World première for the Superjet 100: Alenia Aeronautica and Sukhoi introduce the regional jet of the future

Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, and Sukhoi Company today introduced the first prototype of the new generation regional jet Superjet 100, at the Russian plant at Komsomolsk-on-Amur. This is the most modern and ecological regional 95-seat jet available today on the market.

The Superjet 100 represents the largest collaborative programme between Russia and Europe in the field of high technology, with a leading role played by Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company which holds 25% plus 1 share in SCAC (Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company), the company responsible for the aircraft’s design, production, marketing and certification.

Alenia Aeronautica and Sukhoi Company have also recently set up Superjet International, the new joint venture responsible for marketing and sales of the Superjet 100 regional jets family on western markets and for worldwide after sales support for the aircraft. Controlled 51% by Alenia Aeronautica and 49% by Sukhoi Company, Superjet International is also responsible for the design and development of the aircraft’s VIP and cargo versions.

Static tests are presently underway on the aircraft at TsAGI, the Russian Central Institute of Aero-Hydrodynamics. In the next two months the aircraft presented today shall be ready for test flights: the

Superjet 100 shall take off for the first time by the end of 2007 and the first delivery to Aeroflot, the programme’s launch customer, will take place in November 2008. Today Superjet 100 has a total of 73 orders and they are expected to reach 100 by the end of the year.

The Superjet 100, a family of new generation regional 75-100-seat jet, developed by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) in collaboration with Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, represents the most important industrial programme between Europe and the Russian Federation in the civil aviation sector.

The Superjet 100 programme, which is presently based on the 95-seat model, with two versions with greater and lesser capacity respectively being researched, was launched in 2001.

The first flight is expected for the end of 2007, with the first aeroplane in the series being delivered to Aeroflot-Russian Airlines, the programme’s launch customer, in November 2008.

The potential market anticipated for the coming 20 years for aircraft in the regional jet class with 75-100 seats is 5,400 aircraft, with the Superjet 100 family which could win approximately 1,200 orders in the first 20 years of the programme.

All models in the Superjet 100 family will have the same wing span and the same engine: two SaM 146 turbo-reactors from PowerJet, a joint venture between SNECMA (France) and NPO Saturn (Russia), which was set up with the purpose of developing this new engine.

The Superjet 100 flies at a cruising speed of Mach 0.78, reaches an operating cruise altitude of 41,000 feet and takes off over 1,520 m of runway. The landing run for both versions is 1,300 m. The aircraft’s fuel distance is 4,500 km for the 75-seat version and 4,400 km for the 95-seat version.

Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica Company, is the largest Italian aeronautic player which operates world-wide in the commercial and military aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles and aerostructures.

Alenia Aeronautica also coordinates the activities of Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali - wholly owned companies – respectively active in the design and manufacturing of military trainer aircraft and in the overhaul, maintenance and modification of military and civil aircraft. With its joint venture ATR, Alenia Aeronautica is the world leader in the regional turboprop market. Over 2006 Alenia Aeronautica reported revenues of 1,908 millions Euro, backlog for 7,538 millions Euro and orders for 2,634. The total workforce is 12,135.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company was set up in 2000 when Sukhoi decided to diversify its business by entering the commercial aircraft sector with its family of Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet, an aeroplane able to meet the most stringent requirements of international operators.
Controlled by Sukhoi Holding Company and Sukhoi Design Bureau, SCAC is based in Moscow; at present it employs over 1,500 people and leads the Sukhoi Superjet 100 programme.

Sukhoi Company is the main Russian aeronautics group with 28,000 employees. Its subsidiaries include the main design centres and plants for Russian aeronautics. Sukhoi Company manages everything from the aircraft’s engineering up to its post sales support. The group’s aircraft are world level state-of-the-art defence systems, which make up the backbone of Russian aviation and the tactical backbone of the airforces of many countries. Sukhoi Company is the third largest in the world by number of combat aircraft produced; at present the group is involved in developing promising programmes in both the military and civil fields.