IRKUTSK. March 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The MC-21 passenger airplane, being developed by the Irkut corporation, will be relevant to the Russian Armed Forces, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov told reporters on Tuesday.
"Our demand for airplanes of such a class is great. We are now awaiting the completion of the trials. So you may expect us to place an order for MC-21 planes," Borisov said during a visit to Irkutsk's aircraft plant, which is currently assembling the first MC-21 prototypes.
The Russian Defense Ministry is "certainly interested in Russian hardware because, under our rules and laws, the Defense Ministry is allowed to use only domestically manufactured airplanes," he said.
This project is meant to design and produce MC-21 advanced civilian passenger airplanes in Russia. The Irkut corporation, a member of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, is the sole company appointed by the state to design and certify the whole MC-21 plane family.