China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) plans to push development of its ARJ21 regional jet into the detailed design stage this year with only minor help from foreign firms, as uncertainty clouds the progress of talks with Bombardier on possible CRJ700/900 production in China.
AVIC I says talks with Bombardier over a manufacturing joint venture for the CRJ700/900 family have failed to reach agreement. An AVIC I official says Bombardier ended the talks. But Bombardier says "discussions are continuing" and a negotiating team was in China only three weeks ago.
Bombardier last year signed a tentative agreement with AVIC I to co-produce the CRJ700/900 in Shanghai (Flight International, 10-16 December 2002). The 70- to 99-seat ARJ21 will be produced in a separate Shanghai facility that was last used by Shanghai Aviation Industrial Group to assemble MD-80/90s.
Rockwell Collins last week joined General Electric as a key supplier for the ARJ21 programme. In a bid to avoid hefty development costs, AVIC I has selected Collins' Pro Line 21 avionics system.
AVIC I has ruled out purchasing any part of the Fairchild Dornier 728/928JET programme, preferring to develop its own airframe and wing. Instead foreign participation will mainly be limited to the avionics and engine.
More than 30 research institutes throughout China are participating in the ARJ21project as it goes through windtunnel testing and the final portion of the preliminary design phase. Several foreign firms are providing technical support, including Antonov on the evaluation of the proposed wing design, but AVIC I has decided to develop the airframe and wing entirely indigenously, with the detailed design phase to begin by year-end.
Source: Flight International
