By the end of 2030, the fleet of Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ-100) in Russia will be reduced by five times, only 28 out of more than 150 old aircraft will remain in operation if it is not possible to master the repair of the hot part of foreign engines installed on the aircraft. Such calculations were made by the Irkut Corporation and the United Engine Corporation (both are part of Rostec), Kommersant reports . The information was confirmed by the interlocutors of the publication in the industry.
According to Kommersant, manufacturers asked airlines to calculate the number of SSJs on which the original Russian-French SaM-146 engines need to be replaced with domestic PD-8s (deliveries of domestic PD-8s are expected only from 2024). According to interlocutors in the industry, SSJ-100s, which have been actively flying since the spring of 2022, will begin to “get up” en masse in a year. Replacing engines can cost 200-500 billion rubles for the entire fleet, so the companies hope to arrange engine repairs in Iran.
If work on the hot part of the engines is mastered, it will be possible to keep 106 aircraft on the wing, follows from a letter from Irkut sent to carriers. The French Safran was responsible for servicing, designing and manufacturing parts for the hot part of the SaM-146 engine; in March 2022, he stopped his participation in the JV with PowerJet UEC.
The head of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Yuri Slyusar, reported on the threat of operation of the SSJ100 back in February, after the French manufacturer of SaM146 engines, Safran, left Russia. Replacing engines with domestic PD-8s is comparable to the residual value of the entire aircraft or will cost even more, he admitted. At the same time, it is impossible to repair aircraft on their own due to the high dependence on imported parts. The Insider also drew attention to the fact that since mid-2022, the number of accidents in Russian aviation has increased, including landing gear incidents. Experts attribute this to the unpreparedness of the Russian Federation for sanctions and the lack of quality control of imported parts, for more details, follow the link .