Russia to Test MC-21 Airliner with Locally-made PD-14 engines later this year

The long delayed testing of the Russian MC-21 airliner with the domestically-made PD-14 engine will begin later this year.

“In the near future we should install engines on an experimental aircraft in order to start testing this year,” Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov was quoted as saying by tvzvezda TV on Friday.

Units for the PD-14 aircraft engine, which will be manufactured at the Mashinostroitel Perm plant, will be certified in 2021, the minister said.

Currently, prototype testing of the MC-21 is being conducted using Pratt & Whitney engines procured earlier. But since United States’ sanctions were imposed on MC-21 manufacturer, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), supply of the engines has been suspended.

The PD-14 engine is being developed by Russian manufacturer, Perm Motors. It will become the first all-Russian turbofan engine designed for civil aviation since the 1980s.