Russia unable to buy Brazilian or Chinese planes due to Western component dependency

Both Brazil's Embraer and China's COMAC rely heavily on Western-made engines and other components for their aircraft. For instance, Embraer's E-Jet family uses General Electric engines, while COMAC's C919 is powered by engines from CFM International, a joint venture between France's Safran and America's General Electric.

Despite being members of BRICS and not participating in Western-led sanctions against Russia, neither Brazil nor China can export their jets to Russia due to this dependence on Western technology. This situation mirrors past geopolitical tensions where embargoes prevented the supply of critical components needed for military equipment.

China faces its own challenges with US-imposed sanctions affecting COMAC since January 2021. These measures could impact the viability of its aircraft due to their American content, particularly engines and avionics systems supplied by companies like Collins Aerospace and Honeywell.

While China works on developing its CJ-1000A engine as an alternative to Western models, it is expected to be operational only by 2030. In the meantime, COMAC continues producing the C919 using LEAP engines from its joint venture partners.

"Depending on what position the Biden administration takes," notes AIN regarding Comac’s inclusion on sanction lists, "the inclusion...could threaten the viability of the C919 narrowbody...given their U.S. content."

For now, both Russian aviation ambitions and international partnerships remain constrained by technological dependencies amid ongoing geopolitical complexities.