The Rysachok, a light regional airplane that was developed to serve regional routes in Russia, has been cancelled by its manufacturer.
The aircraft was being developed by Technoavia, while Progress Rocket Space Centre had been contracted to manufacture prototypes.
The project stalled in 2016, but, since then, there have been numerous attempts to restart the development.
According to the director of the Progress Rocket Space Centre, Dmitry Baranov, after some deliberation, it was decided that the program would be closed.
“We have consulted with the designers and conducted our own analysis. It became clear that we do not have the facilities to house this kind of machinery,” Baranov told Russian news outlet RBK.
Progress Rocket Space Centre headquarters is situated in the city of Samara and owns numerous manufacturing facilities across Russia. It produces Soyuz rockets, used by the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, for the majority of its manned space flights.
In the past, Progress has also manufactured various military and civilian aircraft, although, according to Baranov, the company’s priorities shifted towards space.
Rysachok was a program to develop a light twin-engine turboprop aircraft that could carry up to 10 passengers. The development started in 2007, and the first prototype of the aircraft conducted its maiden flight in 2010.
According to RBK, in 2015, Russian president Vladimir Putin personally ordered the production of the aircraft, saying, “We have to manufacture that plane”.
Initially, Progress announced plans to manufacture at least 350 aircraft, as well as develop additional stretched variants. However, only three Rysachok prototypes were constructed.