MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. A heavy engine under development in Russia will have the thrust of 26 metric tons and can be used for military transport aircraft and for the looking-forward wide-body passenger jet, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said in an interview with TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov on the verge of the Eastern Economic Forum.

The gas generator thrust of 35 metric tons was taken as the basis for required technologies development when making the decision to launch the project. The engine successfully passed bench test and achieved the takeoff settings many times, with the thrust of 35 metric tons reached, Manturov said.

"More than twenty technologies were used when performing work and we reached engineering solutions that will supports tasks of military airlift and civil aviation. The most expedient is to use the engine with the 26 metric tons thrust, the PD-26, for tasks of the Ministry of Defense regarding the 100-ton looking-forward transport aircraft. It can also be used for the perspective widebody passenger airplane," the first deputy prime minister said.

The task was set for the broader use of the engine, he noted. Further to airplanes, it can be used in ground power installations. It would be expensive and economically unfeasible to create an engine for the use in a single airplane modification only, Manturov noted.

"Twenty-six metric tons have eventually been taken as the base to date," he added.