The Russian civil aviation authority gave the green light for the serial production of the newly developed turbofan Awiadwigatel PD-14. This is supposed to drive the Irkut MS-21, among other things. It is the first new development since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The project is being driven forward with great ambition, because the PD-14, which is about to go into series production, is to be the prelude to a whole range of new turbofan drives. In doing so, the Russian Federation wants to make itself more independent of Western manufacturers and, as it were before, offer aircraft and engines from domestic production again.
The manufacturer states that the kerosene consumption of the PD-14 should be up to 17 percent below that of comparable competing models. The operating and maintenance costs should also be cheaper. The state company Rostec is behind Awiadwigatel, so the development costs only played a subordinate role. Some prototypes have already been assembled on the five experimental models of the MS-21.
The PD-8, a newly developed Russian-made engine for the Sukhoi SSJ-100 regional jet, will soon be available. This is already in a very advanced phase. With the PD-35 they also want to develop a turbofan for long-haul aircraft.