Russia may see the emergence of mass-produced aircraft with a completely different engine operating principle — hybrid-electric propulsion. This was announced by the General Director of the N. E. Zhukovsky National Research Center, Andrei Dutov.
According to him, the first light regional aircraft of this type will appear in 2030-2035. By 2040–2050, mainline airliners with hybrid engines will also appear.
We are aware that in technologies and such complex technological systems, it is very difficult to take things at face value. Theoretical developments, "papers" are not valued or accepted. It is necessary to demonstrate capabilities so that both the designer and the customer believe that it will work. The so-called sixth level of technology readiness is tested only in this way.
Dutov noted that the corresponding developments and individual structures already exist in "hardware", and they have demonstrated their operability.
I hope that in a year I will be talking more about flight prototypes. When you can touch everything with your hands. The most important thing is to ensure complete transport connectivity of the vast territories of Russia, the mobility of the population.
It should be noted that hybrid-electric aircraft already exist, but their use is still limited. Electric aircraft use only electricity and are mainly suitable for short flights and small aircraft due to the limited capacity of batteries.
This summer, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced a tender for the implementation of research work aimed at creating promising mainline and regional aircraft. The total contract value was estimated at 13.44 billion rubles.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that a Rostec commission with Serdyukov and UAC visited the production of the PD-8 engine.