A Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft undergoing a test flight on December 21, 2017 in Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, Russia (Photo: Marina Lystseva/TASS)
Two Iranian airlines signed separate memorandums of intent with Russia’s major aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi to purchase Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100), Russian news agency TASS reported on April 26.
On April 25, during the Eurasia Airshow 2018 in Turkey, Iran Aseman Airlines and Iran Air Tours signed letters of intent to buy a total of 40 Sukhoi Superjet SSJ-100R passenger planes.
“The deadline is 2020, during two years we have to deliver these aircrafts”, President of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCA) company Alexander Rubtsov told reporters.
He added that the company is developing SSJ-100R – a new version of the plane. This modification is expected to increase the Russian part of components up to 50-60 %, according to Rubtsov. The main goal of the SSJ-100R creation is the import phase-out of the US elements and systems used in planes. Unless the modification, the deliveries to Iran are impossible without Washington’s permission.
The Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company founded in 2000 is dealing with manufacturing of Russia’s SSJ-100 airplane and its modifications and is affiliated with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation.
In 2017, Russia sent an application to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to receive the expert license for selling SSJ100 to Iran. However, the license is still not received. The question of the license remains an issue amid the growing confrontation between Russia and the USA as well as tensions in the US-Iranian relations.
