Russian Engine Manufacturer Signs Memorandum With China's AECC on Plane Engine

Russia’s United Engine Corporation has signed a memorandum of cooperation with China’s AECC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co., Ltd. and will work on the creation of an engine for a wide-body long-range aircraft.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – Russia’s United Engine Corporation (UEC) told Sputnik on Wednesday it had signed a memorandum of cooperation with China’s AECC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co., Ltd. (AECC CAE) on the creation of an engine for a wide-body long-range aircraft.

"UEC signed with China’s AECC CAE a memorandum of cooperation on development of a gas turbine engine for a future wide-body long-range aircraft," the company said.

The program on the creation of such an engine will primarily include such objectives as conducting a joint wide-body aircraft market analysis and the product’s competitive analysis, and determining potential customers’ requirements and the engines’ technical characteristics, the company explained.

The document was signed in Beijing earlier on Wednesday as part of the 2017 Aviation Expo China.

In 2016, an agreement on the establishment of the Chinese-Russian joint venture on the wide-body aircraft creation was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China. The enterprise was subsequently called the China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation (CRAIC).

In June 2016, Yury Slyusar, the president of the United Aircraft Corporation and Russia's representative of the joint venture, told Sputnik that the parties planned to build the aircraft by 2025-2027. The airplane, which will have a seating of capacity of 250-300 passengers, is expected to still market leadership of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and occupy a significant market share.