Second import-substituted MC-21 airliner completes successful test flight
October 28, 2025
Russia has successfully test flown its second ‘russified’ MC-21 airliner, which is also claimed to be the first ‘fully’ import-substituted Russian airliner. This follows Russia successfully test-flying a russified regional turboprop Ilyushin Il-114 last week.
Russia test flies second ‘russified’ Yakovlev MC-21
In a post on Telegram, Russia’s United Aircraft Company (UAC) reported it is now test flying its second import-substituted Yakovlev MC-21 airliner. The MC-21 is the Russian answer to the popular Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. It was poised to go into production before the West slammed sanctions on Russia in 2022.
UAC revealed the import-substituted MC-21 took off from Yakovlev’s Irkutsk Aviation Plant, featuring domestic systems and PD-14 engines. UAC also stated that the flight test was carried out by test pilots Andrey Voropaev and Oleg Mutovin, accompanied by a pair of flight test engineers.
UAC CEO Vadim Badekha stated deliveries of the MC-21 are expected to start after the completion of certification tests. The Russian news outlet, Kommersant, has previously reported that initial deliveries are expected at the end of 2026.
The aircraft flew for around an hour, reaching 500 km/h and ascending to 3,500 meters. The test was hailed as a success with all domestic systems operating normally. Russian components are said to include avionics, environmental control systems, cockpit controls, actuators, APUs, and more.
It was reported “all aircraft systems were turned on as normal… All aircraft systems were connected onboard. No reconfiguration occurred during the flight.”
Claim to be the first “fully” Russian airliner
The aircraft was claimed to be the first fully Russified aircraft to fly since 2022, although a similar claim was made about the first Russified Soviet-origin Tupolev Tu-214 business jet that’s nearing completion.
The first MC-21 prototype that flew in April 2025 was partially equipped with Russian analogues to Western components.
The maiden flight of the MC-21 took place in May 2017, although it was initially designed with 60-70% Western components. After sanctions, these components, including their original Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engine, were no longer available, sending Russia scrambling to find domestic analogues.
‼️A plant in occupied #Crimea now supplies key parts for 🇷🇺Russia’s aircraft industry — including the SJ-100, MC-21, and Tu-214 — all rebranded under Moscow’s hollow “import substitution” program.
— Kyrylo Shevchenko (@KShevchenkoReal) October 26, 2025
📉These aircraft lost certified Western components after #Sanctions. The new… pic.twitter.com/hZXVtpOSAV
Russia plans to achieve an annual production rate of 72 MC-21 airliners by 2029.
Russia is betting on the MC-21
Russia is racing to produce its own aircraft free of Western components. It is putting Soviet-era aircraft like the Il-96, Il-114, and Tu-214 back into production, along with the more modern MC-21 and Sukhoi Superjet. It is also working to build various small aircraft to serve small, remote communities.
In 2022, Aeroflot announced it would procure a mix of 210 MC-21, 40 Tu-214, and 89 Superjet aircraft. However, it has since changed its plans to exclusively procure 339 MC-21.
Russia is unable to purchase any foreign aircraft, including Brazilian Embraers and Chinese COMACs, as they are full of Western components.
This means Russian civil aviation has not received new aircraft since early 2022. While it has brought some previously retired aircraft (like Boeing 747-400s) back into service, its fleet of Airbus A320neos is now grounded.
In October 2025, Kommersant reported that in a worst-case scenario, 230 Russian/Soviet and 109 foreign aircraft would need to be retired by 2030. Russia currently has a total fleet of 1,135 aircraft in inventory, of which 1,088 are currently airworthy.
In 2022, Russia announced it planned to produce 1,039 aircraft of all types by 2030. While progress is being made in producing russified variants of the Il-114, MC-21, Tu-214, and other aircraft, none have yet been delivered.
And some more pictures of the MC-21 with PD-14 engines 🌟 pic.twitter.com/WQQfFyUm5S
— UAC Russia (@UAC_Russia_eng) December 15, 2020
It is unclear how many aircraft the Russian industry will deliver by 2030, but it will be some fraction of the originally planned 1,039. Kommersant reports current plans call for the production of over 540 MC-21s by 2030, but industry experts estimate 50-200 aircraft to be more reasonable.
Featured Image: United Aircraft Company (UAC)
