Pratt & Whitney has formally inked a deal with Irkut to begin preliminary design activities on the P&W PurePower PW1400G engine that will power the Russian firm's new 150- to 210-seat MS-21 aircraft.
The contract represents the beginning of development of the third airframe application for the PurePower geared turbofan (GTF) engine, which has been selected by Bombardier and Mitsubishi to power the CSeries and MRJ, respectively.
"We are pleased to work with Irkut to offer the many economic and environmental benefits of the PurePower engine to the MS-21 aircraft," says P&W engines & global services president Todd Kallman in a statement.
He adds: "We believe our engine offers the best benefits possible to Irkut's potential customers and provides a competitive advantage."
With core testing in progress and full engine testing scheduled this summer for the engine's first applications, the PurePower engine programme "fully supports" the Irkut MS-21 development timeline, which calls for first-flight in 2014 and entry-into-service in 2016, says P&W.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
