U.S. based Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, TRJet Havacilik Teknolojileri Anonim Şirketi (TR...
U.S. based Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, TRJet Havacilik
Teknolojileri Anonim Şirketi (TRJet) in Turkey, as part of developing the first
Turkish regional jet.
The announcement at the Paris Air Show follows SNC’s May 27,
2015 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding involving the Savunma
Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.S. (STM) in support of the Turkish
Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs & Communication’s Regional Aircraft
Project.
The RAP will be initially based on a Dornier 328 (D328)
aircraft upgraded to form theTRJ328™, Turkey’s first domestically-built
passenger aircraft. The design of a larger 628 aircraft series, will start
simultaneously with production of the 328 series. The intellectual property
rights of D328 were recently acquired by SNC, following acquisition of
subsidiary company 328 in Germany.
SNC will collaborate with STM on the program who will be
responsible for upgrading the existing D328 and also manufacturing the
aircraft. It will be marketed under the name TRJ328 for the jet engine powered version
and T328 for the turboprop version.
With STM as the prime contractor, the program will also
leverage the capabilities of Turkish companies, including Turkish Aerospace
Industries (TAI) as subcontractor, along with several companies such as
Aselsan, TEI, Havelsan, Alp Aviation, Kale Aviation and Turkish Cabin Interior
Inc. (TCI).
SNC subsidiaries, 328 Support Services GmbH, 3S
Certification LLC and 3S Engineering LLC will support SNC in building and
producing these aircraft, including assisting in establishing an European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) -approved 21G aircraft production facility in
Turkey.
Parallel with the manufacturing of the TRJ328 and T328
aircraft, with a seating capacity of 32, the program includes the future design
and certification of new higher capacity TRJ628 jet and TR628 turboprop
aircraft, with a proposed passenger seating capacity up to double that of the
TRJ328.
The TRJ Series will be built and certified at a new commercial production facility in Turkey using significant investments by SNC.
SNC also plans to license production of aircraft for
sale in the United States, including sales to the U.S. government. The D328 is currently certified in 85 countries around the
world, and is in use in many countries, including the U.S., Switzerland,
Germany, U.K. and Denmark.
