plant, the stability and controllability of the aircraft, as well as the functioning of its systems.

It is planned that customers will be able to choose with which engine to purchase an aircraft: with the Russian PD-14 or the American PW 1000G.

At the same time, it is known that a domestic engine will consume fuel 15% more economically than its closest foreign counterparts.

Also, according to Rostec, "the operating costs of PD-14 will be 14-17% lower than that of existing similar engines, and the life cycle cost is 15-20% lower."

"Groundwork for a more powerful engine"

Experts note that the successful certification of PD-14 is an important event for the Russian aviation industry.

“It is noteworthy that the news about the certification appeared on the Day of the Civil Aviation Worker, which is celebrated on February 9th.

This is a kind of holiday gift from Rostec.

For our aviation industry, and for the economy as a whole, this is a very important event, "Major General Vladimir Popov, Honored Pilot of the Russian Federation, said in an interview with RT.

Popov also called it extremely important that the engine complies with all ICAO standards, while having a "margin of safety" in case of tightening international standards.

“Today it is impossible to work in the aviation market if you do not meet ICAO requirements.

At one time, it was because of this that we had to abandon the Tu-154 - the norms for noise and exhaust gas emissions became stricter, and we did not fit into them, "the analyst explained. 

  • MS-21 with Russian PD-14 engines

  • RIA News

  • © Maxim Blinov

A similar point of view is shared by the military expert Yuri Knutov.

“Obtaining the ICAO certification is an important stage that allows these engines to be sold for export.

PD-14 complies with the best emission and noise standards, which we had a big problem with at one time.

For example, the Il-86 is a good and reliable aircraft, but we had to remove it from international traffic because the engines did not meet the standards of the time in terms of noise and partly in terms of exhaust emissions, ”he said in an interview with RT.

Knutov also noted that the successful implementation of the PD-14 project will make it possible to create a whole line of engines.

Work is already underway on some of these units.

“This is the groundwork for a more powerful engine.

If everything works out with PD-14, then in the future more powerful installations for larger liners can be created on its basis.

In particular, for the Russian-Chinese wide-body aircraft CR929.

So this is a very important development, which is of fundamental importance for a breakthrough in the creation of heavy long-haul aircraft, ”the expert said.

According to Vladimir Popov, PD-14 is a "new generation unit" for the Russian engine building industry, in the creation of which many new developments were used.

The expert noted that the importance of such projects can hardly be overestimated when Russia is forced to live under Western sanctions.

“PD-14 will be in great demand in our country, since we are under various types of sanctions and will obviously not get rid of them in the foreseeable future.

Therefore, we need to develop our own aviation industry and civil aviation in general, ”the analyst said.

Popov stressed that the transport security of Russia depends on the implementation of projects such as PD-14 and MS-21.

“This is the independence of the state's transport system.

We will gradually be able to abandon the use of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, relying mainly on our own forces, as it was during the Soviet Union.

We have everything for this: technological capabilities, engineering and design personnel and production facilities.

However, we have to admit that there is still a lot to be done to achieve the set goals, ”the analyst concluded.