RUSSIA – Yuri Viktorovich Ivashechkin is the creator of SU-25 fighter jet as well as the first chief designer of the SSJ-100 passenger aircraft.

He was born in 1933 in Novosibirsk and lived in Altai until his youth. He graduated high school in 1951 and joined the Moscow Institute of Aviation.

He later worked at the Scientific Research Experimental Institute of Parachute Equipment from 1957 to 1960, designing and testing parachuttes.

He joined the Sukhoi Design Bureau in 1961 where he became the lead specialist from 1963 to 1968.

He died in September 2025 at the age of 92.

His Legacy

He played a key role in the design of the Su-25 close air support aircraft, widely used since the 1980s, and later spearheaded the early stages of Russia’s SSJ-100 regional jet program.

The Su-25, known by its NATO designation Frogfoot, was extensively deployed in conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine. The SSJ-100, launched in the 2000s, was Russia’s first modern passenger aircraft project after the Soviet era.

The Su-25, first tested in 1975 and introduced into service in 1981, became one of the most recognizable Soviet aircraft for its rugged design and ability to operate in harsh battlefield conditions.

He later worked on the SSJ-100 aimed to restore Russia’s place in the global civil aviation market after years of decline.

Announcing his death, the Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said that “one of our company’s outstanding employees, Yuri Viktorovich Ivashechkin, a wonderful person, a highly qualified specialist and mentor, has died suddenly. We will keep the memory of Yuri Viktorovich in our hearts.”