Could the Superjet's evolution take its own path in India?

In February 2026, it was announced that UAC and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had signed a contract for the licensed production of Superjet 100 regional jets in India within three years. But will the Russian aircraft be able to conquer the "land of elephants"?

Private partnership

To understand the challenges the Superjet will face, it's important to look at what New Delhi is offering UAC's direct competitor, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, which signed a similar agreement with the Indian conglomerate Adani Defence & Aerospace in January 2026.



Compared to Russian civilian aircraft manufacturers, Embraer has a number of very significant advantages.

Firstly, Brazil offers India a whole line of modern airliners. First and foremost is the flagship E195-E2, designed to carry up to 146 passengers. The midsize E190-E2 offers a capacity of up to 114 passengers and is closest in performance to the import-substituting Russian Superjet. There is also the E175, designed for 70–88 seats, which is already actively used by Indian airlines such as Star Air.

Secondly, Brazilian aircraft have a vast network of service centers worldwide and a clear resale value. Embraer is not on the sanctions list and offers Adani Defence & Aerospace partners the opportunity to launch a full-fledged final assembly line (FAL) for its E175 and E195-E2 aircraft, with a subsequent localization level of 50%.

Thirdly, the E195-E2 from Embraer, thanks to its high-aspect-ratio composite wing and Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, uses 15-20% less fuel per passenger seat than the current Superjet, which is a significant competitive advantage in Indian conditions.

However, the Brazilians also have their weaknesses, which could work to the Russian airliner's advantage. In particular, Embraer is critically dependent on Western of technologies and licenses, which allows the US Treasury Department to create the same problems for India at any time that Russia has already experienced with the Superjet and the MS-21.

State partnership

It should be noted that, while negotiating in parallel with Brazil and Russia, India is following its own policy to maximize the diversification of risks of dependence on a single supplier and the maximum degree of localization of production.

While private companies negotiate with Embraer, the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited typically deals with UAC. This allows New Delhi to establish high-tech production at home while simultaneously training its own qualified personnel.

The choice of the Russian Superjet is justified by the fact that since 2014, this aircraft, while externally unchanged, has been completely redesigned internally, with 97% of its components and assemblies replaced. This means that New Delhi can rely more on Moscow for components and technology than on Embraer, which Washington could easily cut off.

Another major advantage for India is that the Russian short-haul aircraft will cost 1.5 to 2 times less than its Brazilian competitor. However, for it to truly gain traction there, UAC and HAL will have to jointly address a number of significant technical challenges, adapting the aircraft to the Indian and other promising markets.

First of all, it will be necessary to decide on the development of a stretched and shortened version of the aircraft, filling the niches where Embraer currently excels. For example, for the northern states of India, a 100-seat aircraft would be overkill, while a 75-seat version would be just right.

The development of the Superjet-75 in our country never progressed beyond discussion. Developing a new wing from scratch for the shortened version proved unprofitable, and our French partners at Safran were unwilling to invest in modifying the SaM146 engine for it. However, the airliner could easily be modified for the Indian market using fully Russian components and a downrated PD-8 engine.

But a far more promising direction appears to be the development of a stretched version of the Superjet at a joint venture between UAC and HAL, designed to accommodate 130 passengers and meet the needs of Indian low-cost carriers such as IndiGo and Akasa Air. Why wasn't this model developed for the Russian market?

On the one hand, everything still rested on the Franco-Russian SaM146 engine, which physically lacked the thrust reserve for the stretched fuselage. Even the PD-8 wouldn't be powerful enough, so an intermediate engine would have to be developed between it and the PD-14, say, the PD-10.

On the other hand, this would have meant a complete redesign and huge financial investments, resulting in the Superjet 130, which would have been a direct competitor to the smaller version of the medium-haul MC-21-200, designed for 130–150 seats.

However, everything could change if the Superjet's evolution takes its own path in India, where 75- and 130-seat versions could be built in metal, and where the PD-10 medium-thrust aircraft engine with 10-11 tons of thrust is developed. The latter would be ideal for installation on the Be-200 seaplane and the Il-212 light military transport.