Russia's Industry Ministry signs 2 bn ruble contract to refit SSJ-100 jets with PD-8 engines
The 2026–2028 contract with Yakovlev covers development, certification and flight tests. The reason is the growing difficulty of keeping SaM146 engines airworthy.
Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade has signed a 2 billion ruble contract with Yakovlev, part of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), according to ixbt.com. The funds go to development and experimental work on re-equipping SSJ-100 aircraft with Russian PD-8 engines ixbt.com
ixbt.comixbt.comOpen source ↗. The contract was concluded in October 2026 and is due to be completed on 20 December 2028.
Scope of the work
The project covers 2026–2028 and three versions of the airliner: RRJ-95B, RRJ-95B-100 and RRJ-95LR-100. The work includes design, experimental and certification stages, including flight tests. The result will be a service bulletin with instructions for modifying aircraft to install the new engines.
The upgrade is linked to the further operation of the fleet: it is becoming harder to maintain the airworthiness of the SaM146 powerplants.
Fleet size and engine life
UAC head Vadim Badekha estimated that 50–100 aircraft may need an engine replacement ixbt.com
ixbt.comixbt.comOpen source ↗. In early October, Rosaviatsia reported 154 SSJ-100 aircraft in operation in Russia.
In parallel, United Engine Corporation is studying whether the service life of the SaM146 can be extended further for part of the fleet.
