The head of the Rostec State Corporation, Sergey Chemezov, said on Monday that work is underway on a new version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. The upgraded version of the superjet, SSJ NEW will have domestically-made components that will replace imported components.
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According to the CEO of Rostec, about 97% of import components will be replaced with domestically-made ones. He added that the new version of the superjet should be ready in 2024. He added that the release dates for the SSJ New are tied to the Russian PD-8 engine, the certification of which, he hopes, will be completed in 2023. Also, in the course of modernization, the onboard equipment and units will be replaced.
"This does not mean that the "Superjet" is fundamentally changing, no. We are talking about replacing imported components with domestic ones, which are cheaper, and, accordingly, the plane will be cheaper," said Chemzov to reporters at a briefing on 7 December.
Import substitution will help to make the aircraft more profitable because Russian components will cost the manufacturer cheaper. Thus, localisation will be a way to increase its attractiveness for airlines and save sales that are still poor.
"First of all, we will replace the engine, onboard equipment, and components — practically the entire aircraft. We can replace about 97% of foreign components with Russian ones. [...] SSJ New supplies are tied to the new PD-8 engine. I hope that it will be certified in 2023, respectively, in 2024 it is planned to release a new version of the aircraft," he noted.
Chemezov suggested that the demand for the Russian aircraft will grow, as regional routes are actively developing in Russia. He considered it inappropriate to wind down the project, specifying there is interest in the SSJ New.
The creation of SSJ100R ( Sukhoi Superjet 100R) was announced in April 2018, the initial plan was that the share of Russian components would be 10-15%. One year later the development plan was modified in order to substitute the maximum import of components of the system, now named SSJ-New (RRJ-95NEW-100), instead of SSJ100R.
