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The Interstate Aviation Committee Committee (IAC) will issue a type certificate for the Sukhoi SuperJet-100 plane on February 3. The IAC Aviation Register has also decided to issue a certificate of civil aircraft designer to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company. The company said “the type certificate will allow commercial operation of the plane and confirm its conformity with the rules and regulations of the Interstate Aviation Committee.” The new plane will replace Tu-134 jets. The first SSJ-100 should be handed over to Armavia in early 2011. Currently, orders for 170 new planes have been confirmed. Aeroflot plans to receive the first...

About 1,350 companies and organizations from 52 countries, including 59 Russian firms, will take part in the Farnborough-2010 Air Show, which opens near London on Monday. The Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said in a press release that 29 Russian companies will showcase about 250 military products, including combat aircraft, helicopters and air defense systems. Among most prominent Russian exhibits are Su-35 Flanker and MiG-35 Fulcrum-F multirole fighters, the Su-32 fighter-bomber (an export version of the Su-34 Fullback aircraft) and MiG-29 Fulcrum combat aircraft. Russia also plans to promote heavily its Superjet 100 medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by the...

Four months after an Indian MiG-27 fighter bomber crashed, and all Indian MiG-27s were grounded, the aircraft have been cleared to fly again. The long delay was caused by fears that all the Russian made engines in these aircraft might have a common problem. This is not a new problem. The MiG-27, and Cold War era Russian warplanes in general, do not age well. India only has about a hundred MiG-27s still operational, and all of them were grounded for over a year (2005-6) when serious problems were discovered with the MiG-27s Russian designed engines. Things have since gotten better,...

Engines for Russia's new Superjet-100 airliner have failed to receive certification as they have several significant flaws, a business daily said on Tuesday. The Superjet-100 project is a family of medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by the Sukhoi aircraft maker in cooperation with the US and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell. Russian deputy industry and trade minister Denis Manturov, who heads the commission to monitor Superjet's production, prepared a report unveiling the current problems and obstacles in the way of certification, the paper said.

Russia’s two engine manufacturers are to collaborate on the next stage of engine development for the Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter after years of going head-to-head as rivals. The Moscow-based Salut and United Engine Corp. (UEC) have agreed to work jointly on the so-called second-stage engine for the T-50 being developed to meet the air force’s PAK FA requirement. NPO Saturn, now part of UEC, and Salut have been competing for this program for several years, with designs known as Eniseysk-A and Eniseysk-B, respectively. According to senior UEC executives, the workshare on the engine to replace the T-50’s current Saturn 117...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today said he was satisfied with the tests of Russian fifth-generation fighter jets. ''Flight tests of the fifth-generation fighter are continuing successfully," Putin said in his annual address to the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament. Under the Russian Constitution, the government is obliged to deliver annual reports to the State Duma. ''Once again I want to thank everyone who worked on this machine, as well as those who are now putting it in the air,'' Putin said. The first Russian fifth-generation fighter jet was delivered to Zhukovsky in the Moscow region for...

Although the United States has signed (last July) an agreement with Russia that allows 4,500 air transports a year to cross Russian territory on their way to Afghanistan, the route is only being used at the rate of about 700 flights a year. Why isn't the full capacity being used? Partly because of a squabble among Russian bureaucrats. Although the agreement waived transit fees, Russian aviation officials insisted some kind of fee had to be paid. It took months to sort that out. And there are still issues with some Russian ministries over how the flights should proceed. But there...

Russia’s new strategic bomber will use stealth technologies and is expected to enter service in 2025-2030, the commander of Russia’s strategic aviation said on Tuesday. According to Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, the stealth technology will make "the new aircraft difficult to detect by radar, although it is impossible to make airplanes of this type completely invisible.” "However, new technologies and materials will help reduce the possibility of detection,” Zhikarev said, adding that the new airplane was expected to enter service in 2025-2030. The new strategic bomber will replace the Tu-95MC Bear and Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, and Tu-22M3 Backfire long-range...

Three years after deciding to start production, the Russian Air Force received the first two production models of the Su-34 fighter-bomber. The original plan was to put 24 aircraft into service by 2010. It was hoped that they would eventually be able to buy a hundred. Apparently one goal of undertaking serial production was to encourage foreign purchases. No luck there yet. The 45 ton Su-34 is a replacement for the 43 ton Su-24 bomber, which is beginning to show its age (over twenty years). There are 300 Su-24s on the books, but most of these are not fit for...