Zaporizhia-based state-run Ivchenko-Progress aircraft engine manufacturer, which is part of state-run Ukroboronprom concern, will join a program to replace the DA-50 engine which is being implemented by Austria's Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH.

A memorandum of cooperation in adapting the certification, production, sale and after-sale servicing of AI-450 engines for the Austrian company's aircraft was signed by all sides concerned during the Paris Air Show Le Bourget this year, Ukroboronprom's press service reported on Wednesday.

Zaporizhia machine-building design bureau Progress state enterprise, named after Academician Oleksandr Ivchenko, is the world's best known designer of turboshaft engines for aircraft and industrial use. It was incorporated into Ukroboronprom concern in 2011 by a government decision.

Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH and Zaporizhia-based PJSC Motor Sich are jointly working to launch large-scale production and supply of AI-450S 460hp engines to Austria in 2016. The engine was designed by Ivchenko-Progress.

Generation-four AI-450S with a weight of 170 kg will replace German-made diesel engines Teledyne Continental TSIOF-550J (350hp) installed on DA-50 business jets. The planes are widely used for pilot training and humanitarian aid missions in the EU, the United States and China. The certification of the AI-450S engine by the EASA is scheduled to be completed in 2015.

A successful test flight of the DA50-JP7 with the Ukrainian-made AI-450S took place in Vienna, Austria, in January 2015.