The Russian SJ-100 import-substitution programme has entered another important stage—the third experimental plane arrived in Belarus for certification tests of its autonomous flight control system. Aircraft 97023, the most extensively Russian-content version of the programme, reached Minsk National Airport on September 19. There the specialists of Yakovlev’s Flight Test Complex will conduct a special set of autopilot tests with the participation of representatives of certification centers and the Aviation Register.
The Minsk deployment is significant because the SJ-100 is now being tested not simply as a redesigned Superjet, but as an aircraft whose major flight control, navigation, and other onboard systems have been developed to replace equipment previously sourced from foreign suppliers. The third flying prototype of the import-substituted program features PD-8 engines and a predominantly Russian set of aircraft systems. Earlier reports had called it the first of the programme’s newly built aircraft to combine the PD-8 with the extensively replaced onboard equipment.
Russian Autopilot Starts Certification
The autopilot work being done today in Minsk is part of a lengthier development and flight-test campaign. In 2024, Yakovlev and the Moscow Institute of Electromechanics and Automation created algorithms for autonomous and flight-director control of the aircraft, as well as algorithms for controlling engine thrust. These operations are part of the aircraft’s integrated flight-control system, which includes the automatic control system of the SJ-100.
It is meant to provide flight-director guidance on take-off and to permit full automatic control in the other major phases of flight. Automatic landing capability is under development for Category IIIB operations under ICAO requirements and is of particular importance. The system is designed to control the aircraft during flare and touchdown and to hold its directional position along the centerline of the runway.
So this current certification effort is more than a normal autopilot check. The objective of this is to demonstrate that the control architecture created in Russia is capable of satisfying the performance and safety requirements for certification of the new configuration.
Autopilot Testing Started Before Minsk Campaign
The present tests also draw on past work with a different SJ-100 prototype. Aircraft 97021, the first flying prototype of the program, made a 4 hr 10 min test flight in April 2025, with special attention paid to testing the automatic-control system. The flight considered simple autopilot modes such as climb, level flight, descent, turns to a heading, and hold at a specific vertical speed. The aircraft also reached Mach 0.81 and was tested up to 12,200 meters altitude and speeds of up to 310 knots.
More certification work went on in Zhukovsky. The same aircraft, in May 2025, flew the integrated flight-control system in Direct Mode, including approach and landing. Engineers also investigated the system’s capacity to automatically revert from the reserve Direct Mode to the usual control mode after the external signals were restored.
By June 2025, the Russian automatic-control system had undergone formal certification testing. The paper said the program was being assessed for automatic operation over the flight envelope, including automatic landing functions. Later in December aircraft 97021 made 12 landings in a refinement program for the automatic-landing system.
ILS, Landing-System Work Bring Additional Dimension
The autopilot program is also tightly associated with the aircraft’s navigation and landing capabilities. Earlier tests on the SJ-100 were carried out using onboard navigation systems and autonomous approaches, and the certification campaign has steadily shifted from single avionics functions to the aircraft’s integrated functioning.
This is a significant difference. An ILS-based approach provides the aircraft with precision guidance laterally and vertically to the runway. The automatic-control system controls how the aircraft uses these signals to direct its flight path. For an aircraft designed to allow highly automated approaches, certification needs the navigation inputs, flight-control computers, control laws and aircraft actuators to work together, not just show that each component works independently.
This integrated behavior has been further investigated in the recent SJ-100 certification activity. Further natural-icing trials in northern Russia in March 2026 also saw it complete three flights checking approaches followed by go-arounds and stall-warning signs. During the icing program nine SJ-100 flights were flown between March 12 and March 30.
Another SJ-100 for Novosibirsk
The Minsk testing is running in parallel with another campaign linked to navigation. On 16 September the prototype 97021, manufacturing number 97001, traveled to Novosibirsk and SibNIA/Tolmachevo, where the aircraft’s integrated navigation system entered service testing.
This system determines the motion parameters of the aircraft and helps to follow a programd path, even in automatic mode. Aircraft 97021 is of special significance for the program since it was the first flying SSJ-NEW/SJ-100 prototype, and it had Russian replacement systems with SaM146 engines instead of the PD-8 configuration of aircraft 97023.
Hence, the two aircraft are playing complementary roles, 97023 being extensively used for certification of the deeply import-substituted configuration, while 97021 continues to provide a platform for avionics, flight control, and navigation certification work.
Certification in the home stretch
The recent changes highlight the growing focus of the SJ-100 certification program on integrated aircraft functions as opposed to individual components. Earlier phases included fuel systems, avionics, flight-control modes, engine performance, and natural-icing circumstances. The program is now incorporating automatic flight control, navigation, and landing operations in certification conditions.
Yakovlev and UAC have said flight testing should be finished by the end of 2026. The manufacturer shall provide the supporting certification documents to Rosaviatsiya for approval of major changes to the type-certificate data and issuance of the certificate upon completion. We expect the documentation procedure to take place through the first half of 2027.
So the Minsk autopilot campaign is another step in proving the Russian-created flight-control and navigation architecture of the SJ-100 can be operated as an integrated system. The result will be an important part of the evidentiary package needed before the heavily import-substituted Superjet can go from experimental to certified production aircraft.