Where east meets west

The marriage of Western aerospace manufacturing capabilities with Russian aviation experience was unthinkable a few short years ago, and yet as Mike Richardson discovers, Sukhoi...

The marriage of Western aerospace manufacturing capabilities with Russian aviation experience was unthinkable a few short years ago, and yet as Mike Richardson discovers, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company has finally brought these two manufacturing superpowers together to create its first civil aircraft manufacturing programme. Billed as a modern, fly-by-wire 100-seater regional jet, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) is the first aircraft able to merge in a single product, the strength of the Western aerospace supply chain with Russia's experience in aeronautics. It is also the largest ever industrial programme undertaken between Europe and the Russian Federation in the commercial aircraft sector.

In 2007, Italy's Alenia Aeronautica and Sukhoi formed Superjet International, a joint venture based in Venice. Two year later, the companies officially announced the Italian acquisition of a blocking stake in Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company's equity capital. This became a defining moment, as for the first time in Russian aviation history a foreign partner entered into stock capital of a Russian airframer by acquiring a 25% stake.

The SSJ100 has been described as the most important and successful civil aircraft programme of the Russian aviation industry and enjoys considerable support from the state, which regards it as a top priority project.

Over 30 foreign companies are involved in the project. Development, manufacturing and marketing of the plane's SaM146 jet engine is being overseen by PowerJet, a joint venture between France's Snecma and Russia's NPO Saturn.

The final assembly line for all SSJ100s is located in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East, while Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) and Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) is focused on component production. Sukhoi has invested heavily in upgrading these subsidiaries facilities and expect to produce 70 airframes when reaching designed pace.

From a blank sheet of paper

With the responsibility of the SSJ100's final assembly, aircraft acceptance and delivery centre operation newly set up at Komsomolsk, Sukhoi has enjoyed the rare opportunity of starting from a blank sheet of paper and avoid the additional burden of an existing and outdated infrastructure.

“Sukhoi is globally renowned as a manufacturer of military jets, yet previously it had no civil project in the market,” begins Dmitry Matsenov, senior vice-president of strategy and programme management, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC). “We decided that this programme should be driven by Russian designers with a worldwide supply chain entirely managed by SCAC. It's the first ever Russian-led international project and from the very beginning, it was essential for our credibility among the customers, that we would employ the largest international cooperation possible to secure an internationally high standard of reliable components.”

Matsenov says that the majority of the SSJ100's components and systems are supplied by European and US suppliers, while the airframe is built in Russia with final assembly performed by SCAC's own final assembly line. However, around 80% of the aircraft's parts are currently being produced by European and American suppliers. Sukhoi also uses Russian-based carbon fibre composite materials for various areas of the empennage and the vertical/horizontal stabilisers, although eventually it plans to migrate to Western composite material sources to satisfy global flight certification.

“Sukhoi has made considerable investment in the industrialisation of an aircraft that has become the first ever ‘fully digital' Russian commercial aircraft designed and then ported into production,” he explains. “We're currently working on the first four ramp up production aircraft for our launch customers. The fuselage of the fifth ramp up production aircraft has already been mated, whilst the bodies of the sixth and seventh are undergoing mating. Overall, 14 ramp-up production aircraft are in production at various stages of readiness.”

Matsenov maintains that the first step was to upgrade Sukhoi's production facilities. An investment of over €200 million resulted in a state of the art production line equipped with over 50 of the most advanced processing centres containing milling and riveting functions to streamline the jigless assembly and mating the fuselage to the wings powered by Brotje benches.

“Sukhoi has spent several years observing cutting edge airframe production methodologies and has gradually implemented them into the SSJ100,” he states. “It was one of the reasons why Sukhoi won the tender for Russian State support for the regional jet programme; the other reasons being that the SSJ100 is the first fully digital aircraft, and that it offers the most comprehensive industrialisation ever undertaken in Russian aviation history.”

In addition to upgrading its production facilities, Sukhoi has installed a series of six assembly workstations to implement ‘best practices' and comprises: acceptance control and quality functions, equipment installation, wings, horizontal and vertical stabilisers installation utilising laser tracking control supported by pneumatic alignment tools, installation of empennage, nose and landing gear, engine body, wiring, electrical and avionics installation and functional ground testing under power.

It's a team game

Currently, work on the SSJ100 final assembly line is being supported by programme partners that provide assistance and training in the operation of the control equipment used during ground and flight testing. SCAC also employs its Italian colleagues to work at SCAC's facilities in Moscow and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. They help to provide their vast experience, having already worked in different Airbus and Boeing plants, and now assist SCAC's engineers in improving their Lean management operation of the assembly line.

“In terms of technical upgrade we've purchases, installed and launched the amount of processing centres, sufficient to produce up to 30 aircraft a year which is a which is quite a feat for the Russian aviation industry,” claims Matsenov. “We've been using Lean programme philosophies in KnAAPO for a couple of years, which has brought tremendous results. Lean, alongside our just-in-time supply chain management philosophy provides an unrivalled production rate within the Russian aviation industry.”

Matsenov expects the SSJ100 to gain Russian type certificate this summer followed by EASA certification later in the year.

“The delivery schedule is currently being met and I have no reason to doubt its validity and integrity,” he concludes. “The delivery schedules are challenging, but the way production is now progressing fills me with confidence that these deadlines will be met. We are expecting the first delivery of three aircraft to Armenia's Armavia and Russia's Aeroflot airlines by the end of this year and we are currently on schedule with our launch customers as agreed.”

www.sukhoi.superjet100.com
 

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