The current fleet of Superjet-100 airliners with SaM146 engines has about 5 years of airworthiness left. Without re-engining with domestic PD-8 engines, the aircraft will no longer be able to fly, warned Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviaport agency.
He reminded that ODK engineers have already learned to repair a large number of imported systems and electronic units. However, the problem lies in working with the hot section of the SaM146 gas generator – there are no such competencies there yet.
The fact remains. If the problem with the power plant is not solved, then after 5 years a significant part of the fleet will have to stop.
Aviation expert Roman Gusarov explained to "Pervy Tekhnichesky" that replacing SaM146 with PD-8 will require a lot of funds, and sources of financing have not yet been determined.
According to "Kommersant", re-engining each Superjet-100 with PD-8 will cost at least 2.3 billion rubles. The total cost of the program is estimated at approximately 115 billion rubles. Who will pay for the "banquet" is an open question.