Pratt & Whitney and Russia's Irkut Corporation signed a definitive agreement to offer the Pratt & Whitney PurePower® PW1400G engine on Irkut's MC-21 family of aircraft.

This secures the PurePower engine as the only western powerplant offered on the new narrow body program. Pratt & Whitney and Irkut Corporation selected Short Brothers plc, a subsidiary of Bombardier Aerospace of Canada, as the exclusive nacelle provider for the PW1400G engine family. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). "Irkut Corporation" JSC is a part of "United Aircraft Corporation" JSC.

Irkut is developing the MC-21 as a family of 150 to 210-passenger aircraft with first flight of the PurePower® PW1400G engined aircraft planned for 2015 and entry into service in 2017. The MC-21 series will feature jetliners with 25,000-32,000 pounds of thrust.

“We are pleased to confirm our commitment to provide economic and environmental benefits to the MC-21 aircraft with the PurePower engine. This revolutionary engine family continues to meet all of our performance expectations and program milestones. The PurePower engine offers the best possible reduction in fuel burn, noise, emissions and operating costs to Irkut's customers,” said Todd Kallman, President, Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines.

“We are proud to offer the Pratt & Whitney PurePower engine on our MC-21 family of aircraft. The engine makes our aircraft more competitive because it offers real savings for our customers.  Lowering fuel costs is good for airline customers, and reducing the environmental impact of commercial aviation is good for everyone,” said Alexey I. Fedorov, President, Irkut Corporation.

The PurePower PW1000G series engines use an advanced gear system allowing the engine's fan to operate at a different speed than the low-pressure compressor and turbine. The combination of the gear system and an all-new advanced core deliver double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency, environmental emissions and noise.

The PurePower engine family also shares common, advanced cores and feature flight proven, next-generation technology. The engine core consists of an ultra-efficient high-pressure compressor, a low-emissions combustor, and state of the art high-pressure turbine module.