Could Russia's long-haul airliner of the future be three-engine?

13 September 2025 8 621 38

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40(F) as part of Aeroflot-Cargo, 2005.

As the head of the state corporation Rostec Sergey Chemezov stated, a modern wide-body airliner will be developed in our country, positioned as a "killer" of the American Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. But for now, the matter remains small, namely, the super-powerful PD-35 engine.

"Dreamliner Killers"

According to media reports, at the end of August 2025, the United Aircraft Corporation patented a design for a promising airliner, comparing it with its closest competitor from the USA:

The invention relates to aviation technology, namely, to the design of a wide-body long-range aircraft (WLLRA). WLLRA is designed to carry passengers, baggage and additional paid cargo on regular commercial flights. The aircraft of the family are capable of flying over a range of 13 km, 600 km and 12 km, including over oceans and featureless terrain. The capacity of the basic aircraft of the family is 000 passengers in a three-class layout. Shortened and extended versions of the aircraft with a capacity of 10 and 300 seats in a three-class layout, respectively, are also envisaged.

The technical description of this invention emphasizes that in terms of operating costs per flight, the basic representative of this aircraft family has an advantage of 3% in direct operating costs and about 6% in direct operating costs over its main competitor, the B787-9. Sounds great!

The most interesting thing is that our country already has its own wide-body long-range airliner, produced in small series. This is the Il-96-300, which is used to transport the President of the Russian Federation and the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. These aircraft are not suitable for commercial use because the design uses not two, but four PS-90A engines with a takeoff thrust of 16000 kgf.

It was believed that they were too gluttonous and uncompetitive. However, after the introduction of sanctions on the supply of American and European civilian airliners to Russia, it was decided that the Il-96 was not so bad, and it could still be used for passenger transportation. There were even ideas about re-engining it with more powerful PD-35 engines and lightening the structure by using composite materials more widely. However, this would require a significant redesign of the aircraft, the domestic demand for which is estimated at 3-4 new airliners per year.

Another "dream liner killer" is the former joint Russian-Chinese CR929, designed to carry 250-300 passengers, depending on the modification. Initially, it was assumed that Russia and China would each have a 50% stake in the project, and it would be sold simultaneously on the domestic Chinese and Russian markets, enriching the partners equally.

Our country was supposed to enter the joint project with technical documentation, produce composite wings and, if ready, provide super-powerful PD-35 engines. But after February 24, 2022, the Chinese partners preferred to move forward independently, without us, turning to Western partners for technical assistance, and CR929 turned into C929.

In other words, we already have the Il-96 in serial production with outdated but serial PS-90A engines, as well as a project for a modern and promising wide-body airliner without a name, for which there are composite wings, but there is no physical engine yet.

And here comes the third project of a long-haul airliner with a capacity of 240 and 320 passengers, depending on the modification, for which there is also no PD-35 engine. Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov stated that he will try very hard to produce it as soon as the engine appears:

We will try to make our own [Russian long-haul airliner]. As soon as we make the PD-35, the engine, we will make our own wide-body aircraft.

By the way, what's going on with PD-35?

Three instead of two?

We have very high hopes for the promising PD-35, since without a powerful aircraft engine it is impossible to create either a competitive wide-body long-range airliner or a heavy military transport aircraft to replace the aging An-124 Ruslan.

However, this is a long and extremely technically complex matter, therefore statements The statements made by the Minister of Industry and Trade and Deputy Prime Minister Manturov in October 2023 at the plenary session “Engine Building on the Fast Track. Industry Priorities in Modern Conditions” did not cause any particular surprise:

By 2030, an engine with the working name PD-35 should appear. Although it is not certain that it will be 35 tons, most likely it will be from 26 to 35. In March next year we will understand more precisely.

President Putin made it clear the day before that PD-26 is the one to rely on in the medium term, calling for its rapid development:

It is necessary to promptly complete the development and begin serial production of the PD-26 turbojet engine. Let me remind you that this is the first high-thrust aircraft engine developed in Russia. It has fundamentally new capabilities in terms of power and thrust. At the same time, it is efficient and economical.

Apparently, this revised project will make extensive use of technologies developed on the PD-35, and a less powerful engine could actually be produced by 2030. The question is, where could it be installed?

It is obvious that the PD-26 could replace the Ukrainian D-18T series 4 engines with a thrust of 25400 kgf, which were installed on the An-124. This would make it possible to really revive the production of a domestic analogue of the Ruslan in Russia, which can only be welcomed. But with the wide-body civil airliner that Mr. Chemezov spoke about, everything is more complicated.

The thrust of just two PD-26s for a long-haul aircraft will not be enough, and four will be excessive and economically inexpedient. Therefore, we would like to draw attention to the technical solutions already used by Western competitors to solve this problem. In particular, we can recall the American airliners Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and McDonnell Douglas DC-10, which were built using a three-engine scheme.

One engine was installed under each half-wing, and the third one was at the base of the vertical stabilizer. Three is worse than two, but better than four, right? Perhaps it makes sense to start developing a modern wide-body airliner specifically for the PD-26 and specifically for the three-engine configuration, so that we don’t have to do the same thing later, but wasting precious time and resources on it?

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vlad127490

+12

13 September 2025 13: 00

Repeat for those who haven't read it. The production of IL-96 is a strategic goal of the Russian Federation and discussing how much kerosene it will consume in comparison with A or B is wrong. If you are chasing savings in favor of the collapse of the development of your aviation, then take a horse, it eats hay and does not need kerosene. We do not compare IL-96 with NATO aircraft, whether it is good or bad. We have only one IL-96, what is there to discuss. Purchase, leasing of A and B for dollars, maintenance of $100 thousand/year without spare parts is done for dollars, and IL-96 everything is in rubles. Everything that is now bought abroad is bought with money for oil, gas, timber, etc., oil prices in the future will never cost $150, so very soon the time will come when there will be nothing to fly in the Russian Federation, no dollars. As everyone says, we have a MARKET, capitalism. In order not to ride on a cart, you need your own plane. You must always remember about NATO sanctions. All NATO planes have external control, spare parts, maintenance, so those planes that do not fly to the West will rot on the ground. Why do airlines use planes of NATO countries. Look who owns these airlines and where they are registered? All in the West. For example, "Russian Aeroflot", 51,173% of the shares belong to shareholders of the Russian Federation, the rest to foreigners, if you start to comb through Russian shareholders, you will see that through third parties, the shares of the Russian Federation belong to NATO and so on for all airlines, airports, i.e. they are all foreign. Without a government shout, no airline will operate a Russian plane, even if it is the best in the world in all respects. A and B will not be allowed. The state is obliged to lobby the interests of the Russian Federation. The Russian government is obliged to subsidize tickets for domestic flights on Russian-made aircraft; tickets should cost 25% less than on foreign-made aircraft. Let the passenger choose for himself which one to fly, Russian or foreign. The number of engines on an aircraft is not the main thing, the main thing is that the Russian Federation does not have its own line of modern engines.
All the troubles are in the officials who do not allow the Russian aviation industry to develop.
1. oao
  
  +1
  
  14 September 2025 04: 24
  
  Yes, we understand, we understand. It is needed. Only it is being built, including with money from the sale of the same resources for currency, however, not only it.
Alex_Kraus

0

13 September 2025 13: 14

When the engine in the tail is destroyed, the hydraulic lines are damaged and the plane becomes uncontrollable. The third engine in the tail is a game.
1. Orange bigg
  
  +5
  
  13 September 2025 13: 44
  
  That is why we need a twin-engine SHFDMS with PD-35. An analogue of the Il-96-400M, but with two engines instead of four. Because otherwise it will not be possible to create an adequate SHFDMS. But the fact is that, as noted in the article, the domestic demand for SHFDMS within the country is not high, and the creation of such an aircraft will be expensive. That is why they decided to create a SHFDMS based on the PD-26, but in my opinion this is nonsense. Let them better establish serial production of the Il-96-400M. In general, the best option is to create both the PD-2030 and the PD-35 by 26. Let them make fewer useless generous gifts to foreign partners, and direct this money to engine manufacturing. Then everything will be sensible. Otherwise, they will create the ShFDMS with PD-26, with which everyone will then suffer because of incomprehensible desires to save money. Because the thrust of the PD-26 will not be enough for the new ShFDMS. It would be easier to recreate the production of An-124 with D-18T engines, the localization of which was carried out at UZGA, and new PD-35 for the new ShFDMS.
  1. Alexey Lan
    
    +6
    
    13 September 2025 15: 41
    
    The American B-52 has essentially 8 engines and nothing to worry about. In the same way, the Il-96 can fly on 4 engines. Especially if the engines are improved. But everyone wants to develop something new and saw more money from the budget.
    1. Orange bigg
      
      0
      
      13 September 2025 16: 00
      
      Aircraft must be competitive in market conditions. The same PD-14, PD-35 are a big breakthrough for the country. These are 5th generation engines.
      1. vlad127490
        
        +4
        
        13 September 2025 16: 27
        
        Competitiveness in market conditions can only be achieved if there is a Market.
        Where is the market???
        
        Orange bigg
        
        -1
        
        14 September 2025 10: 56
        
        And yet, airlines are used to counting every penny even without the classic market. So economic efficiency is the driving force.
  2. vlad127490
    
    +3
    
    13 September 2025 16: 01
    
    It was a long time ago, about 15 years ago, we were discussing the Il-96. Literally everyone then said that the production of the Il-96 should be stopped, it is not interesting to businessmen. That's when I wrote my comment. Then they calculated that in order to cover the needs of routes to Siberia, the Far East, China, Korea, Japan, North and South America, Cuba, tourists to the South, etc., it is necessary to build at least 80 Il-96 aircraft. Regarding kerosene, everyone agrees that the state is obliged to compensate for the difference in kerosene consumption compared to twin-engine A and B. The same applies to the third crew member, the state is obliged to pay his salary. There is a question of state development of air transportation, so the state is obliged to be present. There was a long-range Il-62, why can't it be repeated? Regarding the production of new engines, when they cannot repeat the old ones, there was disbelief. There is a D-18T, what should not be produced? When they make the PD-35, then the D-18T won’t be needed.
    1. Alexey Lan
      
      +3
      
      13 September 2025 16: 15
      
      If they had launched production of PS-90A3 engines and installed them on the Il96, the fuel efficiency problem would have been significantly reduced. Moreover, this engine can also be installed on the 76th. Why did it stall? A big question.
      1. vlad127490
        
        +4
        
        13 September 2025 16: 25
        
        Kickbacks A and B have spoiled the officials. They all sit in the government as they did before, and many have been promoted. The Russian Federation needs new people first and foremost, not these profiteers and grabbers.
        
        Orange bigg
        
        +3
        
        13 September 2025 16: 42
        
        It's not about kickbacks? What kickbacks if no one sells or leases foreign airliners to us? It's just that engine building itself is science-intensive and expensive. There are only three companies in the world that make engines for SHFDMS - the British Rolls-Royce, the American General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.
        Here's about the complexity of creating PD-14.
        
        The specialists who gave the sky this masterpiece of engineering thought recall the most difficult moments with humor and a slight tremor in their voices. Fasten your seat belts, we are taking off!
        
        1. Moment one: Diamond dust and ceramics that didn't want to live in harmony
        
        The heart of any modern engine is the combustion chamber, the one where the gas temperature easily exceeds 1500-1600 °C. This is higher than the melting point of the blades themselves! How come they don't melt? The secret is in the complex cooling system and... sappers. No, not those who look for mines. We are talking about single-crystal blades and ceramic heat-protective coating.
        One of the leading materials scientists, on condition of anonymity (so as not to be forced to make PD-28 as well), admits: Imagine that you are growing a perfect diamond. The slightest deviation in temperature, pressure, a sneeze in the next room, and instead of a jewel, you get a piece of glass. The same thing with the single crystal of the blade. The crystal lattice must be flawless, otherwise it will crack under load. We sometimes joked that our main achievement was not the engine, but the creation of the world's largest aviation-grade sapphire.
        And then this perfect blade needs to be coated with a layer of ceramics that will reflect the heat. And here the magic, bordering on shamanism, began. The coating would peel off, crack, or behave completely unpredictably. Engineers recall how, after yet another unsuccessful test batch, one of the tired technicians wrote on the board: Dear coating, we love you. Please, love us too. Stay where you are. Humor is humor, but it was the breakthrough in materials that became the key to success. 4. Moment four: Digital twin and the nightmare of a systems engineer
        
        The PD-14 is one of the first engines in the world that was designed from the very beginning using digital twins. This is a virtual 3D model that calculates everything from aerodynamics to the strength of each rivet.
        
        Sounds futuristic? It is. But even here there were complications. System engineers tell a story about a war of models. One program (strength engineers) showed that the part would hold up. Another (thermal engineers) that it would melt. A third (aerodynamicists) that there would be an incorrect flow around it.
        
        We joked that our digital twin suffered from a split personality, laughs one of the IT specialists. Sometimes it seemed that we were not developing an engine, but trying to make three different orchestras, playing in different genres, perform one symphony. The conductor was the chief designer, and the baton was the general logic. It happened that the baton broke.
        
        Synchronizing thousands of processes was a real hell. An error in one model could lead to a chain of changes in others. Sometimes it would be easier to turn a part in metal and check it live, but it is too time-consuming and expensive. We had to teach digital twins to be friends with each other. This experience became invaluable for the entire domestic industry.
        
        They didn't start from scratch, but returned to the future
        
        The main conclusion that all experts make sounds ironic and wise: We did not reinvent the wheel. We assembled Ferraris using old drawings, but with new technologies and materials that the authors of those drawings did not even have.
        
        https://dzen.ru/a/aMAPLNK7Q3G-eTGB
        
        Orange bigg
        
        +1
        
        13 September 2025 17: 07
        
        Continuing the post about PD-14.
        
        . The development of aircraft engines of the next, fifth generation is carried out in the 2000-2010s, the main parameters of the cycle are characterized by their further significant growth:
        
        – gas temperature before the turbine – up to 1800-1900 K;
        
        – compression ratio – up to 40-50;
        
        – bypass ratio – up to 8-10,
        
        based on further technological advances.
        
        The first domestic civil aircraft engine of the fifth generation PD-14 for short- and medium-haul aircraft was developed by JSC UEC-Aviadvigatel in broad cooperation with UEC enterprises and industry research institutes. During the development of the PD-14 engine, as well as earlier with the 4th generation engine PS-90A, a new leap was made in increasing the main parameters relative to the PS-90A: the bypass ratio - by 2 times, the gas temperature in front of the turbine - by 200 K, the total compression ratio in the compressor - by 10 ... 20%, which ensured a reduction in cruising specific fuel consumption by 12%. The creation of a competitive 5th generation engine in the most capacious and competitive market segment required the introduction of a set of critical technologies. The most important of them are:
        
        - technology for manufacturing a lightweight wide-chord blade from a titanium alloy using superplastic deformation and diffusion welding;
        
        - technology for the production and repair of axial compressor monowheels (blisks) and welded rotors made of titanium and nickel alloys;
        
        - technology for creating long-life flame tubes for environmentally friendly combustion chambers using laser and electrical discharge perforation and heat-protective coating;
        - technology for manufacturing turboprop blades with highly efficient cooling from new monocrystalline and intermetallic alloys and a new generation of heat-protective coating;
        
        - technology for the production of sound-absorbing structures from composite materials and metals;
        
        - technology for ensuring and confirming the competitive resource of the main parts, taking into account the modern requirements of international airworthiness standards;
        
        - automatic control system with full responsibility, which ensures reliable control and monitoring of the parameters of all units and systems. During the design and certification of the PD-14 engine, a large complex of studies of the mechanical characteristics of the materials of the main and especially important parts was carried out - special qualification of materials, a Database of the structural strength of materials was created.
        
        https://dzen.ru/a/aMQnge_tkE1Urgsg
      2. Orange bigg
        
        +2
        
        13 September 2025 16: 39
        
        At one time, work was underway on the more fuel-efficient PS-90A3M, but apparently it was long, expensive, and priorities, as always, changed. They wanted to install it on the Il-96-400M instead of the PS-90A1. But they decided to mass-produce the proven Il-96-300, and not the Il-96-400M.
        
        UEC says it is actively working on launching serial production of the PS-90A3. However, the success of this project depends on several factors:
        
        Order volumes for Tu-214 and Il-96. If demand is insufficient, engine production will be economically unviable.
        Priority is given to other projects, such as the latest PD-14 engines for the MS-21 and PD-35 for long-haul aircraft.
        At the moment, Perm Motors’ capacities are loaded with the production of PD-14, and UAC plans to deliver 2030 MS-270 aircraft by 21.
        
        https://dzen.ru/a/Z2GWZh8FKnjugcLz
    2. Orange bigg
      
      0
      
      13 September 2025 16: 49
      
      The problem is that it is easier to complete the PD-35 than to try to localize the D-18T at UZGA.
      1. vlad127490
        
        0
        
        13 September 2025 17: 48
        
        PD-35 needs to be completed, i.e. completed what is not there.
        The D18T was made in 1982 and went into production in 1985. It is a working engine, why can't it be produced? There will be a new development based on the PD, although it is not known when.
        It is probably shameful to say that there is no competence. The USSR could do it, but the Russian Federation has nothing, it can't even repeat it. All questions to the ruling authorities.
        
        Orange bigg
        
        0
        
        13 September 2025 22: 24
        
        The PD-35 has been producing a thrust of 37 tons on the stand for a year now. It is in metal and can be brought to mind. The D-18T can only be repaired for now and this engine was produced only in the city of Zaporozhye.
        
        vlad127490
        
        0
        
        13 September 2025 23: 28
        
        What are we talking about? We need an engine right now. There is a working D-18T and there are the PD-26 and PD-35 projects. New engines, especially in modern Russia, take a long time, tens of years. In 10 years there will be a new engine, I don’t know which one. As an example, there is the Superjet and the MS-21. In my understanding, we need to launch production of the D-18T.
        The thrust of the PS-90 is 16 tons, D-18T - 23 tons, the same for the extended Il-96 and Il-76,
        for Ruslan. There is no point in waiting. What will happen in 10 years???
        
        Orange bigg
        
        +1
        
        14 September 2025 10: 29
        
        For the Il-96-400M there are already serial engines PS-90A1 with 17,4 tons of thrust each, D-18T with a thrust of 23,4 tons is too excessive in thrust for the Il-96-400M. Airlines are simply not happy with the fact that PS-90A1 is a 4th generation engine, and they need a SHFDMS with two 5th generation PD-35 engines, then there will be fuel savings and normal economics for airlines as a result. D-18T here is completely out of place, it is suitable only for the military transport An-124 and it is the same 4th generation engine and also will not suit the economy of airlines. PS-90A-76 with a thrust of 16 tons is ideal for the Il-76MD-90A, for which D-18T is also excessive in thrust with its 23,4 tons.
        
        There is a working D-18T and there are projects PD-26 and PD-35. New engines, especially in modern Russia, take a long time, decades.
        
        The point is that there is no serial production of D-18T in Russia yet, its production was only planned to be localized at UZGA in Russia. It was produced in Zaporozhye. And besides, this engine is already 40 years old and it is clear that its fuel efficiency is at the level of the 4th generation, and a 5th generation engine with improved fuel efficiency is needed.
        PD-35 and PD-26 will be ready for serial production according to many experts in 2030, that is, in a little more than 4 years, since the technologies have already been tested on the PD-35 bench tests, that is, they are not being made from scratch, but on the basis of already obtained technologies and experience, they just need to be completed.
        It's just that D-18T is a 4th generation engine created in the USSR and it's clear that it has no future. PD-35 and PD-26 are 5th generation engines. They are the ones that are really needed, they have normal fuel efficiency.
        
        vlad127490
        
        0
        
        14 September 2025 13: 10
        
        Nobody denies the need for a new generation of engines. There is the PS-90A1-3.
        It is necessary to separate the issues of economy in the matter of kerosene and provision of air transportation. The issue of saving kerosene is for businessmen. For the state, it is air transportation. If businessmen can wait, then the development of the state cannot wait. Since there is an interconnected economic chain with air transportation. A shift of 5-10 years entails losses in the trillions, which are not recoverable, as is the lost time.
        
        trampoline instructor
        
        -8
        
        13 September 2025 22: 28
        
        The USSR could do it, but the Russian Federation has nothing, it can't even repeat it. All questions to the ruling authorities.
        
        What the Russian Federation cannot repeat is the "sausage electric trains" from Tver (Ryazan) to Moscow and back... total queues for literally everything... materials from congresses and plenary sessions of the Central Committee... open party meetings with quotations from general secretaries.
        
        vlad127490
        
        +4
        
        13 September 2025 23: 38
        
        You are lucky. You have seen "sausage electric trains" and traveled in them. I did not have the chance. I lived in many cities of the USSR, I remember well, somewhere from 1955. For me, life in the USSR was happy, we were well-fed and clothed, the deficit appeared in 1988. It was created by Gorbachev, and then Yeltsin with his chicks, but that's another topic.
        
        trampoline instructor
        
        -3
        
        14 September 2025 06: 02
        
        The shortage appeared in 1988.
        
        The shortage (outside the Moscow Ring Road) has been going on since the beginning of the 1970s.
        We were full... boiled macaroni and sprinkled it with sugar... Georgian tea #36, "Extra" - if you're lucky... June-July - sugar shortage, August-September - vegetable oil shortage. Milk, sour cream - if you managed to get it in time for the delivery. Three-liter jars of birch (where has it gone now?) and tomato juice in practically empty stores. Buying toilet paper - a holiday! Should I list more?
        The good is youth and the whole life that was still ahead + the confidence that tomorrow will be the same as today, in any case, no worse.
        
        Orange bigg
        
        0
        
        14 September 2025 10: 49
        
        Quote: vlad127490
        PD-35 needs to be completed, i.e. completed what is not there.
        The D18T was made in 1982 and went into production in 1985. It is a working engine, why can't it be produced? There will be a new development based on the PD, although it is not known when.
        It is probably shameful to say that there is no competence. The USSR could do it, but the Russian Federation has nothing, it can't even repeat it. All questions to the ruling authorities.
        
        What do you mean no? The PD-35 has been spinning on the stand for a year now. It is fully assembled and is successfully passing the stand tests. They have already said that we can begin the final development of the PD-35, that is, the technologies for the serial model of the PD-35 have been created, it just needs to be spinned on the stand for a couple of years and then begin flight tests. That is, bring the work that has already been started to its logical conclusion.
        
        .D18T was made in 1982, went into production in 1985. This is a working engine, why can't it be produced?
        
        Because it was mass-produced only in the city of Zaporozhye, now controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
        
        It is probably shameful to say that there is no competence. The USSR could do it, but the Russian Federation has nothing, it can't even repeat it. All questions to the ruling authorities.
        
        The analogue of D-18T is the Izdeliye-RF engine with a thrust of 24 tons, developed for the promising strategic bomber known as PAK DA, but there are requirements for it not as for a commercial engine, but specific ones as for a military engine, requirements for resistance to radiation and the like, which are not needed for a commercial engine, the same PD-26, which will be specifically for a civilian aircraft, the same ShFDMS and which will be cost-effective for use on civilian aircraft. We just need to wait another 4 years.
    3. Orange bigg
      
      -1
      
      14 September 2025 10: 58
      
      There is a D-18T that can't be produced? When they make PD-35, then the D-18T won't be needed.
      
      Where is the production of serial D-18T? It is not even produced in Zaporozhye now. Where do you have it? It is easier to finish the new PD-35 and PD-26 engines.
      1. vlad127490
        
        0
        
        14 September 2025 12: 38
        
        The dealers understand. It is impossible to produce the D-18T. There is no money-cutting on it. It is impossible to say that it is impossible to make, the wrong blades, there is no technology, etc. It is dangerous for the dealers. So the question of where to make it is far-fetched.
        
        Orange bigg
        
        0
        
        14 September 2025 12: 39
        
        I repeat once again that D-18T was produced only in the city of Zaporozhye. Any other questions?
        
        vlad127490
        
        0
        
        14 September 2025 12: 56
        
        I repeat once again, the D-18T was produced only in the city of Zaporozhye
        
        There was no question here about the geographical location of production.
        The issue here is that engines are needed right now, not tomorrow.
        What engines can the Russian Federation produce right now? The engines must be working and certified, reliable, tested.
        They propose to start production of D-18T. Now the questions begin.
        Whether or not D18T is needed, we can live another 10 years without it.
        The Russian industry can repeat the D-18T or not. Next come the place of production, personnel, production launch dates, annual production volume, etc.
        Something like this.
  3. oao
    
    +1
    
    14 September 2025 04: 26
    
    Make 96e on 4 engines and wait for PD35 and don't... brain.
Pavel57

+4

13 September 2025 16: 35

In particular, we can recall the American airliners Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and McDonnell Douglas DC-10, which were built using a three-engine design.

We can also remember the Tu-154 and the Yak-42.
Sergey Latyshev

+6

13 September 2025 17: 05

Empty dreams...
Why?
One only has to remember who signed the orders to buy Boeings instead of developing their own aviation... (hint - it turned out that his son was already living in America, from where he was kicked out only after the start of the Second World War. Pure coincidence, of course.)
trampoline instructor

+2

13 September 2025 22: 22

Could Russia's long-haul airliner of the future be three-engine?

... only two Russian peasants standing at the door of the tavern opposite the hotel made some comments, which, however, were more related to the carriage than to the person sitting in it. "Look at that," said one to the other, "what a wheel! What do you think, would that wheel, if it happened, reach Moscow or not?" "It will," answered the other. "But I don't think it will reach Kazan?" "It won't reach Kazan," answered the other. And that was the end of the conversation.
vBR

+2

13 September 2025 23: 19

Will the amateurish tales about the terrible inefficiency of the 4-D scheme and the equally terrible flight engineer ever stop? PS was needed on PD, but apparently some gifted people slowed down the development of the PD-18 reactor, which the Perm people had started. With such people, no enemies with their sanctions are needed, they will definitely start riding horses. In the end, it is possible to make and fly on PS or the existing PD, and even then there are more than enough problems at aircraft and instrument-making plants. Forget about projects now. The plane was needed the day before yesterday.
Avtandil

+1

14 September 2025 03: 38

In the current war with the West, aircraft and engines should not be competitive, but simply BE. Our own, Russian! And it doesn't matter how much kerosene it consumes. Raise the tax for oligarchs a little, they are patriots.
Alexey Lan

+1

14 September 2025 12: 01

And here is what the Zen resource published a year and a half ago:
D-18T returns to the conveyor: the legendary engine for the An-124 will be completely transferred to UZGA facilities
March 9 2024

According to Sergei Shoigu, serial production of Russian D-18T engines with a long service life and increased thrust is planned for 2027. They will probably also be produced by UZGA, whose specialists have extensive experience working with these power units. Over the years, the plant has repaired 49 D-18T.

It turns out that we have a D-18T with a capacity of more than 23 thousand in our pocket?
And if they modernize it, as they write in the article, then look, they’ll add another ton.
1. vlad127490
  
  +1
  
  14 September 2025 12: 30
  
  The officials, you know their names, have a task of how to prevent the development of the aviation industry in the Russian Federation. To make it so that no one understands what they are doing. The Il-96 flies with the PS-90A, what else do you need. Businessmen do not want to take it? So create a state (government) company and let the Il-96 fly there, and let the profiteers with A and B compete with the state in prices. The state will keep prices 25% lower, the main goal of the state is to ensure transportation, due to the mass production, and profit will appear. Question. Does the government need this???
Flight

+2

14 September 2025 12: 50

Could Russia's long-haul airliner of the future be three-engine?

If I lived in the 80s of the 20th century, I would say I would be filled with patriotic feelings, but why do we need three engines - we can handle one.
art573

0

27 October 2025 20: 54

The Il-76 will soon be converted into a passenger aircraft, certified for Russia, and used throughout the country. It's wide, capable of carrying passengers and luggage for 5-6 km, like the Il-86.