Sukhoi Superjet 100

MANAMA (Bahrain), January 19 (Itar-Tass) — Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov on Thursday will demonstrate to King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa the possibilities of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 (SSJ-100) and Su-27 planes.
On Wednesday, he invited the king to the exhibition to see the production of Russia’s aircraft industry. The monarch gladly accepted the invitation. During the first show he with great pleasure communicated with the Russian pilot and was “trying on” the cockpit of the Su-27 plane. On Thursday, he, along with the Russian first deputy prime minister will arrive at the Sakhir airbase near the city of Manama for the opening of the second international air show.
Russia has something to show to the Middle Eastern partners. If in 2010, Russia presented only a sample of military equipment – the Su-27 fighter, then now, in addition to fighters, the company Sukhoi Civil Aircraft presents its short-haul airliner Sukhoi Superjet-100.
“Last November, there was an air show in Dubai where we hold negotiations with representatives of a number of airlines that have shown considerable interest in our aircraft,” Senior Vice President of Sukhoi Igor Syrtsov told Itar-Tass. “Naturally, most airlines are willing to look at this plane, so we decided to use the opportunities provided by the air show in Bahrain.” According to him, logistics offers excellent opportunities for advancement, because unlike other air shows, the plane here is not in a separate parking area, but right next to the chalet where we can negotiate without delay.
At present five Superjets have joined the Aeroflot fleet, and one - the very first - flies for the Armavia airline. It is this aircraft that will be shown to the King of Bahrain. “This plane is the first series one, it has flown 1,300 hours, performed more than 560 flights and has shown fairly good exploitation results,” Syrtsov explained the reasons for the choice. It will be also possible to communicate with pilots who fly on the first Superjet.
The main share of the Middle East airlines’ traffic is concentrated in the Persian Gulf region. According to forecasts of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), in the medium term the population’s mobility will increase, resulting in the growth in demand for aircraft of different sizes, including planes with 100-120 seats. Therefore, by 2035 projected sales of aircraft of the SSJ and MS-21 family in the Middle East will reach some 180 aircraft.
As for military equipment, Russia will show the Su-27 fighters. This time four of them have arrived in Bahrain. The renowned aerobatic team “Russian Knights” has been given the honourable right to end the program of the opening day by their demonstration flight.
The Sukhoi Superjet-100 is a modern, fly-by-wire regional jet in the 75- to 95-seat category. With development starting in 2000, the plane was designed by the civil aircraft division of the Russian aerospace company Sukhoi in co-operation with Western partners. Its maiden flight was conducted on 19 May 2008 and the plane received its Interstate Aviation Committee certification in January 2011 with European Aviation Safety Agency certification expected in mid-2011. On 21 April 2011, the Superjet 100 performed its first commercial passenger flight, on the Armavia route from Yerevan to Moscow.
Designed to compete internationally with its Embraer and Bombardier counterparts, the Superjet 100 aims for substantially lower operating costs at the price of $23–$25 million, securing over 300 orders by early 2011.
The final assembly of the plane is done by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, its SaM-146 engines are designed and produced by the French-Russian PowerJet joint-venture and the plane is marketed internationally by SuperJet International.

he European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued today its Type Certificate A-176 for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (model RRJ-95B). This certificate recognizes that the SSJ100 aircraft demonstrated compliance with the EASA airworthiness and environmental requirements. The recognition allows the European airlines, as well as those airlines operating in countries which use EASA regulations as a reference standard, to accept and operate the SSJ100 (RRJ-95B) aircraft. This result represents a key milestone in support of the brand credibility of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 which is the first ever Russian passenger “Large Airplane” to achieve the EASA CS-25 Certification.

The EASA certificate, which is a validation of the certificate issued by the Interstate Aviation Committee Aviation Register (IAC AR), is the result of the vast certification campaign performed by EASA, IAC AR and SCAC in association with Certification centers, Alenia Aermacchi (former Alenia Aeronautica) and key aircraft systems suppliers.

The European validation started after IAC AR certification application in 2004 and went through the four different phases, in parallel with the Russia Certification process: Familiarization, Agreement of Certification Programs, Compliance Determination and Final Project Report. The European Authority firstly familiarized with the aircraft, then deeply examined the aircraft technical characteristics and, in the last period, got proof of its performances and safety. The overall process allowed to assess the compliance with the strict European Airworthiness Code, resulting in the issue of the Type Certificate.

Thanks to the experience and dedication of the fully integrated multicultural SSJ100 Team, the EASA Certificate has been granted only one year after the achievement of the IAC AR Type Certificate.

The European validation program included several dedicated flight and ground tests. In particular the EASA pilots went through many sessions on the “electronics bird” (SCAC integrated simulator and RIG for the SSJ100) and participated in 45 certification flights (total duration about 70 flight hours) in order to prove the safety and in-flight performance of the SSJ100 aircraft in any situation. The ground tests covered, among others, the ultimate pressure load of the fuselage, the bird strike of the front upper cockpit panel, the broken-tire strike of the lower hatch cover of the wing fuel tank and the fire-resistance of the composite flap. In the frame of ten working groups (“Panels”) 84 Certification Review Items and 60 Certification Action Items were analyzed, substantiated and agreed while more than 500 actions and questions received from the Authorities were timely and satisfactory closed.

“The job we have done together is really great. We sincerely thank our colleagues from the EASA and IAC AR for their big support. The European certification is a key milestone in getting worldwide recognition of our aircraft which will open up new perspectives for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 in the international markets,” – said Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, President of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft.

This great moment gains even more meaning, considering the strong international nature of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 project that comes from a new Russian growing reality, along with the Alenia Aermacchi strategic partnership, the reliable Customer Services provided by SuperJet International and Snecma capability as one of the key figures for the Powerjet SaM146 engine.

The list of the international and Russian suppliers to be mentioned would be endless, all the involved ones provided SCAC with really advanced products. Nevertheless it should be specially noted a great contribution of the main suppliers Thales, Liebherr, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, Hamilton-Sundstrand and B/E Aerospace that enriched our product with their superb technology.

Surely, this wide integration of parts, processes and cultures created challenges, but has also been the trademark of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 since the beginning of the program and it is now a reason to be proud of, allowing SCAC and SJI to deliver their worldwide customers an extremely advanced and performing aircraft.
The EASA Type Certificate will be officially handed over to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft on February 24, 2012 at IAC AR Headquarters in Moscow.