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 The key advanced mid-term airliner programme being pursued by Russia's aircraft industry is the development of the MC-21 new-generation narrow-body short/medium-range airliner family designed to compete the best Western airliners in the class, the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737MAX. Under the Russian President's directive dated 6 June 2010, Irkut Corp. became the prime contractor for the development and production of the MC-21. Prototypes and production-standard aircraft of the MC-21 family will be built by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, a subsidiary of the Irkut Corp.
The plant has been tasked with the manufacture of the fuselage and final assembly of the aircraft. The fuselage metal panels, tail section and composite empennage will be supplied by the Ulyanovskbased Aviastar-SP close corporation, composite fuselage midsection panels, spars and integral wing panels by the AeroCompositUlyanovsk close corporation, composite leading and trailing edges, wing high-lift devices and elevators by the KAPO-Composit close corporation, the latter two companies being the AeroComposit close corporation's Ulyanovsk- and Kazan-based production facilities respectively.
In August 2011, Irkut and Germany's Durr made a contract for a complete set of the MC-21 aircraft automated assembly line using up-to-date digital technologies. The latest equipment and the Irkutsk Aviation Plant's premises allow the production of up to 70 MC-21s a year further down the road. The installation of the assembly line is in full swing now. Last year, Irkut completed the devising of the MC-21 airframe design documentation and started the construction of the first four aircraft examples - three for flight tests and one for static trials. In addition, numerous structural elements (panels, joints, bays, etc.) were manufactured for static and endurance tests. The company assembled an airframe barrel section prototype and shipped it to TsAGI for endurance tests in February.
The airliner's baseline model is the 180-seat MC-21-300 that can seat 160 to 212 passengers depending on a layout of the cabin. Concurrently, the shorter 130-165-seat MC-21-200 version is in development, with the MC-21-400 stretch being a possibility. The maiden flight of the MC-21-300 prototype is slated for later 2015, and the completion of its certification tests and the beginning of its deliveries for 2017. The MC-21's firm order book had included 175 aircraft by early 2014. 50 of them had been ordered by the Aviacapital-Service leasing company (a Rostec governmentowned corporation subsidiary) for Aeroflot and 35, powered by PD-14 engines, for governmental agencies. 50aircraft had been ordered by the Ilyushin Finance leasing company, of which at least six can start flying with Transaero and 10 with Red Wings under current agreements. 30 airliners more are due to VEB-Leasing, of which 10 can go to UTair and six to Transaero. In addition, Irkut has had a direct contract with the IrAero airline for 10 aircraft. An agreement with Sberbank-Leasing for 20 aircraft can be thrown in for good measure. During 2013, the MC-21 firm order book swelled by 62 aircraft.
(Photo: Andrey Fomin)
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