First deliveries of MC-21 pushed back to 2027

Head of Russian state technology firm acknowledges certification and production delays during meeting with Putin.

Certification and initial deliveries of the Yakovlev MC-21-310 have been further delayed, at least until next year, admits the head of state technology firm Rostec.

Chief executive Sergei Chemezov disclosed the latest timetable to Russian president Vladimir Putin during a meeting to discuss Rostec’s activities.

Chemezov said that one-third of the MC-21’s certification flights have been completed.

“I hope that we’ll finish this in the first quarter of next year, and begin mass production of the aircraft next year,” he added.

This will mean deliveries will begin a decade after the first MC-21 variant, the -300, carried out its maiden flight in May 2017.

The -300 was fitted with Western-built systems including Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engines.

But international sanctions imposed over the Crimean and Ukrainian conflicts spurred Rostec’s aerospace firm United Aircraft to concentrate on a domestically-equipped version, the -310.

Its development has required designing Russian equivalents of many systems and structures, including composite materials and the Aviadvigatel PD-14 powerplant.

The initial fully-substituted MC-21-310 flew for the first time in October last year, following test flights of other partially-substituted airframes.

Chemezov had told Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin last year that he hoped certification and serial production would begin by the end of 2026.

But he acknowledged the schedule slip during a progress meeting with Putin on 7 May.

By 2030, Chemezov told the president, United Aircraft aims to be producing 36 MC-21s annually, along with 20 of the import-substituted Yakovlev SJ-100 and 12 Ilyushin Il-114-300s.

He said the SJ-100 has completed 80% of its flights and certification is planned this year, although serial production will not begin until 2027.

Chemezov added that United Aircraft hoped to obtain Il-114-300 certification — and begin deliveries — in 2026.

“We’re almost done with the all the certification test flights,” he told Putin. “[It] has turned out to be a very good aircraft.”

The turboprop has flown internationally to India, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, he said, and will be a replacement for the ageing Antonov An-24 and An-26.

“These [Antonov] aircraft are already outdated, spare parts are scarce, and repairs are practically impossible,” said Chemezov. “So we need to launch it as quickly as possible.”