United Engine Corporation, a Rostec subsidiary in charge of designing engines for Russian aircraft, announced that it has completed work on the automatic control system (ACS) for the new PD-8 engine. The powerplant, derived from the PD-14 that will equip the MC-21, will power the Sukhoi Superjet and the BE-200 seaplane.
So far 165 Sukhoi Superjets have been delivered, with 92 units in the backlog. The largest operators are Rossiya with 59 (73 pending delivery), Aeroflot with 17 (to be transferred to Rossiya), and Yamal Airlines with 15 aircraft.
ACS is responsible for monitoring the engine by reading parameters and adjusting operation. Data points include -among others- thrust, fuel consumption, vibrations, and exhaust gas temperature. In the West, the system is known as Full Authority Digital Engine Control or FADEC.
The ACS will be manufactured with Russian components. According to UAC – Rostec’s parent company – the company’s engineers completed the development of the system in just a year and a half, and mass production is expected to begin -if all goes according to plan with its certification- in 2023.
Vladimir Artyakov, first deputy general director of Rostec State Corporation, noted that «the automatic control system for the PD-8 engine will be assembled from domestically sourced materials and electronic components.» With this, Rostec will seek to circumvent obstacles caused by sanctions and embargoes imposed by the United States. «The system is highly redundant and possesses exceptional fault tolerance rates. Once some minor hiccups are polished, it will be attached to the engine core for whole-engine tests,» the executive said. Rostec presented the PD-8 core at the MAKS 2021 show. Type certification should be granted in 2023.
The Beriev BE-200 could use the engine
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin called during a meeting with the head of Rostec «for work on PD-8s certification to be accelerated» and urged that the type certificate «should include the installation on the Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft.»
The BE-200 is seeing increasing demand, especially thanks to the possibility of being used as a firefighting platform. «Representatives from other countries are contacting us, especially during the summer, to provide firefighting services. We need to take advantage of this demand,» Mishustin said.
