Russia’s first fifth-generation aircraft engine, PD-14, has been sent assembled and sent for a test program, the manufacturer said on Tuesday.
The PD-14, developed by Aviadvigatel, a Perm-based manufacturer of civil and military aircraft engines, as well as a host of other design bureaus and production associations, is to be installed on the MS-21 passenger jet.
The new engine may go into commercial production in 2016.
The MS-21 airliner, a twin-engine jet with a 150-215 seating capacity, is being developed by Irkut aircraft manufacturing corporation and the Yakovlev design bureau, part of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation.
The aircraft is designed to replace the ageing Tupolev Tu-154 and Tu-204 on medium-haul routes.
Earlier on Tuesday, Irkut signed a contract with U.S. jet engine maker Pratt Whitney for turbofans for its MS-21 airliner. The deal may be worth over $1 billion.