Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100)
Designed to compete internationally with its An-148, Embraer and Bombardier counterparts, the Superjet 100 claims substantially lower operating costs, at a lower purchase price of $35 million.
The final assembly of the Superjet 100 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 aircraft is marketed internationally by the Italian-Russian SuperJet International joint venture.
On 28 January 2007, the first SSJ was transported by an Antonov 124 from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to the city of Zhukovsky near Moscow for ground tests at Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. A representative of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft announced on 13 November 2007, the completion of static tests necessary for conducting the first flight. The Superjet was unveiled at its official rollout at Komsomolsk-on-Amur Dzemgi Airport on 26 September 2007.
In February 2008, initial test runs of the SaM146 engine were successfully. An Ilyushin Il-76 testbed, operated by the Gromov Flight Research Institute, was also used in the engine testing. On 19 May 2008, the first test flight of the Superjet took place from Dzemgi airport, at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association.
On July 2008, testing continued successfully. By October 2008, the first stage of Sukhoi Superjet 100's factory-based flight testing program was successfully completed. The second SSJ100 prototype had also been flown and the certification process was started. In December 2008, the second of four SSJ100 prototypes SN95003 took to the skies. The aircraft performed standard stability and handling quality tests as well as systems checks in accordance with the first flight assignment. Flight test engineers and pilots were pleased with the overall performance of the second prototype.
The deliveries were first scheduled to begin in late 2008, and Sukhoi predicted that 3 units of all variations of the Superjet 100 would be delivered by the end of 2016. On 7 July 2008, Sukhoi officially confirmed that the original schedule was too optimistic, and first deliveries would begin in December 2009.
As of January 2009, the first two aircraft had completed over 80 flights, totaling around 2,300 hours in flight and ground tests. On 1 April 2009, two Superjet 100 prototypes, 95001 and 95003, successfully completed the first long-distance flight for this aircraft, covering a distance of 3,000 kilometers from Novosibirsk to Moscow. On 17 April 2009, EASA pilots performed the first test flights on the two prototypes. According to EASA pilot feedback, the aircraft was easy to fly. On 26 July 2009, the third of four SSJ100 prototypes (SN95004) flew.
At the Paris Air Show 2009, Malév Hungarian Airlines said that it would purchase 30 Superjets worth $1 billion, providing a welcome boost to sales as it made its international debut at the 2009 Paris Air Show.
As of June 2009, 13 aircraft were under construction with the first four scheduled to be handed over to clients by the end of 2010. After 2012, the company will build 70 Superjets per year. Armenian Armavia would receive the first two aircraft, followed by Aeroflot, which has ordered a total of 30 aircraft with an option for 15 more. Other customers include Russia's Avialeasing company, Swiss Ama Asset Management Advisor and Indonesian Kartika Airlines.
On 29 December 2009, United Aircraft Corporation head Alexei Fyodorov said that deliveries of the Superjet 100 have been indefinitely delayed because the engines were not ready. On 4 February 2010, the fourth prototype SSJ flew. Owing to delays in production of the engines, including quality problems at the NPO Saturn factory, it used the engines removed from the first prototype. On 28 May 2010, all engine tests necessary for certification were completed. The final trial was a simulation of an encounter with a flock of birds.
Flight management system (FMS) tests were completed on 19 November 2010. The FMS CMA-9000 was developed by Canada's Esterline CMC Electronics for the Thales avionics suite.
On 9 May 2012, a Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner on a demonstration flight with 37 passengers and eight Russian crew members on board crashed after it took off from the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. The airliner began descending shortly after taking off and vanished from radar screens at approximately 14:12 local time (07:12 UTC) at 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) in a mountainous area 60km south of Jakarta, in the province of West Java. After an extensive search, rescuers concluded, based on the widespread debris field on the side of a ridge, that the aircraft directly struck the rocky side of Mount Salak and there was "no chance of survival".
