One of the major points if not the most important point of this joint development is to get western airworthiness certificate, we thought it would be easier this way, after all, their new airliners did make it through ,and that advantage now is gone.
That’s why I was ,am and will keep being ultimately pessimistic about this project, fun fact , CJ-2000 is about 1year ahead of PD-35.
Here comes the ugly question: Are Russians useful or necessary anymore?
No, not only we wouldn’t learn anything them as always, and such cooperation will only damage the project, and their domestic market isn’t that significant at all.
If they really put an end to this story ,I would be pleased
No it isn't. It was to retire risk on programs like the engines and the wing. Western sources would never give same level of assistance neither on airframe design or composites to China. As for the Russian engines they become important in case Western sanctions are made like on MA-700. Russia has experience building civilian airliners like Tu-214, Il-96, and Superjet. Or the still in progress MC-21. China had none when the project started. You still assume just because China today now has all the basic technology that they can make a whole successful integrated product. But things do not work that way. Like India has found out.
Back when the West sanctioned Russian purchases of Japanese carbon fiber and European composites made with those fibers in 2014 for MC-21, Russia evaluated Chinese commercial carbon fiber and adhesive, and neither met strength specifications for the wing. Without meeting the strength specifications they might as well have used much cheaper aluminium alloys. Thankfully for them Rosatom already had their carbon fiber production and there was a Russian supplier of adhesive. The carbon fiber was worse quality than Japanese one, but the adhesive was better. They ran tests and the resulting wing was of comparable specifications. Problem is local production was done in too small scale for the aviation sector so they had to build new facilities. Of course all of this caused considerable delays to the program.
China is still importing some aluminium alloys from the West, I think for the airframe of their commercial aircraft, last I heard. I hope they solve that. You can bet the West will apply the necessary leverage to prevent this aircraft from reaching the market and will do it at the worst possible time. i.e. last possible minute to cause max delay. Russia had in Soviet times, and still have today, some of the best metallurgists in the world. It is one of the reasons why they are one of the few nations which had full cycle of production of jet engines.
If China quits the combined project, you can bet the Russians will complete it on their own, even if it has severe delays and comes out a decade late by doing it on their own.
Some fools always think that China and Russia are on good terms
China is looking for Russians just for technology
Russians want money and markets
Russian aviation technology basically stays at the level of the Soviet Union
What kind of money does a poor country have for technology research and development?
Russia's Decline Will Only Continue
Russia's poor market is meaningless
We Chinese only serve ourselves, Russia has no money and no technology
This project is over with just a few prototypes and we're developing our own aircraft
Wan Wan? Is that you?
"Russian aviation technology basically stays at the level of the Soviet Union"
Right. So the MC-21 is the technology level of the Soviet Union. When it is more advanced than anything Boeing or Airbus sell on the market or have announced. Just look at the A320neo and 737 MAX. 737 airframe design is older than Tu-214.
"What kind of money does a poor country have for technology research and development?"
Poor country my foot. Russia's economic heft is in between Germany and Japan in PPP terms.
If you remove the service sector, i.e. useless fluff unrelated to aviation, it is much larger than either.
And neither Germany nor Japan build a commercial aircraft or its engines on their own.
