Replacing the MS-21 wing due to sanctions turned out to be inexpensive

Replacing the composite “black wing” of the new Russian MS-21 aircraft with a domestic one due to sanctions cannot justify the allocation of additional hundreds of billions of rubles to the program. The cost of the new wing, writes RBC, will amount to only about a percent of the program's cost of 250 billion rubles. Most of the new funds will have to be spent on preparing mass production and import substitution of other components.

More. Establishing the production of domestic composite materials necessary for MS-21 at Aerocomposite and NPO Tekhnologii will cost 2.7 billion rubles, the resource reported, citing the apparatus of Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov, who oversees the program.

This is a small part of the 250 billion rubles of additional funds for the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which the head of Rostec Sergey Chemezov spoke about in mid-February. At the same time, Chemezov admitted that due to US sanctions, the launch of the MS-21 into mass production would have to be postponed for a year - until the end of 2020.

These 250 billion rubles will go mainly to MS-21, Borisov's office confirmed. But at their expense, it is necessary to close the funding gap, loans, modernize production, conduct experimental design and purchase components for the first production aircraft - not counting import substitution.

Context. The MS-21 program is Russia's only chance to break into the sector of narrow-body medium-range airliners, which is shared between Boeing and Airbus. Two experimental aircraft are being tested, two more are being assembled at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant.

The aircraft has engine and wing problems . There is no serial domestic PD-14 engine yet, and the American Pratt & Whitney is an obvious target for sanctions. Components for the composite wing of the aircraft were supplied by American Hexcel and Japanese Toray Industries. In January, they stopped deliveries due to US sanctions against Aerocomposite.

The Black Wing is the key know-how of the MS-21. It is thanks to him that the liner should be somewhat better than the Boeing-737 MAX and Airbus A320neo in terms of operational parameters, including specific fuel consumption, which is the most important for airlines.

Since the start of the MS-21 program, the price has risen by 2.3 times, the period for creating the MS-21-300 aircraft has increased by three years, the wrote Accounts Chamber in November. The joint venture estimated the total cost of the project until 2025 at 437.4 billion rubles. Thus, the cost of a domestic composite wing will be less than 0.5% of the total cost of the program or 1% of its additional funding.

MS-21 received 175 firm orders, but 50 of them are Aeroflot, and almost a hundred more are contracts with Russian leasing companies.

Sergei Smirnov