Developers of a joint Russian-Chinese widebody aircraft have issued a request for proposal for the jet's propulsion system.
The RFP for the propulsion system, which consists of the engine and nacelle, was issued to suppliers on 21 December by the China-Russia Commercial Aircraft Corporation (CRAIC). Interested suppliers will submit their proposal by 30 May 2018.
The partnership has previously indicated that the aircraft is expected to be initially powered by an engine from one of the major Western manufacturers, such as Rolls-Royce or General Electric, with an indigenous powerplant to be developed later.
Last week, Russia's United Aircraft said the project's board has approved the clearance of the 'Gate 2' development stage for the CRAIC CR929.
The board has also agreed on an organisational structure and budget, as well as a number of issues on regulatory documentation. It added that suppliers will be selected over the next year to 18 months.
United Aircraft and its Chinese partner Comac are developing three variants of the twinjet. The baseline aircraft will be the CR929-600, with a smaller -500 variant and a larger -700 variant. The -600 will have a passenger capacity of 280 seats in a three-class configuration with a range of 6,500nm (12,000km).
Source: Cirium Dashboard
