New High Strength Glass Developed for Russian Su-35 jets, MC-21 Airliner

Russian firm RT-Chemcomposite, a part of Rostec has developed high-tech glass for fighter jets, airliners and spacecraft cockpit windshields and windows which can withstand temperatures up to 160 degrees Celsius.

The new materials are based on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and have high strength characteristics and thermal stability.

“The main advantages of the new materials over foreign samples are increased resistance to surface cracking and preservation of strength characteristics after prolonged heating for 100 hours at a temperature of 160 ºC, as well as during short-term heating to 180 degrees. It is up to this level that the temperature of the aircraft’s windshield can rise when flying at supersonic speed,” Russian MoD’s TV channel, tvzvezda.ru reported today.

Quoting Oleg Yevtushenko, Executive Director of Rostec, the report said that new glasses can be used not only in the manufacture of aircraft, but also in the space, shipbuilding and railway industries.

Serial production of new high-tech glasses is planned to be deployed at the enterprise of the Polymer Research Institute of the RT-Chemcomposite holding. A high-tech small-tonnage production of necessary materials has already been organized at the site.

The materials can be used in the cockpit windshield glass of Su-35, Su-30, Su-34, MiG-29 fighter  jets, and for the windows of passenger liners such as Sukhoi Superjet and MC-21.