The CR929 has already finished the general concept phase and now moving into the preliminary design phase, according to the Chief Designer of the C919 series, Mr. Wu Guanghui, during his attendance at WDCC (World Design Cities Conference) 2022 in Shanghai on Thursday.

A word from the designer

Wu Guanghui said,

"The CR929 medium and long range wide-body passenger aircraft has a ratio of 51% regarding composite material using for the aircraft design. It can cover 95% of the operational demand of air routes, and the economy of typical flight segments is more than 10% better than that of its competing models. The government agreement between China and Russia was signed in 2016, and a joint venture company was established in 2017. At present, the general concept of the aircraft has been determined, and the suppliers of fuselage and tail structure sections have been selected, and formally moving into the preliminary design phase."

The CR929-600 is a planned long-range 280-seat passenger wide-body twinjet airliner being developed by CRAIC, a joint venture formed by COMAC and United Aircraft Corporation, a Russian aerospace and defense corporation.

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Unclear future of the CR929

Although Wu's statement clearly represents COMAC's official standpoint, it still leaves more questions to be answered, mainly because of the conflicting statements between Russia and China.

Two months ago in July, Russian Vice-Premier Yuri Borisov, who oversees Russia's military and aviation industries, publicly said the CR929 program was no longer going in the direction that suits Russia, and Russia's involvement in the program is decreasing.

Borisov's statement gave the industry the impression that Russia's withdrawal from the program was a possibility, and the program was halted to an extent.

The statement also conflicted with what China's Ambassador to Russia, Zhang Hanhui, said in an interview with TASS in May, during which Zhang mentioned both parties have agreed on a range of key issues regarding the CR929 program.

The obvious reason for Russia's growing concern is the heavy sanctions implemented by the western world resulting from the current Ukraine War since February. Many western-made components, such as engines, were banned from being sold to Russia, which means the technological road map of the CR929 set is no longer working.

Because of the sanctions, Russia can no longer acquire the service or the spares from Boeing and Airbus, which makes them more determined not to use any western components in its developing programs. As another high-ranking Russian official, Denis Manturov, Russian Minister of Trade and Industry, said in May that the CR929 program was being redesigned to not rely on Western components.

However, China, learned from its early Y-10 program, insists on participating and cooperating with the international aviation industry to ensure the program's commercial success.

Looking ahead

It is important to note that while Russia has received full-scale sanctions by the western world, sanctions on China are still limited. China can still acquire civil aviation equipment from Western countries, which means China could take this opportunity to take the lead in the CR929 program based on its long-term interests.

The differences in concept are driving the two countries further apart on the CR929 program.

What do you think are the prospects for the CR929 now? Share your thoughts with Simple Flying in the comments.

Source: AEROIN