(MOSCOW) :Russia is set to unveil on Wednesday its new passenger plane MC-21, billed as a competitor to Boeing and Airbus even as the project is overshadowed by sanctions and setbacks with its predecessor, the Superjet.
President Vladimir Putin formally opened the MAKS air salon outside Moscow Tuesday with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was enticed with Sukhoi fighter jets and treated to ice-cream as demonstration squadrons roared overhead.
The showpiece of this year’s MAKS is the new civilian aircraft, which will be formally shown to potential clients after more than a decade in the making and multiple delays.
Putin lauded Russia’s aircraft builders and their “unique traditions” which permit the country to “remain among the flagships of the global aerospace industry” and produce “breakthrough projects” such as the MC-21 and Mi-38 and Ka-62 helicopters.
The salon is the first since Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a conglomerate of the country’s main civilian and military aircraft makers, was put in the hands of state-owned corporation Rostec last year.
The handover, to be formally completed next year, was billed as a way to steer the industry toward more streamlined management and kindle new airplane projects.
Russia will also showcase for the first time its Su-57 fighter on Wednesday.