That part of your statement is not quite well thought. Wings and fuselage do have roles to play in efficiency (by reducing drag). But better engine performance, better avionics that is pilot friendly, responsive, reduces workload, customizable etc are also important. Landing gears, APUs, electronics ... in fact every component that you insisted "oughta be easy for Russia technologically", have individual competitiveness relevance especially regarding max usage cycles and hours before replacement.The part of the plane under competitive performance pressure is the wing and the fuselage, not stuff like landing gears or avionics. You *assume* that every technology not substituted yet is a bottleneck but your assumption is that “they don’t go indigenous because they don’t have the capability”. There are plenty of reasons that a company may choose not to go with all domestic supply that have nothing to do with whether they *can*. And if you have to do a component switch mid program, it’s very natural for there to be a time delay before you see the new component whether indigenous or foreign procured because making these switches isn’t like going to a hardware store to buy parts.
Russia opted for foreign suppliers because in part its technologies aren't advanced enough to be competitive in the market against established system suppliers. It indeed has lots to do with whether they *can*. To be an apologist for Russia's aviation industry and its woes that stem from years of underfunding is not at all constructive to this discussion. You are in a way insisting that Russia has a way to leapfrog years of sustained investment by competitors. As you'd know, Airliner manufacturers derive substantial profit from MRO support and conversely, Airlines that operate set aside a good share for MRO and overall operation. I certainly do bet Russia is not upto date with Avionics technology.
No one is poking at "Time Delay". No one is demanding Russia snap fingers and make these technology appear. But it is very right to be apprehensive of the value Russia may bring to the table with MC21 against a very cost conscious customer. That's all. Russia indeed can build an airliner.
@gelgoog You post on KRET is appreciated. It was an article from 2015. But contrast it with this
KRET maybe the eventual winner of this tender.
Another good article
The KRET Corporation continues work on completely indigenous avionics set by repackaging technology developed for the Irkut MC-21 narrowbody, while the Ramenskoye design house plays the role of system integrator. As a part of the effort, the OKBM experimental design bureau in Voronezh developed a control system module responsible for the wing’s deflectable surfaces. Plans call for a completely new control system to be ready in 2022.
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