The aircraft will be used for testing system assemblies and components and airborne equipment under the full import substitution program

Photo: United Aircraft Corporation

The Tu-214 made by Kazan Aircraft Factory n.a. S.P.Gorbunov – JSC Tupolev branch included in United Aircraft Corporation and intended to be used as a flying laboratory has made its maiden flight after airworthiness restoration.

The flying laboratory will be used for testing a number of system assemblies and components and airborne equipment under the full import substitution program as well as for modernization and further development of the Tu-214 platform.

The flight has been made at the air field of Kazan Aircraft Factory n.a. S.P.Gorbunov - JSC Tupolev branch. The aircraft was flown by Tupolev crew. The flight lasted 1.5 hour and included an altitude of 10,000 m. Necessary inspections of all systems and airborne equipment were performed. According to the crew, the flight was performed normally, systems and equipment worked properly.

Replacement of foreign components, systems and parts by domestic products will take place on this flying laboratory before the end of the year. The aircraft is to be retrofitted and painted in the nearest future.

“This aircraft will be the first totally Russian one over the past decades. It is fair to say that it will be the predecessor of the fully domestically produced Tu’s,” said Konstantin Timofeev, First Deputy General Director of PJSC UAC, Managing Director of JSC Tupolev.