Irkut Finalizes MC‑21‑300 Assembly, Showcasing Record‑Setting Composite Wings

Russian aircraft manufacturer Irkut Corp. (Moscow) has completed the construction of its first MC-21-300 passenger aircraft, which has what is said to have the world’s largest infused, out-of-autoclave carbon fiber composite wings, manufactured by AeroComposite (Moscow Russia).

On Nov. 30, 2021 the aircraft was transferred from the final assembly shop of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, a branch of Irkut Corp., to the flight test division. Plant specialists and allied enterprises will carry out the ground checks of the aircraft and its systems, and prepare the aircraft for the first flight.

“The use of strong and lightweight composites allowed the designers to make the wing of high aspect ratio and improve the aerodynamics of the aircraft at the same time as increasing the diameter of the fuselage,” says Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov. “I would like to note that Irkut specialists were able to solve the problem of import substitution [the U.S. imposed trade restrictions on AeroComposite in September 2018] in the shortest possible time and start building production aircraft with a Russian wing. The assembly of the first airliner is a big step for the UAC [United Aircraft Corp.] and the entire Russian aircraft industry. This is proof of the maturity of our aviation technologies and another victory over the sanctions.”

The share of composites in the MC-21 design is about 40%, which Irkut says is a record figure for medium-range aircraft. Domestic materials for power composite structures were developed with the participation of scientists from Moscow State University and Rosatom (Moscow) enterprises. The wing consoles and center section of the MC-21-300 aircraft are manufactured at the AeroComposite-Ulyanovsk enterprise. In the production of the wing, the technology of vacuum infusion is used, which is patented in Russia.