The development of the PD-35 engine will depend on the work on the CR929 aircraft
26.10.2022
In August 2022, Alexander Inozemtsev, Deputy General Director of UEC JSC for the management of NPK Perm Motors, Managing Director - General Designer of UEC-Aviadvigatel JSC, announced at the Army International Military-Technical Forum that due to the upcoming workload of Perm engine builders with the serial production of PD-14 and PS-90A, as well as participation in the PD-8 program and the corresponding redistribution of resources, the PD-35 program is shifting “to the right” (delayed). Now in an interview with Vzlyot magazine, the general designer of UEC-Aviadvigatel spoke on the near term work plans for this promising turbofan engine.
“In the coming years, we will make a demonstrator engine and test it to understand where we are, how difficult and how long it will be fine-tuned. We will do it no matter what the circumstances. I think that in 2024 we will test it,” said Alexander Inozemtsev.
Also, according to him, the reconstruction of the PD-35 test bench will begin at the testing station in Froli. “We will build a temporary open stand there to test the main characteristics of the PD-35 demonstrator engine. And then, depending on the result, we will plan further fine-tuning. We will involve private small high-tech enterprises in this work. And, I hope, by the end of 2024 it will become clear to us how close we are to the necessary characteristics”, said Alexander Inozemtsev.
He noted that the PD-35 gas generator had already been tested , and the convergence of experimental and calculated data turned out to be much higher than that of the first PD-14 gas generator at one time. The characteristics obtained are very close to the design values, and UEC-Aviadvigatel hopes that the engine as a whole will show characteristics close to those that will ensure its competitiveness in the long-haul aviation market.
“We are still looking for sources of funding, since part of the money allocated for PD-35 is now being redistributed to other priority tasks. And this is right - it is necessary to clearly prioritize, it will not work to do everything at the same time”, the general designer explained.
Further work will depend on the development of the SFDMS CR929 program. “... either cooperation with Chinese partners will continue, or it will be decided to modernize and remotorize the domestic Il-96-400, or some other option will appear. But for the time being, this is not so critical for us - it is now very important for us to master the technology and understand where we are, what we really managed to achieve, because such large engines have never been produced in either the Soviet Union or Russia”, concluded Alexander Inozemtsev.