The United Engine Corporation (UEC) intends to manufacture four experimental engines for the regional turboprop aircraft TVRS-44 Ladoga in 2023, Rostec reported.
Work on power plants is being carried out on the basis of the UEC-Klimov enterprise (St. Petersburg), where technological preparation for production has already been completed.
“The United Engine Corporation has already started assembling the first two prototypes of TV7-117ST-02, they will be manufactured this summer.
By the end of the year, two more engines will be ready for preliminary tests as part of the aircraft, ”said Vladimir Artyakov, First Deputy General Director of Rostec.
As noted on the website of the state corporation, the new unit is being created on the basis of the TV7-117ST-01 engine, designed for the Il-114-300 passenger aircraft.
The engine will have a takeoff power of 2400 hp.
with., as well as best-in-class fuel efficiency.
“The work is intensive.
Everyone understands that a regional aircraft that can be operated in the Far East, the Far North and other regions, providing transport accessibility within our large country, is in great demand.
The task is very ambitious.
Entering the mass production of an engine for an aircraft is scheduled for 2025, ”the press service of Rostec quotes the general designer of JSC UEC-Klimov Vsevolod Eliseev.
In turn, Vladimir Artyakov stressed that the creation of new passenger aircraft for regional aviation is a priority for the aviation industry.
“One of the areas of this work is the creation of appropriate power plants, including turboprops,” he stated.
To replace the Soviet models
The project of a regional passenger aircraft in the class of 40-50 seats is being implemented by specialists from the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA) by order of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The fuselages for Ladoga will be supplied by the Samara plant Aviakor.
It is assumed that at maximum load, Ladoga will be able to fly over a distance of more than 1 thousand km.
The project is to replace obsolete airliners of both Soviet production (An-24, An-26B-100, Yak-40) and Western-designed ones (Dash 8-200, Dash 8Q-300, ATR-42).
An-24V
© Wikimedia Commons / Dmitry Pichugin
Recall that the basic versions of the Soviet An-24, An-26 and Yak-40 aircraft were developed in the 1950s and 1960s, and, according to experts, today these aircraft no longer meet the necessary requirements.
“These are planes from the USSR.
In particular, the An-24 is a massive and sought-after long-liver, but due to its moral and physical deterioration, it is already leaving Russian aviation.
This causes big problems.
Ladoga will have to occupy this niche, ”Eduard Bagdasaryan, general director of Aerocon JSC, expert of the Aeronet working group, said in a conversation with RT.
According to the chief editor of the portal Avia.ru Roman Gusarov, TVRS-44 "Ladoga" will be in great demand in Russia.
"Ladoga" is in a very massive and popular segment of regional aircraft, which have not been created for several decades.
To date, the fleet of Soviet airliners has completely exhausted its resource.
The remaining few dozen aircraft cannot provide a sufficient amount of traffic, so it is necessary that this aircraft go into production as soon as possible.
There are also no Western analogues that would be suitable for Russian conditions, ”said the interlocutor of RT.
"Modern and maintainable machine"
The Ural Civil Aviation Plant is currently engaged in another aircraft, including for regional transportation.
We are talking about a light multi-purpose aircraft LMS-901 "Baikal".
According to open sources, Baikal is designed for nine passengers.
Its cruising speed will be up to 300 km / h, and the maximum flight range - 3 thousand km (with a payload of 2 tons - up to 1.5 thousand km).
As Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Oleg Bocharov stated in October 2022, Baikal will be created entirely from Russian components.
In particular, the aircraft will use domestic VK-800 turboshaft engines, certification of which is scheduled for the end of 2024.
An-2
© Wikimedia Commons / CCBY 2.0
On January 11, 2023, it became known that UZGA and the Aerochemflot aviation alliance signed an agreement of intent for the supply of 120 LMS-901 Baikal aircraft in 2026-2030.
The agreement also provides for the joint formation of the liner's appearance and its performance characteristics.
“We are quite satisfied with the range of speeds that the car reaches, as well as the predicted economic indicators,” the press service of the UZGA quotes the words of the head of Aerochemflot, Klim Galiullin.
As Roman Gusarov noted, "Baikal" will replace the legendary maize.
"Baikal" will replace the most massive aircraft in the world - An-2.
It has been produced since the late 1940s and was in great demand, including in aviation clubs and agricultural aviation.
An-2 is indispensable and still the best in its class, but it was created a long time ago.
Now we need a new aircraft with modern engines, materials and avionics, but at the same time unpretentious and inexpensive.
This aircraft should be Baikal - an affordable, reliable, modern and maintainable machine, ”said the analyst.
Another important project to saturate the regional aviation fleet is the Il-114-300 passenger liner.
This is a modernized version of the Il-114 regional turboprop aircraft, which was developed in the late 1980s and was supposed to replace the An-24 aircraft.
However, due to the collapse of the USSR and the associated economic and organizational difficulties, the project was never fully implemented.
In 2016, the Il-114 program was restarted.
The updated liner can take on board up to 68 passengers.
Design features make it possible to use it at poorly equipped airfields of local airlines.
The cruising speed of the Il-114-300 is 500 km/h, and the flight range with the maximum number of passengers is 1.4 thousand km.
In August 2022, it became known that the Il-114-300 was included in the aircraft supply program, which was agreed upon by the United Aircraft Corporation and Aeroflot.
“IL-114-300 will be the eldest in this family.
This is a large turboprop liner.
It will be at the top of regional traffic and will take the place of the turbojet Tu-134 and the turboprop An-24,” Roman Gusarov believes.
“We will close the entire range of regional transportation”
As analysts recall, after the collapse of the USSR in Russia, the volume of regional air transportation has sharply decreased.
“In the USSR, regional airlines were very developed, and it was possible to fly by plane literally to every village.
After the collapse of the Union, all of our aviation faced a lack of state funding.
Many flights were economically unprofitable, therefore, without state support, such transportation simply could not survive, ”said Gusarov.
Passenger aircraft Il-114-300 participates in the flight program of the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2021
RIA News
© Maxim Blinov
According to Rostec, the number of operating airports in the country from 1991 to 2000 decreased by almost three times: from 1450 to 533.
“The parting with regional aviation was especially acute for residents of the Far East and Siberia, where the road infrastructure is relatively poorly developed,” the press service of the state corporation stated.
Against this background, the production of new aircraft was almost completely stopped.
As of 2011, more than 70% of the regional fleet was made up of foreign-made aircraft.
However, in recent years, the situation in this area has begun to change.
Thus, within the framework of the national project “Comprehensive plan for the modernization and expansion of the main infrastructure”, it is planned to modernize 57 airports, as well as build and reconstruct 41 runways along with 19 auxiliary facilities.
In turn, the creation of aircraft "Ladoga", "Baikal" and Il-114-300 will upgrade the fleet of regional airlines, analysts say.
“These devices will be able to cover all needs.
After the start of operation, they will be modernized, the line of models will develop.
Ladoga, Baikal and the new Il-114 will have to solve the main problems of regional aviation,” Eduard Bagdasaryan believes.
A similar opinion is shared by Roman Gusarov.
“With the help of three of these aircraft, we will close the entire range of regional transportation.
Unless the segment of aircraft for 20 seats will remain in question.
It is now occupied by the Czech L-410, which is produced here under license.
If it is possible to localize its production, then the regional segment will be 100% provided with aircraft,” he concluded.