TASS: Science & Space – Sino-Russian aircraft equipped with General Electric engines in first phase, says Rostec

ZHUHAI, November 6th. / TASS /. The Sino-Russian heavy-lift aircraft CR929 will most likely be equipped with General Electric engines during the first phase, announced Tuesday the director of international cooperation of the Russian state-owned company Rostec Viktor Kladov.

"A General Electric engine will most likely be purchased for this aircraft in the first leg and will be replaced by the Sino-Russian engine in the second leg," said Kladov.

The joint venture on the CR929 will make a final decision on the engine's installation at the first stage, he said. Rolls-Royce engines may be another option, Kladov added.

It has been reported previously that the China-Russia International Commercial Aircraft Corporation (CRAIC) acted as the operator of the CR929 project. The design phase of the CR929 program would begin in 2018. Suppliers of aircraft systems and equipment will also be selected for approximately eighteen months.

The passenger aircraft will be designed to have 280 seats with a range of 12,000 kilometers in the base version. The aircraft will be assembled in China and designed in Russia. The overall budget of the program is estimated at $ 13 billion.