Testing of An-70 engines confirms design parameters fulfilled

The D-27 engine produced by Motor Sich (MSICH) was proven to fulfill its design parameters during its testing, a state Progress Design Bureau representative said Nov. 13 at Airshow-China. D-27 is a turboprop-fan engine designed to outfit the An-70 plane, a military cargo vehicle whose closest competitor is the Airbus-A400.

Alexander Paraschiy: By its design parameters, D-27 looks superior to the TP400-D6 engine fitted for the A400 plane. Its dry weight is 10% smaller (1.65t), it’s 1.3x more powerful (10.29 MW) and at the same time 3% more fuel efficient (0.231 kg/kWh). Despite its better technical profile, An-70 has low chances to penetrate the NATO market, though we see high demand potential in other markets where political preferences matter less. This allows both the plane and engine producers to count on a backlog of more than 60 planes that has been pre-ordered by Russia’s Ministry of Defense. The only question that remains is whether the Russian and Ukrainian partners for the An-70 project will be able to agree on who will do a final assembly of the plane.