RYBINSK, Yaroslavl Region. Oct 12 (Interfax-AVN) - France is ready to provide about 250 million euros for development of the SM146 aircraft engine, which will power planes of the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) family, SM146 Development Program Director Alexei Zhavoronkov said on Tuesday.
"French Economy Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said during his recent visit to Moscow that the French party is ready to grant a state loan totaling 250 million euros, or 40 percent of the cost of R&D related to the aircraft engine's development," Zhavoronkov told Interfax-Military Mews Agency.
"The loan will be granted to France's Snecma company, in which the state owns 62 percent of shares," he said.
"The loan will be granted to Snecma with a low interest and for a period of over 10 years in accordance with the Western concept of state support for the national aviation industry," the director noted.
"As the creation of a new aircraft engine or plane involves high risk, the Western company which receives a loan gets a series of privileges concerning loan repayment," he said.
Yury Lastochkin, director general of the Saturn research and production association, which develops the engine, told reporters earlier that the Russian federal budget will assign a total of 2 billion rubles ($68.7 million) for the program. Saturn, which is based in Rybinsk, will invest 2.8 billion rubles ($96.19 million) in the program.
The SM146 aircraft engine will have a thrust of 6,130 to 8,000 kgf depending on aircraft variety. The engine's noise level is 20 dB lower than the maximal level set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Experts say that two thirds of the engines will be exported, from which Russia may profit $6-7 billion.
Aircraft engines with the thrust equal to that of the SM146 cost $3-3.5 million per piece in the West.
RRJ is among Russia's largest civil aircraft building programs. Experts set the cost of relevant R&D at $400-500 million. According to preliminary data, the price of an RRJ plane will not exceed $30-35 million.
The program involves the Sukhoi corporation, the Yakovlev design bureau, and the Ilyushin aircraft corporation, as well as the U.S. company Boeing.