Russia Patents a new Wide Body Jet to compete with Boeing's 787

Russia has just filed a patent for a widebody aircraft that could potentially be Boeing 787's competitor.

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC UAC) has patented a wide-body long-range aircraft (WBLRA). According to Russian news agency TASS, this aircraft will be offered in three variants: WBLRA-500 with 236 seats, WBLRA-600 with a capacity of 281 passengers and WBLRA-700 with 320 seats.

Russia's aviation sector has been hit by sanctions from Western countries following the invasion of Ukraine. With this new aircraft, Russia aims to make themselves relevant again in this sector.

According to reports, this jet is capable of flying up to 13,600 km. That puts it on par with 787's range. The operating cost for this WBLRA are projected to be lower than that of 787's - by 3% per flight in direct operating costs and approximately 6% in total direct costs.

Currently, Russia's only widebody aircraft in production is the Ilyushin Il-76. With this new WBLA, Russia hopes to boost its domestic production of aircrafts and reduce its reliance on foreign-made aircrafts.

Let's talk about the comparison between 787 and WBLRA. Boeing launched the 787 Dreamliner project in 2004. The 787 family consists of three variants: the shorter 787-8, the mid-sized and most popular 787-9 and the bigger 787-10. Similarly, the WBLRA project also comprises of three variants: the shorter WBLRA-500, the mid-sized WBLRA-600 and the extended WBLRA-700.

But it takes more than a patent to make an aircraft. The Russo-Chinese CR929 widebody program began as joint venture between China's COMAC and Russia's UAC in 2016, from which ultimately Russia backed out. Finally, COMAC launched the project as C929 with Air China as its first customer.

I guess we will have to wait and watch, will this new project from Russia take-off or just remain as a project idea.