328 Support Services, the type certificate holder for the D328, has announced that its parent company, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoA) with the Turkish Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs & Communications to produce the country’s first regional jet as part of its Regional Aircraft Project.
The first aircraft is expected to be delivered in 2018. “The aircraft will be the first domestically built passenger aircraft in Turkey,” said Fatih Ozmen, CEO at SNC.
The aircraft will be a modernized version of the D328. All intellectual property rights to the D328 were acquired by SNC when it acquired subsidiary company 328 of Germany.
SNC will collaborate with Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret (STM), which will be responsible for upgrading the existing D328 and manufacturing the aircraft. A jet version will be marketed under the name TRJ328, while a turboprop version will be called the T328.
SNC subsidiaries 328 Support Services, 3S Certification and 3S Engineering will play a support role to SNC in building and producing these aircraft, including assisting in the establishment of an EASA-approved 21G aircraft production facility in Turkey.
The project also leverages the capabilities of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Aselsan, TEI, Havelsan, Alp Aviation, Kale Aviation and Turkish Cabin Interior (TCI).
“This project is a natural progression for SNC and our subsidiaries as we continue to capitalize on our decades of extensive experience in aircraft design modifications and our innovative, agile ability to create value for our customers,” said Eren Ozmen, president at SNC.
“We also possess a unique capability to expedite obtaining the required certifications for numerous markets based on the D328’s proven technology and our aviation certification expertise.”
Parallel with the manufacture of the TRJ328 and T328 aircraft, which will have 32 seats, the project includes the future design and certification of new higher capacity TRJ628 jet and TR628 turboprop, with a proposed passenger seating capacity up to double that of the TRJ328.
June 4, 2015
