JetOS

2025: End of Development

At the end of August 2025, it became known that Russian MS-21-310 and SJ-100 aircraft received the domestic JetOS operating system. The software platform was developed at the State Research Institute of Aviation Systems (GosNIIAS).

As noted on the website of the Institute for System Programming named after V.P. Ivannikov RAS, for a long time foreign operating systems of real time (OSRT) was used on aircraft developed in the Russian Federation, for example, VxWorks 653 and Thales MACS2. However, there is a precedent when one of the developers of such platforms unilaterally terminated cooperation with a number of domestic companies, which complicated the work being carried out and raised the issue of replacing a foreign product with a domestic analogue.

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Фото: United Aircraft Corporation

The creation of JetOS included basic C code, support for the world aviation standard of ARINC 653 services, support for OpenGL services and international DO-178C requirements (CT-178C). From the very beginning, a graphic direction was laid down in the work on RTOS: the creation of its own OpenGL SC library (and fully software, DO-178C-certified and hardware-independent) and the creation of a graphics manager similar to the DRM component from the Linux kernel. To carry out these works, contacts were established with the scientific teams of the IPM named after M.V. Keldysh RAS and MSTU named after N.E. Bauman.

JetOS is designed to run multiple applications on the onboard computers of civilian aircraft. The operating system ensures the timely solution of the assigned tasks, as well as the exchange of data and interaction between them. In addition, the use of JetOS ensures the technological independence of Russian aircraft manufacturers from foreign suppliers and the possibility of certification of manufactured components in accordance with the requirements of civil avionics.^[1]

2017: Work on the creation of the OS

In Russia, an operating system for civil aviation is being developed under the working name JetOS. The system is being developed by the State Research Institute of Aviation Systems (GosNIIAS) with the involvement of third-party contractors. The customer was the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This was reported in October 2017 by Izvestia, citing its own sources.

The creation of a new OS is being carried out to protect Russian developments in the field of aviation from possible sanctions. At the moment, civilian aircraft use a number of foreign operating systems (MACS2, LynxOS-178, VxWorks 653, PikeOS). According to scientists involved in the development of JetOS, the use of foreign software causes certain difficulties, for example, limited possibilities for modification, use of processors and the need for royalties to foreign developers.

According to scientists, a working prototype of the system already exists and is at the stage of testing and debugging. The certification package is planned to be received by 2019. If earlier the aircraft had many systems connected to separate computing computers, now all systems will be connected to a single computer with many different sensors to determine flight parameters, expert Oleg Panteleev explained. Everything will be controlled by a central processor and an OS that interacts with several standard units, which can be easily replaced for subsequent hardware updates.

The first aircraft to receive the new OS will be the MS-21 passenger airliner.

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