This is the first long-term flight using Russian engines produced by the United Engine Corporation

Photo: United Aircraft Corporation

A fully import-substituted regional Superjet designed by Yakovlev (included in Rostec’s United Aircraft Corporation) has arrived at the airfield of the Flight Research Institute named after M.M. Gromov in Zhukovsky for preparation to flight certification tests. This is the first flight with the Russian PD-8 engines made by Rostec’s United Engine Corporation.

Superjet prototype serial number 97003 flew from Komsomolsk-on-Amur covering the total distance of about 6,000 km with intermediate stops at Irkutsk and Novosibirsk airports. The flight lasted about 9 hours at altitudes up to 12,000 m and speeds up 0.78 M.

Upon arrival at the airfield of Flight Research Institute named after M.M.Gromov, the airplane was relocated to Yakovlev’s aviation engineering center where it will be prepared for a flight certification test program. The aircraft will first fly at altitudes and speeds typical to the main operating conditions.

A fully domestically built Superjet made its first flight on the 23rd of April 2025. It was the third aircraft prototype involved in the flight certification test program.

The import substitution activities implied substitution of all aircraft systems and equipment, including the sustainer and auxiliary propulsion systems, avionics, landing gear, integrated control system, power supply, air conditioning and fire protection systems, etc. The aircraft has also received an upgraded airframe that was modified to simplify aircraft production and servicing.