EXCLUSIVE! Irkut views India for MS-21

Neelam Mathews
Feb 19, 2012

Singapore Air Show

Irkut Corporation, the head contractor in the MS-21 program, will soon be approaching India’s regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to assess local requirements if any, to incorporate in the design of its MC-21 family, Sales Director, Civil Aviation Division, Valery Lunkov told Aerospace Diary in Singapore.

The company is also in discussions with government owned defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) whom it has identified as one of its six key sub suppliers for “the process of industrialization…. HAL will produce some elements of the aircraft,” says Lunkov. Meetings for finalization of HALs role are planned after the India Aviation show (March 14-18) in Hyderabad. “We would like to launch the process of aggressive marketing in the Indian market,” he adds.

This follows Russian President Dmitry Medvedev words last December at the India- Russia summit in Moscow. “I discussed the idea of shifting our successful experience in the field of military aircraft to the civilian aviation, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year (2010)….Now we are moving towards implementing this idea, at least I hope so,” referring to the MC-21.

With 120 suppliers identified worldwide, the MS-21 will replace the Tu-154 and second-hand foreign aircraft in Russian airlines’ fleets in addition to its international foray. The MS-21 is being developed as a family of short-medium range airliners with seat capacity variants of 168-230. The design stage is expected to be completed by mid 2012. The company is in the process of formalizing key parameters for certification, says Lunkov. The Russian Aircraft Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee certification is planned for completion by 2016 and EASA by 2017.

Irkut has two engines on offer- PW1000G geared turbofan engine and PD-14 (earlier PS-14) turbofan engine being developed by Aviadvigatel. While Rockell Collins will supply the avionics, the involvement of Thales is now being sought for production of the simulator.