Airfleet_01_2014

â„– 1. 2013 2014

In Superjet we trust

1.2014 (102)

CONTENTS Spacecraft ROSKOSMOS at ILA-2014 . . . . . . . . . . 2

General Director Valeriy Stolnikov Deputy General Director Aleksey Leonkov Dmitry Drozdenko Chief Editor Vladimir Karnozov

Warcraft MiG Plans and Doings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Industry Russian Helicopters Excel . . . . . . . . . . 10

Redactors Evgueniy Lisanov Vladimir Maksimovskiy

In Superjet we trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Marketing Director Julia Voronova Iliay Kolikov

Civil Aviation

Designers Arthur Yegorov Aleksey Pirozhkov Irina Kuzminova Maria Marakulina TimofeyBabkin

Technology

Press Photographer Anton Patsovskiy Associate Editor Translation Team Coordinator Ruslan Gubaidullin Cover photo Marina Lystseva Photos in this issue Vladimir Karnozov, open sources and courtesy of advertizing companies

CSeries Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

MOTOR SICH "Berlin Air Show-2014" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Big boss talking ATR. In Russia and Ukrainet . . . . . . . 28

Claude Poulain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Airshows Circulation: 10000 The magazine is registered in the Committee for Press of the Russian Federation. Certificate № 016692 as of 20.10.1997. Certificate № 77-15450 as of 19.05.2003.

MAKS, the military side . . . . . . . . . . 36

MAKS’2013, a good show for Russian OEMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

© AIR FLEET, 2014 ADDRESS P.O. Box 77, Moscow, 125057, Russia Tel.: + 7 495 459 9072 Fax.: + 7 495 459 6042 E-mail: market@a4press.ru

Military-technical cooperation Basant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Spacecraft

ROSKOSMOS at ILA-2014 Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation always takes part in comprehensive Aviation and Space show ILA in Berlin. In the press service of the Federal Space Agency Vladimir Maksimovskiy was told about the exposure of the FSA at the ILA’2014.

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Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation always takes part in comprehensive Aviation and Space show ILA in Berlin. Vladimir Maximovsky has interviewed Oleg Ostapenko, Head of Federal Space Agency, regarding the Russian display presented in 2014 at the show.

The main objectives of Russian space activity is guaranteed and independent serving the state interests in space, as well as setting up science and technological conditions for large-scale space projects.

The main component of Russian rocket and space industry strategy on international space market is maintaining and improving competiveness in segments traditional for Russia. These, in particular, include maintaining leadership in commercial launch services which in volume terms amounts over 30% and market

representation in the production of profit-oriented spacecraft.

Participation in international aviation and space shows and conferences is one of the efficient tools for these tasks to be accomplished. In terms of technologies and investments such activity draws attention and interest of national governments, international investors, world largest finance and production companies, Russian and foreign media world.

Thus, participation of Federal Space Agency in Aviation and Space show in Berlin has become a tradition. Every time Russian Space Agency presents updated exhibits displaying the most promising projects, developments and achievements of Russian rocket and space industry. Year 2014 is no exception.

At ILA-2014 Russian space agency displays a joint exposition

in Pavilion 4, stand 4304, ‘Airport’ exhibition center, Berlin. The exhibition involves the following Russian space companies: Operation Center for ground-based space infrastructure; ‘CSKB-Progress’ State space research and development center; S.A. Lavockin scientific production association; ‘Sistemy Precisionnogo Priborostroenia’ and ‘Rossiyskie Kosmicheskie Sistemy’ research and development corporation.

Visitors and participants can see these companies’ hallmarks including the following mockups: - ‘Fregat’ booster being a part of medium and heavy launch vehicles.

This ‘space mule’ is engaged after the third stage. The cone opens and ‘Fregat’ engine brings a satellite to its destination. From this position the spacecraft begins self-contained orbiting;

ROSKOSMOS directors visiting new spaceport VOSTOCHNY in course of construction A I R F L E E T

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‘Fregat’ booster

‘Fregat-2’ booster ‘Soyuz-2.1a’ vehicle and ‘Fregat’ booster in integration and test building

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- ‘Spektr-UF’ spacecraft (Ultra Violet Global Space Observatory), a Russian-led large-scale international project. Currently Russia, Spain, Germany and Ukraine are the main partners. The telescope is to be equipped with high and low resolution spectrographs, long-slot spectrographs and highquality UV picture-making cameras.

‘Spektr-UF’ has the main scientific task to receive new data in astrophysics including evolution of the Universe, star formation, exploration of interstellar medium, stellar physics, physical and chemical properties of comets and global atmospheres; - ‘Luna-Glob’ and ‘Luna-Resurs’ spacecraft. They are designed for exploration of the Moon Polar Regions. These spacecraft components are now being tested. The first ‘Luna-Glob-1’ craft has to prove operating capacity of a landing platform followed by ‘Luna-Glob-2’

‘Photon-M’ spacecraft

‘Spektr-UF’ spacecraft probe orbiter with a task to enter a lunar orbit. It is going to become a kind of a bridge between the Earth and an automatic interplanetary station equipped with ‘Luna-Resurs’ lander; - ‘Soyuz-2’ launch vehicle being a heavy upgraded ‘Soyuz-U’ can replace ‘Soyuz-U’, ‘Soyuz-FG’ and ‘Molnia-M’ vehicles. Coupled with ‘Fregat’ booster ‘Soyuz-2’ is capable of setting spacecraft into any orbit which include low, intermediate, high-elliptical, sun synchronous, geostationary transfer and geostationary orbits; - ‘Soyuz-2’-based ‘Soyuz-ST’ launch vehicle. It is designed for commercial launches at Kourou Space Center (French Guiana).

Unlike the basic version the new vehicle is tropically adapted and has updated control system capable of receiving ground abort commands and European ground stations

Spacecraft

Launch of ‘Soyuz-2.1a’ vehicle with ‘Fregat’ booster carrying ‘Bion-M’ spacecraft

‘Luna-Glob-2’ mission telemetry. Coupled with ‘Fregat’ booster ‘Soyuz-ST’ equipped with ST-type nose cone is capable of setting wide range of payload into orbit; - ‘Photon-M’ spacecraft designed for technological and scientific experiments, production of materials and biologics for various industrial and scientific sectors; - ‘Resurs-P’ spacecraft surveying the Earth surface and transmitting the data via radio channel to a ground-based system. These data are used by Russian EMERCOM, Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Service for State Registration, Cadaster and Cartography, Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Agency and others as well as for development of international cooperation in environmental protection and other vital tasks of Earth remote sensing.

These and more other exhibits can be seen at the joint exposition by Russian Space Agency companies.

Vladimir Maksimovskiy A I R F L E E T

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Reforming of Russian space industry In March 5, 2014 ‘Obiedinennaya raketno-kosmicheskaya korporacia’, JSC (Joint Rocket and Space Corporation) was registered. It is planned that the JSC being established will receive assets of 10 integrated systems including 48 enterprises and 14 independent companies in rocket and space industry as well as 9 federal unitary enterprises after their corporization.

100% shares of ‘Obiedinennaya raketno-kosmicheskaya korporacia’, JSC are owned by the state.

Creation of the Joint Stock Company is just the first stage of the industry reforming. The whole reform is mostly designed to incorporate production, technological and scientific potential of the rocket and space industry, make the best use of existing machinery equipment, improve effective capacities and prevent overlapping.

Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation retains leading rocket and space institutes, enterprises being in charge of production and operation of ground-based space infrastructure at Baikonur and Vostochniy space centers, Cosmonaut Training Center and some other agencies.

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Warcraft

MiG plans and doings The Russian Aircraft Corporation «MiG» is going to celebrate its Platinum Jubilee since foundation on December 8, 1939. Since that time, the company has covered a long way, from the 350-knot propeller-driven MiG-1 up to the Mach 3 heavyweight multirole fighter MiG-31BM and the family of agile fighter MiG-35.

Last year RAC MiG’s major achievement was the resumption of shipments of newly-built aircraft to the defense ministry of the home country. In November a pair of MiG-29K single and a couple of MiG-29KUB twin seaters were ferried from the Lukhovitsy plant near Moscow to the Navy air arm’s Severomorsk-3 aerodrome. There they are based alongside with Su-33 and Su-25UTG deck aircraft in the aviation compliment of the Russian solo carrier Admiral Kuznetsov on anchor at the Severomorsk naval base. RAC MiG holds order for 24 ship-borne fighters. Ten shall be delivered in 2014 and same quantity in 2015.

The maker holds order for 24 ship-borne fighters, with the plan to deliver ten in 2014 and ten in 2015. The MiG’s biggest disappointment was inability to clinch MoD order for some MiG-35, a land-based derivative of the deck fighter with Phazotron-NIIR Zhuk-MAE active phased array radar re-

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placing mechanically-steered Zhuk-M. The contract is now expected in 2014.

India continues in the role of main export customer, with deliveries of six MiG-29K/ KUBs out of the total order for 45. Today, half of the contracted aircraft are already in India.

Last year MiG completed modernization and refit on the Indian air force’s three classic Fulcrums turning them into the MiG29UPG. The latter differs in having “glass cockpit” instead of analogue instruments and the Zhuk-ME radar with slotted antenna replacing the older N-019 unit with Cassegrain parabolic antenna. The company also supplies India with kits for same kind of work done locally at a rate of a dozen annually.

Refit and modernization programs done in the interests of the domestic customers resulted in sixteen reworked and MiG-31 and Sukhoi-27 family fighters going back to Russian air force units.

The maker is about to complete the process of selling out remaining classic MiG-29 “white tails” stored at its plant in Moscow city. Last year it managed only two overseas deliveries last year. India is a potential customer who may take these, possibly after update into MiG-29 variant. This may go as a bridge-gapping measure in the view of still-to-be –resolved issues with Dassault

Sergei Korotkov

Warcraft

Rafale contracting. However, the most likely customer is the Russian air force that seeks to supplement MiG-29SMTs and MiG-29UBTs already in service with more such aircraft.

Work is ongoing on “radical modernization” of the MiG-31. The focus is on exploring the kinetics of the ageing out-ofproduction Mach 3 interceptor. It is believed that the aircraft can carry out not only air defense duties but also solve some tasks for the recently established VKO, Russian acronym for Air and Space Defense (Command).

RAC MiG is understood to be working on new versions of the aircraft that go beyond the current MiG-31BM. The theme was addressed by Aleksander Inozemtsev, executive director and general designer at Aviadvigatel aero-engine design house. At Engines-2014 exposition held 15-17 April in Moscow, he said that the MiG-31 has been in service for more than quarter a century. Despite the age, “it remains a unique weapon, no other country possesses anything of the kind”. Inozemtsev described the aircraft as “the world’s only interceptor which can loiter a very long time while on patrol of airspace thanks to the low fuel consumption of the Aviadvigatel D-30F6 bypass turbojet, which enables the plane to accelerate up to 3,000 kilometers per hour when attacking an aerial target”.

The Russian government has decided in favor of the MiG-31 development and A I R F L E E T

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modernization following heated discussions in the Parliament and defense ministry’s “think-tank”. On request, Aviadvigatel and its industrial partner Perm Motor Plant submitted to MoD reports about the current condition of the D-30F6 fleet, manufacturing equipment and stock of spare parts. Inozemtsev comments: “Nothing’s lost. There were fifteen hundred engines [and five hundred airframes] built. The existing MiG31 fleet has amassed a moderate amount of flying hours and their engines have a long lifetime remaining.

There is a stock of engines and spares. We informed the government that we can support MiG-31 fleet operations for a long time”.

Studies done by Defense Ministry’s “think tanks” on recently developed Sukhoi PAKFA fifth generation fighter and Tupolev PAKDA have revealed that the latter pair cannot replace the MiG-31 on a number of vital defense roles, such as providing effective air cover of the vast Russian territories up north from would be attacks with cruise missiles and USAF warplanes, according to Inozemtsev. This prompted Defense Ministry into MiG-31 repair and modernization.

“We must carry some work to refresh our stocks and put them into right order. We have submitted modernization proposals and this influences the decisions being made.

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Warcraft

I think the MiG-31 fleet will undergo refit and modernization”, the source told journalists at Engines-2014.

Inozemtsev, however, declined to provide details referring to classified nature of respective MoD programs. “All I can say is that this unique weapon will be further improved.

After refit, the aircraft will be employed not so much on the air defense duties but in the interests of the Air and Space Defense [Command]. This will be possible through exploration of the high potential present in the airframe and the power plant”.

During parliamentary hearings, issues were raised on the role of United Technologies and Pratt&Whitney in “destroying” military production capability at Perm Motor Plant [as pictured by the parliamentarians].

The US firms used to be shareholders, but after a series of scandals their stocks have been purchased aback by the Russian governmental structures. Addressing the issue, Inozemtsev said that the US shareholders told their stock “two-three years ago”, and the transaction is now complete.

Among other things, this enables Perm to sell advanced PS-90A2 turbofans to Iran as part of the Tupolev-204 jetliners, which the US shareholders opposed under US Department of State, the source said.

The MiG-25/31 is sometimes referred to as the Bird of Steel. The MiG-25 went into development in 1962 and became operational in 1972. Eighty percent of

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the airframe was made of welded steel to withstand the heat created at high speeds.

The Russian air force still keeps a handful of MiG-25RBM spy-planes assembled at the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novrogod from 1982 to 1985. The service also has 180 MiG-31s. The aircraft represents reworked MiG-25 with new engines and avionics. The MiG-31 first flew in 1976 and MiG-31M in 1985. The MiG-31D appeared in 1987 and demonstrated its ability to fly at Mach 2.83 with a load of six long range air-to-air missiles on a typical intercept mission lasting for 3.5 hours. During a trial in 1994 a developmental MiG-31 destroyed a low-flying target at a distance of 186 nm.

The recent MiG-31BM is a multirole aircraft with the redeveloped Zaslon-M passive phased array radar capable of detecting up to ten targets simultaneously at a range of up to 175 nm. The aircraft can employ the active radarguided weapon with firing range of 108 nm called RVV-BD, Russian acronym for “Missile Air to Air–Long Range”. The MiG31BM can also carry R-77 infrared-guided air-to-air missiles, Kh-31 air-to-surface missiles and KAB-500 EO/IR-guided bombs. The Sokol plant continues modernization of in-service aircraft into MiG31BM configuration at an annual rate of 15 units. The enterprise holds the Russian MoD order for about sixty MiG-31BMs in 2011-2018.

In the longer run, RAC MiG sees its future as developer of unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV). The company announced such a program seven years ago.

At MAKS’2007 airshow the manufacturer unveiled a full scale mockup of the Skat UCAV. RAC MiG described it as a stealthy multipurpose unmanned combat air vehicle intended for striking prelocated stationary targets, suppression of enemy air defense system in conditions of severe ECM and antiaircraft fire. The UCAV should be able to successfully engage evasive and heavily protected land and sea targets, and conduct its operations either autonomously or as part of a larger aviation strike force made up of manned and unmanned aircraft.

Warcraft

The Skat is powered by a single Klimov RD-5000 (a non-reheated derivative of the RD-33 powering the MiG-29 fighter) with thrust of 5,040kgf. Its maximum takeoff weight is about ten tons, zero-level speed in excess of 800 km/h, max Mach number 0.8, practice ceiling 12,000m, range up to 4,000 km. The weapons load is 2,000kg, carried internally in two bays each measuring 0.65 vs 0.75 vs 4.4 meters. Typical load would be two Kh31P/A anti-radiation/anti-ship missiles or KAB500 series guided bombs. The Skat’s wingspan is 11.5m, length 10.25m, height 2.7m.

On several occasions in 2011-2012 MiG general director - general designer Sergey Korotkov said his company was working together with Sukhoi on a future UCAV using experience gained on the Skat program – with the rider that MiG’s role was confined to a subcontractor. “We are doing it together because [UCAV] is a comprehensive aviation system – not just an air vehicle - that requires combined industrial, scientific, engineering and technologic resources”. Chief of MiG’s Engineering Center Vladimir Barkovsky added: “[Skat] was a technology development program during which we assembled a full scale unmanned combat air vehicle with stealth features and conducted a huge amount of studies in aerodynamics, gas dynamics and other areas. This helped us create a technology base for next phase of our studies which we continue to carry out”.

In March 2013, president of United Aircraft Corporation confirmed Sukhoi’s and MiG’s involvement into UCAV development. Specialists from both companies were working on shaping such a vehicle A I R F L E E T

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and formulating requirements to it. Mikhail Pogosyan added that at then-current stage the work was confined to scientific research. About same time the defense ministry announced that Sukhoi had been selected to lead R&D on heavyweight UCAV that would become available in 2018-2020, whereas Transas and Sokol had won contracts for a smaller UAV weighing up to five tons, to be ready in 2015-2016.

But in a very interesting development of May 2013, RAC MiG won a contract from Russia’s ministry for industry and trade to carry out a R&D work on development of a future unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). “The experience we gained in frame of the Skat effort provides the base for new designs which the MiG’s Engineering Center is doing”, Korotkov commented then.

The was a mysterious case earlier this year that might be pointing at the UCAV program to have entered flight-test phase.

Ongoing is the investigation on the events of February 17, 2014. It involves pilots of a local air club based at the Barataevka aerodrome near Ulianovsk city. A pair of Aero Vodochody L-29 jet trainers had to urgently alter heading (270 degrees) and altitude to escape collision with an unidentified flying object the pilots describe as “a heavyweight unmanned air vehicle”. The object was detected both visually and by ATC radars when overflying the village of Arkhangelskoye. The UCAV flew at 500 km/h speed and altitude of 2,100 meters.

Approaching from the rear, it was overtaking the L-29s as though in an astern attack.

It might have flown into them if not for the ATC controller who had warned the pilots.

The UCAV proceeded in the direction of

Penza city and disappeared from the radar screen. Questions to the defense ministry met “we saw nothing” kind of attitude.

Days before the event the defense minister Sergei Shoigu told journalists that allocation for modern UAV designs amounts to Rouble 320 billion and new assets are due by 2020. The Armed Forces operate about 500 drones, “not all of them proving up to requirements”.

The pilots’ description of the flying object indicates it was a jet-powered UCAV with swept wings. In theory, it might well be an old Tupolev Tu-143 Reis recce or newer Tu-300 Korshun (an experimental batch made during 1990s for evaluation). But the local media insists the mysterious object bore higher similarity to the Skat.

In case the L-29 pilots did see the Skat flying, then they were lucky twice: first by evading mid-air collision and second by escaping an infamous title of being first preys falling to the next-gen MiG. The local air sport club gets very serious about the matter and insists on proper investigation to co completed, to find the guilty ones and execute them.

Meantime, the deputy head of the local ATC zone said that the case has already been traced to a UCAV flight – the very fact of it has been confirmed. “The radar has detected the air vehicle. The L-29 crews saw it with their own eyes. Its speed was estimated at 500-600 kilometers per hour, wing span at about four meters and fuselage length at six meters”. The prosecutor’s office is looking into that, trying to establish who is the owner and operator of that mysterious object.

Vladimir Karnozov

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Industry

Russian

Helicopters The Russian Helicopters is a holding structure uniting all Russian design houses and manufacturing plants specializing in rotorcraft. The company reports revenues for 2013 at Rouble 138.3 billion (yet not up to the earlier plan of 140 billion), a 10% up to the previous year. Rotorcraft sales generated 115.8 billion and services 29.6 billion. EBITDA rose by 27% to Rouble 26.3 billion and profit to 9.5 billion (+1.3%). Past year deliveries reduced by 15 units, down to 275 rotorcraft.

Last year the production run amounted to 303. Nine types of rotorcraft were shipped to customers in ten countries.

The backlog at the year-end was 808.

Manufacturing costs per a helicopter rose by 6.5%. In 2012 this structure delivered 290 rotorcraft and gener-

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ated revenues of Rouble 125.7 billion. “During the past year the Russian Helicopters continued in development as a modern, highly efficient and dynamic company. We managed to deliver everything under the earlier won governmental contracts, continued supplying foreign customers, and produced dozens of civilian helicopters for local and foreign customers�, says Alexander Mikheyev. A successful salesman with Rosoboronexport, he assumed the post of general director at the Russian Helicopters in September 2013.

About half of the freshly-made helicopters went to the Russian defense ministry. Officially confirmed 2013 shipments include seventeen Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack helicopters, eight Mi-35 assault rotorcraft, four Mi-

26 super heavyweights, ten Mi-8MTV5 and 53 Mi-8AMTSh utility choppers.

Despite pressing technical issues, the military flight school in Syzran took six more Ansat-U helicopters. These come with fly-by-wire systems whose usefulness on relatively compact rotorcraft continues to receive mixed reports.

The Russian Helicopters achieved major export breakthrough in 2013 by delivering Mi-35Ms to the Iraqi air force. Freshly inducted, these were shortly dispatched on a real combat mission, to fight Islamic militants in dwelling points close to the Syrian border. Deliveries of the more advanced Mi-28NE are scheduled to start before the New Year of 2015.

Another breakthrough was achieved on November 22, when defense minis-

Industry

ter Sergei Shoigu applied his signature on the document rendering the Mi-28N Night Hunter officially accepted into service with the Russian air force. Alexander Mikheyev commented that the official induction of the Mi-28N provides evidence that the helicopter meets all requirements of the Russian defense ministry to attack helicopters. Besides, “the helicopter proved its merits in all necessary testing conducted by the military”. The type is completely ready for combat duty with the Russian air force, the head of Russian Helicopters added.

Although the type has been flying with the Russian air force line units for several years already, the customer hesitated to officially accept it due to some teething problems cured only recently. The machines in the initial production batches, their weapons and ground support equipment have been subjected to extensive operational trials in various environments. Importantly, in 2013 the Night Hunter finally acquired a workable 360-degree surveillance radar that is mounted on top of the Mi-28N’s mast, above the main rotor. This new broke on the New Year’s Eve at the press conference of KRET avionics specialist.

The Rostverol manufacturing plan in Rostov-upon-Don launched the Mi-28N into series production back in 2005. It has already assembled several dozen copies. Some went to the Berkuts air display team that previously flew Mi-24s. The team commenced formation flying in public on the new type in 2012 and showcased at MAKS’2013. In 2013 ten newlyassembled machines went to Ostrov AFB and four more to earlier equipped units as replacements. The Russian Helicopters say the work on perfecting the Mi-28N continues, targeting improvement of flight performance and combat capabilities. At MAKS’2013 the maker demonstrated for the first time the Mi-28N in a new version with twin flight controls developed for pilot training. This version had its maiden flight on August 9, 2013.

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The Russian Helicopters continue a major effort on renovation of machine tools at its plants. During 2013, more than 800 pieces of new manufacturing equipment were installed. Investments have been made into metal cutting, galvanic facilities and composite materials. As a result, in 2013 output per worker rose by 12.4%. In early 2014 the Russian Helicopters had 772 firm orders for helicopters worth in excess of Rouble 370 billion. The orders load the manufacturing capacity by 100% in 2014 and by 73% in 2015. Investments are being made into the Ka60/62, Mi-38, Mi-171A2 helicopter models. A 2500-kg-gross-weight helicopter is being developed jointly with AgustaWestland. The Russian Helicopters and Turbomeca are in agreement on a service center for the Ka-226T and Ka-62 helicopters. Other major development efforts are perfecting the national helicopter design center in Tomilino where Mil and Kamov designers are working together, building-up a global support network, introducing lean manufacturing technologies and optimizing current production structure.

Russian Helicopters exported 3,500th Mil Mi-17 family helicopter earlier this year. Assembled at Kazan Helicopters plant, the jubilee machine went to India. Russian governmental arms vendor Rosoboronexport won Indian MoD contract for 80 Mi-17V5s in 2008 and firmed up options for 71 more in 2012-2013. Most recently India decided to partly convert the order so as to have a dozen of Mi17s in VVIP version for the Indian government transportation after the deal with AgustaWestland on AH101Ws had been cancelled on the charges of corruption/scam. At AeroIndia’2013 the local sources said that at that point of time the order was 80 firms and 59 options. It seems that since Feb2013 till mid-March 2014 India ordered 12 additional Mi-17V5s. The customized Indian Mi-17V5 features the KNEI-8 glass cockpit and PKV-8 autopilot, making India the first international

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Industry

customer for the glass-cockpit version.

According to Alexander Mikheyev, India operates almost 250 Russian-made rotorcraft. These are employed on governmental roles including combat and training, search-and-rescue, medical evacuation and natural disaster relief operations.

Mikheyev says the company will continue efforts on reducing manufacturing costs and waybills for better financial efficiency. Capital investments in 2013 grew by 25%, to Rouble 16.2billion, including those to the manufacturing base by 8.5% to Rouble 8.3 billion.

R&D allocations grew by 48.4% to Rouble 7.9 billion. Russian Helicopters has long been planning IPO, but postpone it several times since 2008 so as to raise more money through demonstration of a longer profitable growth to the market.

The major threat to Russian rotorcraft production is coming from the recent escalation of tensions with Ukraine, which has traditionally been supplying turboshaft engines to both Mil and Kamov designs. According to Vyacheslav Boguslaev, president of Zaporozhie-based Motor Sich engine maker, in 2013 the company produced a thousand engines for helicopters and supplied the lion’s share of them to Russian manufacturing plants in Kazan, Ulan-Ude, Rostov-upon-Don, Kumertau and Arseniev. About a hundred Ukrainian-made turbojets of locally developed D-436 and AI-222 designs went to Antonov and Yakovlev aircraft assembled in Russia. India and China operates hundreds of Russian made helicopters powered

by Ukrainian engines. Past month Ukrainian ambassador Alexander Shevchenko said over 1,500 Ukrainian-made engines are operational in India – that number is seemingly covering TV2 and TV3 series turboshafts on Mi-8/17/35 and Kamov-28/31 helicopters and AI20 series turboprops on Antonov-32 tactical airlifters.

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Over eight thousand Russian rotorcraft are in operation in more than hundred countries – twenty types, forty major modifications. The Russian MoD remains the largest customer, with over 1,500 indigenous choppers in service with the Army Aviation and with funds allocated for procurement of 1,100 new rotorcraft in 2010-2020 timeframe. This customer received 37 in 2010, 82 in 2011, about 120 in 2012 and roughly 150 past year. Military export has also been on rise. According to Rosoboronexport arms export agency, its rotorcraft deliveries amounted to US$1.5 billion in 2012 and rose by some 30% in 2013.

Rosoboronexport holds orders for Russian-made rotorcraft exceeding US$5 billion. According to official data Russia submitted to the UN weapons register, the year of 2011 saw 66 deliveries of Russian military helicopters.

Many Rosoboronexport customers prefer buying what the Russian MoD is taking. The time-proven Mi-8/17 series remains the best seller, - the Russian governmental structures will continue to take some fifty such aircraft a year in the forthcoming years. Shipments of the newest Mi-28N to the Russian armed forces proceeds at a flat annual rate of 12, and a total of 200 is expected to be taken eventually.

Output of the Ka-52 has been rising to timely complete deliveries, with 140 rotorcraft on order. It is interesting to note that, after many years of selection between the Mi-28 and Ka-50/52, the MoD finally took both. The Mi-28N is primarily intended for fire support of the troops, going into heat of the battle if required, with pilots putting their hopes into heavy armor protection and small cross section. The Ka-52 has a large radar in the nose and many expensive sensors all other is for reconnaissance and striking targets at distances most could not reply with fire. Alongside with this pair of modern rotorcraft, the MoD continues buying Mi-35Ms (the recent mutation of the long-serving Mi-24) with sixty on order. Shipments of the world’s largest A I R F L E E T

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Alexander Mikheyev

rotorcraft Mi-26T resumed in 2011, with the Russian MoD taking eleven examples in frame of the framework contract for 18.

The navy’s most important procurement is a pair of Kamov Ka-252RL, a customized derivative of the Ka-31 radar picket helicopter already operational in India and China.

Shipments of the Ansat-U for the flight schools continue under a framework agreement for 30 machines. This is the first type in Russian military service to have foreign engines in the form of the Pratt&Whitney PW207K. Also for training purposes the MoD has ordered thirty Ka-226s with ten shipments in 2012. This makes a second case for foreign motors, in this case the Rolls Royce Allison 250s. Future prospects for both Ansat and Ka-226 depend on the indigenous industry’s ability to come up with competitive power plants in the class of 400-800 hp.

The Russian Helicopters holding has plans to increase annual production of rotorcraft up to 470 machines in 2020,

with subsequent rise in revenues up to Rouble 240 billion. This is rather ambitious, and yet the Russian government believes that under the new leader the industry will deliver the promise. Sergei Chemezov, head of Rostec - Russian Technologies state corporation (which controls 663 enterprises, including those in the defense and rotorcraft industries) and formerly head of Rosoboronexport, has commented on the appointment of Mikeyev to the top position at the Russian Helicopters (19 September 2013).

The new leader, he said, "has the task of strengthening positions of the Russian Helicopters in the international markets and improving production efficiency".

Chemezov further said that this task calls for the increase in the Russian Helicopters' market share from 14% today up to 18-20% in 2020 "through expansion of our presence in the Commonwealth of Independent States, China, India, Middle East, Africa and Latin America".

Vladimir Karnozov

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In Superjet we trust

This article examines production of civil airplanes in Russia in the year of 2013.

Generally speaking, passenger aircraft manufacturing is the sector where the domestic aircraft manufacturing industry continues to suffer from a deep system crisis that broke after USSR had fallen. During the course of these historic events Russia almost ceased production of non-combat aircraft. Despite multiply efforts undertaken by the Kremlin, civil aircraft production runs low. During the entire year of 2013 the Russian aircraft industry produced 24 Sukhoi Superjet 100s, six An-148s and three An-140s (both under license from Ukraine’s Antonov), a single Il-96-300, two Tupolev-214s and one Tu-154 – the very last example in the type’s production run (over a thousand were built at Aviacor in Samara since 1970s). No air lifters were completed in 2013, and the preceding year saw only one – the very first Il-76MD90A development prototype for flight trials.

Two more are due in 2014.

Actual deliveries to commercial airlines were limited to a dozen of Superjets. As of late December the remainder of the Sukhoi twin jets were either “green” needing

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interior installation, “while tails” or simply not handed over to intended customers. No aircraft of other brands went to airlines – instead, they were taken by various government structures: ministry of defense, federal security service, ministry for emergencies and special air department transporting government officials. The only exception was a couple of Tupolev-204-100C freighters completed several years ago. At long last, they found a customer: Transaero took them on financial lease terms from the nation’s

largest aircraft lessor Ilyushin Finance Co. Although some Russian carriers continue to express their readiness to take An-140, An-148 and Tu-204/214, these are simply not available. United Aircraft Corporation wants them to sell above manufacturing costs, but these became prohibitively high for commercial structures due to very low output and high byway “add-ons”. Only governmental structures can afford UAC-set prices, and they do not like Superjet for its high western content, above 60%.

Industry How does Superjet deliver?

Looking from a historic prospective may give a better feeling of how Superjet delivers. Entry-into-service dates back to April 2011, when Armavia accepted msn 95007. Same year Aeroflot took four, making it five deliveries in the first year. Deliveries in 2012 saw six aircraft to Aeroflot; Yakutia and PT Sky Aviation accepted one each. In 2013 Yakutia acquired its second Superjet, Sky Aviation added two and Gazpromavia accepted the first deliverable Superjet 100-95 in Long Range version with 50-tonne gross weight and 4,200-km range (Aeroflot’s

Superjet 100B-Full has a 46-tonne gross weight and 2,400km range with 87 passengers). Interjet received four Superjets differing from the rest in having the Pininfarina-designed interior installed by Superjet International (SJI) completions facility near Venice in Italy. The second Superjet made in 2012 for Armavia was rejected by the intended customer and went instead to Moscowia. Besides, this airline accepted Armavia’s first airplane delivered in 2011 and returned back to the manufacturer in late 2012, and one ex-Aeroflot’s.

Out of ten Superjets that Aeroflot received in 2011-2012, six were withdrawn from the airline’s fleet during 2013 (RA89001 with 2824 FH on-wing, RA89002 2775, RA89003 3855, RA89004 3358, RA89005 2705 and RA89006 2047) on the pretext that their cabins were made to “Light” interior standard while the customer wanted “Full”. Sukhoi promised to provide seven A I R F L E E T

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“Full” aircraft for replacement in 2013 but managed only four, the last one on December 31. The airline issued a press release on that occasion. It states that the RA89022 with 12 business and 75 economy class seats has a maximum range of 2,400km. According to the document: “Thanks to the SSJ100, Aeroflot has a tool to materialize our strategy for making ourselves a global network airline and to strengthen our leadership in the domestic air transportation market”.

Statistics available from the carrier indicate that the active fleet of four “Light” and two “Full” Superjets (as of late 2013) was demonstrating an average monthly utilization of about 200 FH per operable airframe – and only four aircraft were typically available for revenue services at a time due to technical and managerial reasons. According to the airlines’ safety report 2012, ten Superjets making 8% of the fleet were responsible for 40% of all

technical snags. In two and a half years Aeroflot performed over 16,000 revenue flights on the type. During 2013 there were three cases in which an individual Aeroflot airframe had 300+ FH in a month (304 and 307.5 for RA89008 in June and October and 301 for RA89009 in October).

At the same time, the Russian flag carrier’s Superjet fleet average is merely 146 hours (2011-2013) due to a mix of teething problems and the continuing dispute on the roles to be played by the airline, aircraft manufacturer and service providers in relation to Aeroflot Superjets. By comparison, the monthly utilization for Aeroflot Airbus narrow body family averages at nearly 400 FH. Russian and overseas operators About other Russian carriers with Superjets: Gazpromavia is yet fly them commercially, Moscowia flew two in AugustNovember with modest utilization (about 150 FH), then wet-leased one to Royal Air Maroc and brought the remainder to Zhukovsky where they await their turn for repair and maintenance.

Outside Russia, three carriers fly Superjets: Indonesia’s PT Sky Aviation, Laos’ LAO Central Airlines and Mexico’s Interjet. Besides, a wet-leased Superjet is in Morocco for operational trials. Initial Superjet operations with Mexico’s Interjet demonstrate decent utilization rates “out

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Industry

of the box”, averaging at 300 hours per airframe, an excellent figure for new-forairline regional jet type operating relatively short routes. Interjet received two aircraft in summer and pressed them into revenue service in September. Third aircraft delivered in November and fourth in December. The monthly record is still with Aeroflot, though, 328 hours for RA89010 in October 2012.

PT Sky Aviation accepted third aircraft on December 18 and seems happy about the type, though utilization keeps below 200FH. The second airplane for LAO was ready by mid-summer and even made public appearance at MAKS’2013 air show, but has not gone to the intended customer.

Third Superjet destined for Laos appeared at a December press event, bearing a Laotian registration yet a Russian flag, with tail and fuselage painted white. Industry insiders told AIN that the Russians are unhappy with LAO for not paying rentals on time.

There were manufacturer-inspired rumors at the year-end that Grozny Avia, the carrier of once-rebelled Chechen Republic, would accept the two undelivered Laotian airframes. But later on the airline said that the terms offered by the manufacturers had been unacceptable.

In terms technical, the year 2013 was marked by some achievements.

Early issues with the PowerJet SaM.146 engines such as surges, in-flight shutdowns and false alarms have been

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resolved. Subsequently, the flow of airline complains dried up. Manufacturing at France’s Snecma and Russia’s NPO Saturn in 50/50 partnership on PowerJet, is now beyond the point when shortage of engines restricted aircraft output. PowerJet chairman and CEO Claude Poulain assured AIN that design targets for fuel burn, in-service reliability and performance deterioration have been met. The only way in which the SaM.146 still needs improvement is weight reduction.

The biggest achievement for Sukhoi has been the production boost from 12 Superjets in 2012 to 24 in 2013

(albeit UAC president Mikhail Pogosyan promised 30 in his NY press conference in December 2012). After a slow start, the machinists at the manufacturing site in Komsomolsk-on-Amur seem to have finally gone to business and now firmly on their way to attain the planned output of 60 airframes in 2016. This would render Superjet production profitable and help the maker pay off large debts amassed during aircraft development and production set-up. According to Sukhoi’s own figures, in 2012 the maker was selling airplanes at 20.5 million dollars whereas manufacturing costs amounted to 28 million.

SCAC president Andrei Kalinovsky

Industry

The Kremlin hopes The Kremlin has put faith in the Superjet as the project able to restore Russia’s presence in the market for commercial airplanes. It has been providing all sort of support to Sukhoi. Governmental grants on the aircraft development and design rectification are now supplemented by attractive financial packages from Kremlin-controlled VEB bank to foreign airlines willing to operate Superjets on lease terms. A year ago VEB approved two major financial programs for the Superjet. The first worth US$ 1billion is to help the maker pay off outstanding debts.

The second is US$ 2.5billion credit line for newly-built Superjets going to foreign airlines, from which Indonesian and Laotian carriers are benefitting.

Despite problems, the Superjet steadily makes its way through. As of January 2014 the number of Superjets assembled and flown reached 48, of which over forty were listed as flyable and about twenty were with airlines.

Thanks to a sufficient number of local orders funded by Kremlin-controlled financial institutions, newly-built Superjets should have enough customers for the next couple of years. Deliveries to the developing countries are also likely to continue, as far as the Russian banks can bear customer-finance packages. As per orders from the “bona fide” customer from the West, the issue remains open.

As of late 2012, Wikipedia pictured the Superjet’s as having 244 firm orders and 94 A I R F L E E T

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options. Yet “customers” come in and went out. Those who left are Sibir (S7), Finance Leasing (FLK), Avialeasing, Dalavia, Oriental Thai Airlines, KrasAir, Malev, itAli, AMA Asset Management Advisors (Suisse), Gadair European Airlines, Icelandair, Kartika… For most of 2013 Sukhoi operated a “corrected” figure of 170 orders. Yet it contains those who signed for but not arranged slots and delivery terms: Blue Panorama Airlines, Perl Aircraft Corporation, Willis Lease Corporation… Practical materialization of ComLux order for two Sukhoi Business Jets is also in doubt, for the manufacturer is apparently missing delivery dates.

Recent statements from Russian officials are not totally helpful to Superjet’s image.

Deputy prime minister responsible for military-industrial complex Oleg Rogozin told journalists: “Our new passenger airplanes are coming soon. I mean not only Sukhoi SuperJet 100… which we, no doubt, must make into a mature product – quite simply, there is no other way, we have to make this airplane a normal one. There are many things already arranged for that”. Another official, deputy minister for industry and trade Yuri Slyusar tried to explain why his ministry refused to allocate budgetary funding to the Superjet New Generation and instead injected the money into rectification of the baseline version. “Instead of making a new aircraft… we decided to concentrate funds available on curing the teething problems of the Superjet 100”.

The business jet At the media briefing earlier this year, SCAC president Andrei Kalinovsky said the following about a business aviation of the Superjet. “At MAKS-2013 airshow we won the first firm order for our airplane in the business jet version. Today, the contracted machine is being worked on, the interior is being installed. Certification for this version shall be obtained later this year. Delivery to customer is scheduled by the middle of 2014”. Kalinovsky was speaking about RA-97009, a standard Superjet 100-95B passenger plane made two years ago but not delivered to an intended customer. Exhibited at MAKS-2013, this airframe appeared in the colors of Russian arms vendor Rosoboronexport and with a mock-up VIP interior which is now being replaced with bona fide items. Rosoboronexport requires its airplane to fly from Irkutsk to Moscow (4,200km) non-stop with 20 people onboard. Outlining further plans, the SCAC leader said that “three more business airplanes are in the manufacturing plans for this year”, adding that all of these “have potential customers”. “We are talking to them on the particularity of interiors to be installed”. These four aircraft are based on the already-certified Superjet 100-95B (gross weight 45.88t) and LR (49.45t) platforms, and carry “VIP” suffix after the main designation to point out at the VIP interior outfitting.

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Industry

A “bona fine” business jet version, referred to as the Sukhoi Business Jet (SBJ), now appears to be some way off than had been promised. “The next step in this direction is through materialization of the agreement with have with ComLux”, Kalinovsky says. The Swiss operator signed for two SBJs able to transport a specified number of travelers from Paris to US Atlantic coast, with requirement for range in excess of 7,000km.

“Negotiations with the Swiss company are ongoing – they never stopped. ComLux continues to express its interest in the plane.

But you need to understand that they also have certain requirements to their airplanes.

Today, our designers and engineers are working on installation of additional fuel tanks, an additional air stairs, they are developing a new water-vacuum system enabling shower installation. Besides, any proper business jet must have Wi-Fi and inflight entertaining systems. Materialization of these and other requirements leads to a substantial modification of the baseline design of the airplane and hence with, the need for certification. We are working on the betoken airplane with the hope that it will appear in the market in 2015-2016 timeframe”.

Kremlin banks support “Our ultimate goal is to make Russian aerospace and financial products competitive in the global market”, states Alexander Ivanov, deputy chairman at Vnesheconombank (VEB). Ivanov called Sukhoi “a long-standing partner” for his Kremlin-controlled bank, with whom the latter “has spent two years structuring the workable aircraft sales system support”. The first airline to benefit from the new system has been PT Sky Aviation. The Indonesian airline signed for 12 Superjet 100-95Bs at MAKS’2011. Starting up in 2010, the carrier accepted its first Superjet in December 2012, second in the middle and the third at the end of 2013. Deliveries to PT Sky Aviation may resume in 2015, provided the airline continues to demonstrate a steady, profitable growth, Sukhoi says.

From his position, Ivanov describes the mechanism under which these three aircraft were provided as “a complex credit&lease scheme”. The bank granted the airline a

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credit worth 80 million on 12-year term to cover the lion’s share of the purchase.

Export insurance comes from EXAR, the Russian agency for insurance of export credit and investment.

Not giving exact interest rates charged

by VEB, Ivanov insists these are “quite competitive”. He argues that it could not have been otherwise in the view of “competing environment of the fast-growing Indonesian market”. Russian bankers were able to come up with good terms “because we have a good insurance for the political and economical risks from EXAR”. The airplanes are delivered through a special branch of VEB Leasing that was specially established “in the region” as a tool of convenience.

“Should the airline do not pay rentals on time and default happens, we can take airplanes aback rather quickly and efficiently, for subsequent placement with another carrier”, Ivanov insists.

“The credit&lease scheme we worked out is the one that minimizes risks for the leading funding institution. Aircraft are registered locally in a way that creates best conditions in terms country-to-country relations”.

The scheme uses elements of both finance and operating lease. “In the past we used financial lease only, but now the operating lease is trendy. In my view, modern operating lease schemes can promote placement of new Russian airplanes with airline customers”.

VEB is also a participant in the deal between Superjet International (SJI) and Interjet (ABC Aerolineas, S.A. de C.V) in which France’s Natixis acts as the lead financier. Insurance is provided by SACE of Italy and Coface of France, both in agreement with VEB on the Superjet. European banks and insurers are happy to fund the deal since the French, Italian and other EU manufacturers are on the project as vendors and suppliers (according to SJI, the western content in the SJI-supplied Superjet is over 60%).

The syndicate provided its first credit to the airline on December 19, 2013. It covers one airplane only, and will be used as specimen for funding of the remaining

SCAC news Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) achieved a twofold increase in production, by making 24 SSJ100 aircraft in 2013 compared to twelve a year before. This enabled SCAC president Andrei Kalinovsky to describe the 2013 results as “rather successful in general”.

He said the company’s revenues “almost doubled” in 2013.

“There is some lagging behind the business plan, but rather small one”, he insisted. SCAC plans to assemble 40 aircraft in 2014. Kalinovsky claimed that all aircraft due for completion in 2014 “have customers” and half of those to be assembled in 2015 also have ones. “Southeast Asia is an important market for us. This region develops fast, demonstrating a 6-7% annual growth. We hope to sell here a big portion of the 830 aircraft to be produced in accordance with our business plan”, Kalinovsky added. No new deliveries to Indonesia are planned for 2014, but a year later PT Sky Aviation (already operating three SSJ100s) may receive another batch of three aircraft in the case its growing network of routes and tickets sales rise fast enough to justify such a fleet expansion, Kalinovsky says. Lao Central Airlines ordered three Superjets with an option for six more. The first aircraft registration RDPL34195 delivered almost a year ago and has been operating it alongside two Boeing 737-400s.

“The current fleet is sufficient to maintain flights on the schedule the airline has”, Kalinovsky observes. Although RDPL-34196 was exhibited at MAKS’2013, it remains with the manufacturer.

Third airframe, RDPL-34197, was publicly demonstrated in December, and despite carrying Laotian registration is likely to go to a Russian operator. “Much

aircraft later this year. Interjet accepted two Superjets past summer and added two more by the year-end. For the first time a Russian bank takes part in an international

Industry

depends on the airline, how it will develop the network of routes and generate growth of passenger traffic. Financial obligations on the only Superjet being operated in Laos are the airline’s responsibility. Times of follow-on deliveries are yet to be agreed; no shipments to Laos are planned for 2014”, according to Kalinovsky.

In January 2014 the Russian government announced plans for additional non-refundable grants to SCAC on improvement of the Superjet baseline model: Rouble 7 billion for curing teething problems and Rouble 19.5 billion for R&D on new versions to expand the product range. “As long as the airplane lives, we will be improving it”, Kalinovsky commented. “Passenger airliner is a complex, technically complicated system which is not easy for the manufacturer to introduce into everyday airline service. There is still a question how long it will take us to solve this task”. Engineering efforts on perfecting the baseline aircraft design and onboard systems continues. This work is done on insistence of Aeroflot, which received four Superjets in 2011 and six in 2012. “Aeroflot is the launch customer for the Superjet.

With our Aeroflot colleagues we have covered a difficult way of making the new type mature for the work on the market and curing its teething problems”, Kalinovsky comments. Out of ten Superjets that Aeroflot received in 2011-2012, six were withdrawn from the airline’s fleet during 2013 on the pretext that their cabins were made to “Light” interior standard while the customer wanted “Full”.

Sukhoi promised to provide seven “Full” aircraft for replacement in 2013 but managed only four, the last one on December 31. The replacement process continues in 2014.

syndicate on similar terms with such big players as Deutsche Bank and Natixis, albeit with rather small share: VEB had provided about 6 million dollars. But VEB’s A I R F L E E T

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Media briefing by VEB and SCAC

involvement will grow as more airplanes we operate three Tupolev-214 jetliners built deliver – the contract is of twenty firms and some seven years ago. Recently, we have ten options. “Our participation means that renovated the interior of these planes for a Russia is taking the project seriously. For the better passenger appeal. Under our orders, western banks this is important and comfort- the German-made interior has been installed ing. In the end, we have a workable soluso make these airplanes closely resemble tion where every participant is happy”. the Boeing 737s also in our fleet. Our pasThe grand total of funding that VEB has sengers do not feel any difference between so far invested into the Superjet project has a Russian and a western jet when they exceeded one billion US dollars, Ivanov disembark after their flight. Also, we have said. The export sales generate cash flow signed for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 and Irkut with which the earlier investments pay off.

MC-21. We shall make a public statement “From our viewpoint as the main financier, the as soon as the Superjet customization is over more Superjets deliver, the more services its - and that has a connection to the level of manufacturer renders to airlines, the sooner quality of contracting on customer support isour earlier-made investments pay off. In that sues to do with the airplane, its engines, decase the whole project gets clearer to us”. livery of spares, as well as also cabin layout and its quality. We will announce delivery dates then. As for the MC-21, we will be Transaero plans The plans of Russia’s second largest airline discussing the matter in details after the first Transaero might be indicative and sympflight is successfully made”. At MAKS’2013 tomatic for the whole of the domestic airline IFC awarded MC-21 manufacturer Irkut industry. The carrier seeks to operate nexta firm order for 22 aircraft, bringing the generation passenger jets on lease terms total of IFC order for the MC-21 to fifty. The from Ilyushin Finance Co. (IFC). The nation’s respective document was signed in presence largest aircraft lessor earlier provided the air- of Russian prime-minister Dmitry Medveded line with three Tu-214s. Last year IFC helped by IFC general director Alexander Roubtsov Transaero, which had operated only pasand Irkut president Oleg Demchenko. Also senger jets, to expand its market presence at MAKS, IFC and Transaero signed an with addition of dedicated freighters. A pair agreement on six MC-21-300s out of the of Tupolev Tu-204-100C went to the airline lessor’s inventory to be handed over to the during 2013. At her press briefing late last airline on operating lease terms starting in year, Olga Pleshakova, Transaero CEO, 2019. confirmed the airline’s plans for next-generaVladimir Karnozov tion Russian passenger jets. She said: “Today,

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Civil Aviation

CSeries progress

Bombardier has given us a copy of the company’s recent version of marketing outlook for hundred-seatplus jetliners. It in, the Canadians are looking at next-generation airliner purchases through the prism narrowing the angle of view to 100-149 seat market segment. The maker gives the number of firm orders for CSeries at 201 aircraft to 18 customers, Airbus A319neo at 47, three customers, Boeing 737-7 MAX at 55, two customers and Embraer E190/195 E2 at 100, two customers. Supported by these figures, Bombardier states “CSeries dominates 100 to 149 seat category” with its share coming to almost half of the grant total of firm orders. Frederic Morais, director for marketing at Commercial Aircraft, asserts: “These sales figures speak for themselves. We designed our new airplane specifically for that segment and captured 75% of the customers and 50% of the firm orders today.

What we see is a payoff”.

The Canadians advise not to be

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fooled by the sheer numbers of neo and MAX orders and commitments when judging the next generation airliner designs from the perspective of their technical and economical worth.

In early 2014, Boeing had 1,763 orders for MAX and Airbus 2,610 for neo, after adding 699 and 876 new ones during the past year.

Bombardier forecasts 6,900 deliveries in the CSeries size (100-149 seats) by 2032, whereas Boeing is talking about 24 thousands in the much broader narrowbody market (up to 220 seats). “Only Bombardier offers an optimal solution in the given segment”, whereas the A319neo and 737-7 are “shrunks” and thus not that optimal. “We are even not sure whether they would really succeed with “neo” version of the A319”, Morais adds. As per Airbus designs, “neo” sales so far have been only 2% coming from the smallest family member available, while the A318 is not even considered with sharklets, LEAP or GTF powerplant.

On the Embraer’s largest E-jet family member, the observation has been that the E195 is notably enlarged, with maximum seating capacity boosted from 108-118 to 132 for the recently introduced E2 variant. To Morais eyes, this indicates that “Embraer clearly decided to make it big-

Civil Aviation

ger, recognizing the potential of that segment… the E195 is clearly migrating”. Wrapping up on the competitors, “Everybody has had to react to the appearance of CSeries… Everybody else has re-engined. CSeries is getting significant traction in the segment it was designed for. That’s because we are bringing into that segment all the high-tech applicable: composites, FBW, Aluminum-Lithium alloys with improved properties, electrical brakes and so on”.

Morais confirmed that authorization to offer on the 160-seat CS300 version has been obtained. Despite a notable increase in passenger numbers, CS300 will compete with neither A320 nor 737-8, the majors’ centerline models. Contrary to what had been reported in the press, Bombardier is not going to stretch the fuselage, and rather squeeze the larger number of passengers in by way of 28-in mono-class cabin (normally CS300 seats 135 at 32in pitch or 150 at 30in). “This is an extra capability we have with the same fuselage, similar to the recent solution for the Q400” (86 seats at 29in pitch, the version for Nok Air). A Russian airline is interested. VIM Avia и UTair-Ukraine (a wholly-owned A I R F L E E T

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Civil Aviation

Bombardier President and CEO Pierre Beaudoin and IFC general director Alexander Roubtsov subsidiary of Russia’s UTair) are listed

by Bombardier among CSeries airlines customers (S7 Airlines is not, but understood to be in as well), both to take their airplanes through IlyushinFinance Co. Whatever Bombardier has to say about CSeries firm orders won so far, it certainly needs much more than 200 units to be sold to cover the development costs earlier given at US dollar 3.9 million (the figure is likely to escalate due to the delays).

World’s practice points at 300 unit production run as the minimum to make a new airliner program break even. Bombardier certainly wants to sell thousands, not hundreds. Mirabel plans to set up a manufacturing line with annual capacity of 120 CSeries aircraft, and then add a second one

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to double the output. The walls of the new production workshop complex have been erected; by summer it shall be filled with equipment and become operational.

Knowing how the Canadians have been successful with the previous generation passenger jet design – the CRJ production run has good chances to exceed 2,000 mark, demonstrating high survivability in the changing market environments - there is little doubt that they would manage sales and production. So far the most worrying and disenchanting point has been repeated delays with flight-test program, last time attributed to “immature systems”.

A tour of Bombardier’s Mirabel plant on March 18 gave me a chance to valuate progress since the maker’s

release of a wide-view camera images on January 16. There were lesser number of airframes in the final assembly shop – it has gone down from ten to four and now boasted FTV04/05/P01 and first-CS300to-fly. Seemingly, Bombardier has a good chance to test-fly all of the aforementioned airframes by the year-end, provided the “immature systems” don’t obstruct the way.

The highest priority has been given to getting CS100 test-vehicles ready. The fourth Flight Test Vehicle, completely painted and with the Pratt&Whitney PW1500 geared furbofans hanging on the pylons, exhibited the highest readiness. To my reckoning, FTV04 can be sent to flight within weeks, not “months”, as my hosts informed.

Civil Aviation

FTV05 has been close-by, standing on its own landing gears, its airframe having been fully mated. This one is yet to be painted and yet to have the powerplant connected up. The last of CS100 prototypes, this one is to have a complete passenger-cabin interior. The seats are not in yet – I saw the set of them in another place at Mirabel, beneath the huge testing rig for emergency evacuation and fire safety testing. It is the first time Bombardier built such a facility, representing a huge tube with diameter close to that of the CSeries fuselage with no cuts for would-be passenger windows. FTV05 is to be subjected to Transport Canada as the production specimen for Part 25 certification, and be also used for accurate measuring of fuel burn and confirming advertized performance in all corners of flight envelope.

The first-CS300-to-fly (side 55001) and first deliverable CS100 (P01 and 50006) are roughly in same degree of readiness, somewhat lower that of FTV05. Both on their own undercarriage, primer-covered airframes are nearly completed mated. Cable-laying would certainly need time to be finished. The P01 had wing consoles attached, but tubing and cabling between the wing and the fuselage are incomplete and some fairings missing. Whereas it has been reported that Malmo is to be the first CS100 operator, Bombardier does not reveal the name of P01 intended receiver, and only says “it will be a European airline”.

With the addition of FTV03 in early March, there are three operable prototypes now in flight-tests. A next milestone should come with activation of full-mode of the Parker Aerospace-supplied fly-bywire flight control system. So far, flights have been conducted on FBW’s “Direct Mode” (none of the prototypes has mechanical back-up), meaning simplified control algorithms. Bombardier prefers to speak of “Augmented FBW”, i.e. the system following the comprehensive automatic flight-control algorithms. Despite earlier reports that FTV02 (“system’s airplane”) is likely to be the first to atA I R F L E E T

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tempt “Augmented FBW”, at Mirabel I heard that FTV01 is more likely. FVT03 is mainly for checking avionics, from whose items my hosts exclude FBW, thereby limiting the scope to instruments, sensors, precise navigation.

The FTV02 and FTV03 are understood to be rather busy, flying back and forth between Mirabel and Wichita “to find the weather” so as to conduct flight-test in prescribed conditions. In all, the five operable CS100 prototypes shall clock 2,400 hours aloft to attain certification.

The plant in Saint-Laurent with 4,200 labor force is the main supplier of mechanically processed parts and assemblies to Mirabel. Saint-Laurent does assembly of CSeries front fuselages, those for three deliverable CS100 and second CS300 prototypes seen there in various degree of completion.

Well-established manufacturing of parts made of composites (glass-fiber, carbon-plastic, Kevlar) use robots for

completely automatic laying of 40-45 resin layers on a single large-size airframe part with skin and force-bearing elements baked together in one of the gigantic autoclaves (seem big enough to bake the whole of detachable wing console!). Newer infusion technologies being pursued in the course of the Irkut MC-21 are not in use.

The plant also houses the CSeries static airframe since October 2012, and under tests since December 2012.

The latter will be on for 2.5 more years and then the airframe will be subjected to crash-loading. In all, at SaintLaurent and Mirabel, Bombardier has about a hundred various test rigs and 150 more on territories of vendors.

CAE is staring a full-motion simulator so as to have it ready to the time first CSeries commercial operators be in the need to start pilot training.

Vladimir Karnozov

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Technology

MOTOR SICH

"Berlin Air Show-2014"

Motor Sich JSC is a company specialized in development, manufacture and after sale maintenance of the gas turbine engines for the civil and military aviation, industrial gas turbine drives as well as gas turbine power generating sets with these drives. Recently our company is working extensively on establishment of the helicopter manufacturing industry in Ukraine.

Vyacheslav Boguslayev, President Motor Sich JSC Today activity of Motor Sich JSC exactly confirms to the criteria of market economy.

High experience enables our company to act on the world markets flexibly and efficiently. Quality and reliability of the aero engines manufactured by our company is substantiated by many years of operation in the aircraft and helicopters in more than 100 countries all over the world.

One of the acknowledged criteria of successful activity of our company is its participation in the international air shows. Motor Sich JSC exhibits constantly our products at the air shows in Germany, France, Great

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Britain, India, China, United Arab Emirates, and Russia and in other countries.

Currently the list of our engines for aircraft of various purposes includes turboprop engines and propfans having power of 400 to 14000 hp as well as bypass engines having thrust of 1500 to 23400 kgf.

From this list, it is necessary to highlight the D‑436–148 engine for the passenger aircraft of the Аn‑148 family. This engine is the next version of the D‑436 Т1 engine.

It meets modern requirements of ICAO to emission and provides for noise level for the aircraft better than specified noise requirements.

The АI‑450‑МS two-shaft auxiliary gas turbine engine is designed by Motor Sich JSC for starting the main engines of the D‑436 family powering various versions of the An‑148 aircraft and other passenger and transport airplanes. It ensures starting of the main engines as well as supply of compressed air and electric energy to the aircraft airborne systems when the main engines are not running.

Today designers of Antonov SE are designing the administrative version — Ан‑148 – 300 and transport version — Аn‑178. The Аn‑148–300 aircraft will be powered by the D‑436–148 engines, while the Аn‑178 а medium transport aircraft will be powered by the D‑436 –148FM engine that is under development now.

The D‑436–148FM is a version of the D‑436–148 engine featuring takeoff thrust increased up to 7900 kgf, as well as

thrust of 8600 kgf at emergency power rating due to use of more efficient assemblies of the engine. Completion of certification of this engine is planned for 2016.

Besides, in cooperation with IvchenkoProgress SE we were working on development of the D‑436 ТP-М engine. This engine is a version of the D‑436 ТP engine with thrust reverser-neutralizer, which improves aeroplane manoeuvrability on the water during rescue operations. The engine is designed to power amphibian airplane of the Be‑200 family.

Growing role of the military aviation is imposing higher requirements both to training of new pilots and to maintaining piloting skills and training of pilots of the combat maneuver units when using air weapons. In this connection, trainer aircraft and combat trainers are possessing important place in military air forces of any country. Aircraft performance to large extent depends on performance of its engine.

At present, more than three thousand of the trainer aircraft and combat trainers that are powered by our gas turbine engines are operated in 42 countries all over the world.

Continuing this tradition, we are participating in development of engines of the AI‑222 family in cooperation with Ivchenko-Progress SE. They provide maximum thrust within a range of 2500 to 3000 kgf, and up to 5000 kgf if afterburner is mounted.

Nowadays, the АI‑222–25 engine having the maximum thrust of 2500 kgf for the Yak‑130 combut trainers are in series production. Versions of the АI‑222 К‑25

Technology An-148

D-436-148 (without afterburner) and АB‑222 К‑25F (with afterburner) are designed for twinengined supersonic combat trainer manufactured by Chinese Company Hongdu Aviation Industrial (Group) Corporation (HAIC), which is designated as L‑15.

Maiden flight of the L‑15 aircraft powered by the АI‑222 К‑25 engine took place on May 10, 2008. Performance of the L‑15 aircraft powered by the AI‑222K‑25 engine without afterburner during testing and marketing research show that this version is attractive for the number of potential buyers and thus has right for manufacture and delivery to the aviation market as a subsonic training aircraft for the main and higher training — version L‑15AJT (Advanced Jet Trainer) in addition to L‑15LIFT (Lead in Fighter Trainer) powered by the engines with afterburners.

Today Motor Sich JSC is working extensively on the helicopter subject. Design bureau working on designing and upgrading of the helicopters is established at our company. In order to master production of our own helicopter with high performance A I R F L E E T

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and for market promotion of our helicopters, ‘Helicopters of Motor Sich’ company was established.

In order to improve performance of the helicopters and their efficiency when operating in the high mountain areas of hot climate countries, in September 2007 Motor Sich JSC completed work on development of the ТV3–117VМА-SBМ1V engine. By its performance, this engine meets modern technical requirements. In 2009 the ТV3–117VМА-SBМ1V engine was accepted for service by Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The use of design solutions optimized earlier on the engines of the TV3–117V family, as well as high experience in the field of designing, manufacture, operation and overhaul of the helicopter engines manufactured by Motor Sich JSC during more then 60 years make it possible to develop engine with new qualities.

Engine operating ratings are adapted optimally to operating conditions on various types of helicopters. Its automatic control system makes it possible to adjust one of the following values of the takeoff

power — 2500, 2400, 2200 or 2000 hp, and it ensured its maintaining at higher ambient air temperature and flight altitude in comparison to the existing versions of engines of the TV3–117V family including the VK‑2500 engines powering the Mil’s and Kamov’s helicopters.

For use in the projects for new helicopters, the ТVЗ‑117VМА-SBМ1V, series 1, version with digital control system of the FADEC type is under development, while the ТVЗ‑117VМА-SBМ1V, series 2, version with new electronic governor is already developed and certified. The use of new automatic control systems will result in further improvement of performance of the engines and helicopters.

The ТV3–117VМА-SBМ1V, series 4 and 4 Е, engines (with pneumatic or electric starting systems) are also versions of the ТV3–117VМА-SBМ1V engine and are designed for re-engining of earlier manufactured helicopters of the Mi‑8T type for improving their performance especially when operating under conditions of hot climate and high mountain takeoff airfields.

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Technology

Mi-8MSB

TV3-117VMA-SBM1V series 4E Maiden flight of the Mi‑8T helicopter powered by the ТV3–117VМА-SBМ1V, series 4, engines took place on November 10, 2010 on the airfield of Motor Sich JSC. In August 2013, the Mi‑8MSB helicopter powered by these engines broken several records including flight to altitude of 9150 meters, which is by 238 meters higher than the height of Everest.

Today the world needs small aviation and in this connection Motor Sich JSC participates extensively in activity of Ivchenko-Progress SE aimed at development of small sized turboshaft and turboprop engines of the АI‑450 family having takeoff power of 450 to 600 hp.

By technical, economy and environmental characteristics these engines will be some of the best in its class. The АI‑450

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engine is capable to takeoff with helicopters having load carrying capacity of 1200 to 2000 kg.

Efforts of two companies are concentrated now on the АI‑450 М version having takeoff power of 400 hp and 465 hp depending on adjustment of the automatic control system designed for re-engining of the Mi‑2 helicopters manufactured earlier.

In parallel, we work with the turboprop АI‑450S and АI‑450S‑2 versions having takeoff power of 400 and 750 hp, respectively, designed for airplanes of the general aviation and training aircraft. At present, we began bench testing of the АI‑450S engine and are finishing manufacture of three engines for flight testing.

The АI‑450S engine is designed to power the EV‑55 two-engined multipurpose

aircraft manufactured by Czech Republic.

Taking into consideration the changes in situation in the world helicopter market, our company is developing the family of turboshaft engines of new generation, namely МS‑500V, designed to power various purpose helicopters having takeoff weight of 3.5 to 6 tons.

Development of engines of the МS‑500V family is oriented on development of promising competitive with foreign alternatives reliable, light-weight and efficient engines with low cost of life cycle. Layout of the basic engine was chosen on the basis of condition of use of the high-pressure single-stage centrifugal compressor with compressor pressure ratio 11 at sufficiently high efficiency and ensurence of required margins of the gas dynamic stability.

Technology

AI-222-25 Research and development efforts on this compressor are performed by specialists of Motor Sich JSC. At present, the МS‑500V engine successfully passed testing in the environmental chamber of TsIAM. Certification testing is nearing completion.

The D‑136 engine is the largest helicopter engine manufactured by Motor Sich JSC. At maximum takeoff rating it develops power of 11400 hp (at tamb = 15ºС) and by this parameter and efficiency it has no competitors in the world.

The D‑136 engine is operated on the Mi‑26 helicopter and its versions having the largest load-carrying capacity in the world.

Maiden flight of this helicopter took place on December 14, 1977. Further, 14 world records were broken by this helicopter.

Designers of Ivchenko-Progress SE develA I R F L E E T

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oped project on upgrading of the D‑136 engine, which will be implemented in cooperation with Motor Sich JSC. The new engine is designated as D‑136–2 and at maximum takeoff power rating it develops power of 11500 hp, which is maintained up to tamb = 40ºС. In addition, emergency power rating of 12200 hp was also introduced. The D‑136–2 engine is designed to power the Mi‑26Т2 upgraded helicopter.

Nowadays, activity of Motor Sich JSC exactly confirms to the world economy criteria. Strategy of activity of our company is directed to increase in manufacturing volume and marketing of products, mastering of serial production of new promising articles, expansion of the products selling markets, attainment of maximum profit from all types of activity.

MOTOR SICH JSC 15, Motorostroiteley Av. Zaporozhye 69068, Ukraine Tel.: (+38061) 720-48-14 Fax: (+38061) 720-50-05 E-mail: eo.vtf@motorsich.com http//www.motorsich.com

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Big boss talking

ATR

«in Russia and Ukraine» In the market for regional, propeller-driven aircraft, ATR - a joint venture between Alenia Aermacchi and EADS -competes with Bombardier. In its recent outlook, the European manufacturer predicts solvent demand in Russia for 200-250 turboprops over the next twenty years. Today, ATR makes airplanes with 42 and 72 seats in a typical cabin layout. Besides, there is a draft design of a 90-seat turboprop; it has been subjected for approval to Airbus and Finmeccanica. Vladimir Karnozov spoke to vice-president for sales in Russia & CIS mister Bernard Fondo about current state and prospects of ATR aircraft.

Q. How many ATR aircraft are in service with Russian carriers today?

There are two Russian airlines that fly our aircraft: UTair and NordStar. UTair has a branch in the Ukraine. If we add up the number of airplanes based in the Ukraine, to the fleet in Russia, the total number for this airline comes to 36 units. NordStar operates seven aircraft.

Together it makes a grand total of 43

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aircraft.

Q. Another prominent manufacturer of turboprop aircraft, Bombardier, has recently reported new sales in the Russian market and even signed for local assembly. They also have good airplanes, do not they?

Yes, but if you take a close look at the global aircraft market over the last five years, you will find that ATR won above

80% market share.

Q. What are the main advantages of ATR aircraft over the competition?

Let me answer your question in another way. Let us ask: what are the clients asking for? And the answer [that follows] is valid not only in Russia, but also the whole world. The clients want their aircraft to be safe. And both aircraft are safe, that’s for sure. Next, they are

Big boss talking

asking for comfort and low operational costs. On both points the ATR is ahead of the completion. Compared to the Q400, the operating cost for the ATR72 is 30% lower. Few people are ready to pay 30% extra per a ticket only for the purpose of arriving at their final destination some ten minutes earlier. That’s the main point for us.

Q. Bombardier claims more baggage space per passenger for the Q400. Is that it?

I think it depends on what you count in. Bombardier is counting in the volume under the seats, which we are not doing and which is not a standard way when people count. Besides, their aircraft, the Q400, is somewhat bigger, and has up to 78 seats. Our largest model can take in only 72 passengers. In terms of space for bags per passenger, these airplanes are comparable.

What I would like add is that in terms of accessibility, the ATR-72 is better, because its cargo holds are placed at the front and at the aft of the aircraft. At the front we have a cargo door, so you can load the baggage and cargo in by hands. The Q400 has the cargo hold at the back of the aircraft. This hold is located quite high above the ground.

In order to load cargo or baggage you need a special loading system.

Remote airports in Russia are often not equipped with systems like that. This creates a problem with accessibility.

Loading by hand is easier.

Q. The Q400 used to have a superior glass cockpit. Do you think the new glass cockpit on the ATR-42/72-600 is more advanced?

It is true that the -600 has the latest generation cockpit from Thales. Similar avionics packages are found in the Airbus A380 and the Sukhoi Superjet 100.

In my opinion, the -600s’ cockpit is the most modern in the regional aviation.

This is another point where the ATR has advantage over the competition.

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Q. To what extent your avionics suite is more advanced than the Q400’s?

The avionics package for the Q400 was integrated onto the airplane when it was being prepared for flight tests and certification, and that was quite a long time ago. The ATR42/72 -600 is a more recent airplane. The -600 uses the avionics that was repackaged from the A380 and the Superjet. It represents a much younger generation of avionics.

Over the past ten years a whole lot in the field of avionics has been evolved and improved. What we have now on the -600 is the latest series of the avionics available elsewhere.

Q. Which airplane is less expensive to run?

By our estimates, operating costs for ATR aircraft are 30% lower than those for the Bombardier products if we take account of overall maintenance costs: engines + airframe + components.

Q. What is your company doing to ensure safe aircraft operations in Russia, in the view of the tough climates in Siberia and Northern territories: very low ambient temperatures, severe icing conditions?

The ATR-42/72 family aircraft have been flying with Russian airlines for about seven years now. Our aircraft are used to operate in very cold climates, not only in Russia. They have been successful in Canada, Finland and Sweden.

Let’s take Canada for example. Basically all the operations in the far north of Canada are made with ATR aircraft.

Airplanes from other makers, such as De Haviland, are mostly used in the south of Canada. Up there in the north, the company called First Air has been operating the ATR aircraft.

Q. What can you tell about the specifics of Russian ATR operations?

As I said earlier, there are two airlines operating ATR aircraft in Russia now,

UTair and NordStar. These airlines have main bases in Moscow and Kransnoyarsk. Operating out of Krasnoyarsk, the ATR aircraft serve some small localities of the region, up to Norilsk.

NordStar has been operating their ATR aircraft for two years now. During winter, the ambient temperature in the area drops down – 40, - 45 degree Celsius, and sometimes the ATR aircraft operate in the lowest temperature they have been certified for. You had better ask the airline about their experience with ATR, but what I know is that they are very happy with their aircraft.

Q. What kind of de-icing system is in use on the ATR aircraft?

They have a de-icing system that is pneumatic. It is a classic design.

Q. What are you doing to have more ATR operators in Russia?

First off, we are very happy to have the two customers already. UTair is one of the most dynamic airlines in Russia and one of the country’s top five. NordStar is a growing airline, now part of the top 15. We are very happy about their recent developments. Obviously, we want to have more customers. We do a lot of activity to promote our aircraft and place them with other airlines.

Also, we do a lot of activities in order to ensure that our aircraft match the area of operations. Not long ago we published the news that our aircraft was certified by the Russian civil aviation authorities for operations from unpaved runways.

Q. “Unpaved runways” can be understood in different ways. Can you be more specific?

This certification covers unpaved runways. It does not cover metallic runways which are present in some places. The term “unpaved” can refer to many kinds of different soils. Normally it refers to bare ground or sands; runways can be covered with grass. For example,

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Big boss talking

provider located nearby. This is what UTair did. Transas Aviation’s headquarters are in St. Petersburg, the city located not very far from the airline’s main operational base.

Q. Can pilots have exercises in the cockpit of real aircraft instead of simulators?

As I said, pilots are advised to spend a specified number of hours flying simulators and full flight simulators in particular. There is an alternative to use the real aircraft’s cockpit for some training. But the most usual way is to have time on simulators.

Q400 NextGen pilot station unpaved runways are found in the cities like Lensk and some places in Yakutia, Yakutsk region, such as Bodaibo. Our aircraft has been certified for operations from those points. In these cases we are talking about ground runways and compacted sands which can be with little stones pressed in.

Q. How do the Russian airlines prepare pilots for the ATR aircraft?

There is a standard procedure which, among other things, requires some simulator training as part of the in-type qualification courses. Training can be done in Russia or abroad. In any case, pilots must have a period of simulator time. Some simulator flying can be done on the simulator that UTair has. It is a fixed simulator, without motion. That necessitates the pilots to spend some more hours in other location where a full flight simulator is available. For this, they have a choice made up by many places in Europe and Asia. It is one of the strength of ATR, a variety of options for simulator training, a very large network of training centers.

Q. Obviously, you are referring to the simulator that UTair acquired from a Russian maker, Transas Aviation. Are you OK with that device?

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Yes, the device is OK. It meets the requirements of the Russian civil aviation authorities.

Q. Has ATR verified whether this particular simulator emulates the aircraft well enough?

It is not our business; it is the matter between the airline and the authorities.

The aforementioned simulator has been verified by the civil aviation authorities.

Q. Is the ATR simulator in Tyumen is the only one in Russia for the type now?

Right now the one with UTaur is the only one in Russia. But there are more simulators available near the Russian border. For example, there are simulators in Helsinki, Toulouse, as well as in Spain, Germany, UK and Czech Republic.

Q. I heard that one of the reasons for UTair to contract Transas Aviation on the ATR simulator was that the airline experienced shortage of simulator time available in locations near to its main operational base.

There is a good way to minimize costs by ordering a simulator from a local

Q. Question about heavy maintenance.

The matter is somewhat easier for an Airbus or Boeing, because they fly fast over long distances. With ATR aircraft the matter is somewhat more complicated. How do you address this?

The most frequent forms of heavy maintenance are… up to C Checks. All of these forms can be done in Russia.

Only once in every 8 years the aircraft shall be subjected to a heavier form of maintenance.

Q. Have you been to the UTair’s base in Tyumen? If so, what can you tell about the level of maintenance and repair facilities UTair has there?

UTair’s maintenance organization in Tyumen is certified for up to C checks by our subsidiary EADS Technik. Besides, another Russian MRO, S7 Technik, is certified for the major overhaul on the ATR. They do that sort of work in their base in Novosibirsk. So, there are two MROs in Russia that can do heavy maintenance on the ATR aircraft.

Q. Have they done C Checks already?

Yes, both of them.

Q. What’s about D Checks? Does this airplane require a D Check?

Big boss talking

D Checks on the aircraft in the Russian fleet will happen later. On the ATR aircraft there is somewhat different maintenance program compared to that on the Boeing jetliners. To start with, this D Check does not exist as “D-Check”: instead, we have “ATR check” and 36,000 cycles check (which is typically done once in 15-16 years). I am not sure whether either of those has been done in Tyumen. There are many centers in Germany and France where the aircraft of the Russian operators can undergo this sort of checks.

Q. Do you have orders from Russia that are yet to be fulfilled?

The most recent order we had came from UTair. It was placed three years ago and was for delivery of twenty -500 aircraft. All aircraft on this and earlier orders placed by Russian customers have been delivered already.

Q. So you need to make some more effort to achieve new sales and thus keep the production running?

Yes, obviously. To make new sales, we need to deliver our promises and make our best. Our sales campaigns are active all over the world, including Russia.

Q. At MAKS’2013, Bombardier and its Russian partners signed agreement on Q400 local assembly. I heard that once upon a time some Indian companies were urging ATR to set up an assembly line in their home country. Why this idea did not materialize?

My area of responsibility does not cover India, so I can only speak of the local assembly issue on a more general basis. To organize a final assembly line you need to have a strong business case. To make ends meet, you need to produce a sufficient number of aircraft. Besides, you need the A I R F L E E T

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RECENT UPDATE ATR is one of the world’s very few aircraft manufacturers serving the regional aviation market. ATR turboprop aircraft are recognized as ecofriendly, and widely respected for their efficiency, reliability and economics on short-haul routes. Today more than 180 operators fly ATRs in over 90 countries worldwide. ATR is an equal partnership between two major European aeronautics players, the Airbus Group and Alenia Aermacchi (a Finmeccanica Group company). In the first four months of 2014 the European maker enjoyed an outstanding intake of over 100 firm orders.

Since the beginning of the current year, sales of new ATR -600s represent over 80% of total orders for regional aircraft below 90-seats announced so far. ATR's commercial results achieved in the first four months of the year already surpassed outcomes of the whole 2013 with firm orders for 89 ATR -600s. Up to date, ATR has unveiled orders for the United Arab Emirates' leasing firm DAE (20 firm ATR 72-600s and 20 options) and 6 firm ATR 72-600s for the Canary Islands-based Binter Canarias. Beyond these firm orders for 26 ATR 72-600s and 20 options already announced, ATR has booked 8 additional contracts for 81 firm aircraft plus 41 options.

Filippo Bagnato, ATR's Chief Executive Officer said: “Based on these positive results, our current backlog largely exceeds 300 aircraft”. As of today, ATR has sold over 470 ATR '-600 series' aircraft, and some 150 are already operating worldwide in the liveries of 35 carriers.

required level of technical skills. I am not sure whether those who wanted to build the aircraft locally were able to meet these two requirements.

Q. The most recent aircraft in Russian operation is the ATR72-500. What advantages a Russian airline can get if it places order for the newer -600 version?

The - 600 is the latest evolution of the ATR aircraft family. Basically, the operating costs are quite similar with the previous version -500. The pilot cockpit, however, comes equipped with more advanced avionics of the latest generation.

This gives the pilots a feeling of having the latest technology. The benefits are lower workload and more precise naviga-

tion. The -600 also features Automatic Checklist. The system works to the same principle as on all Airbus aircraft: the computer is advising you what to do in case of failure. Besides, the pilots can use flight bags. We are now in the process of testing iPads to be used by pilots in flight.

Furthermore, the interior on the -600 is all refurbished, so that the airplane features a more comfortable cabin. The interior design is more elegant and spacious.

Besides, lighter seats enable some weight saving. Overhead beans are larger so that you can put the standard IATA baggage items in. All this makes passenger flight experience more enjoyable.

Vladimir Karnozov

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Big boss talking

Claude Poulain:

SaM.146 is a strong part of the Superjetman During development and flight tests of the SaM.146, its developers and intended customers were sometimes upset with the engine’s surges, false sensor alarms and other technical and reliability issues. But most recent reports from the airlines actually flying the Sukhoi Superjet 100 – so far the only aircraft type to rely on the abovementioned motor - indicate that the inevitable teething problems (that did affect the SaM.146 in the past) are no longer observed on the operable examples powering in-service airplanes. At the same time, the airframe itself and some of its components continue to suffer from numerous problems to do with reliability and customer support. As a result, flight time being amassed by the growing Sukhoi Superjet 100 fleet remains relatively low on per-aircraft basis. To better understand what is going on, Air Fleet chief editor Vladimir Karnozov spoke to Claude Poulain, the newly appointed chairman and executive officer at PowerJet – a joint venture between NPO Saturn of Russia and Snecma of France. Powerjet was established by the partners to see to the SaM.146 development, production and sales.

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Q. At the early stages of the SAM.146 testing and manufacturing, we heard of some issues with these engines.

But as time went on, he heard of SaM.146-related problems less and less. At the same time, the Superjet continues to be criticized for persisting reliability problems. So it seems PowerJet did better than the airframer and some of its suppliers. Why, do you think, PowerJet did better than other Superjet vendors in tackling the teething problems at and after entry-into-service (EIS)? What is your secret?

Big boss talking

There is no secret. We have developed a sound engine with the proven architecture. The engine has an interesting high pressure compressor with only six stages, but we managed to have been successful in that. In fact, the SaM.146 has been doing very well. On the engine side, the aircraft in operation have been demonstrating high reliability from the beginning. Today, we do not have any major issues with the in-service engines.

It is true to say that we do not create any operational problems to the airlines flying the Superjet. So, there is no secret except that Snecma and our Russian partner NPO Saturn have had a tremendous progress since the program start ten years ago. We have been able to deliver engines with the right reliability right from the start of Superjet service with Aeroflot, the Russian flag carrier.

We are very proud over the fact that the engine has a very good EGT ("exhaust gas temperature") margin, even better than we had anticipated. This makes it a good asset for the airlines since they stay longer on-wing.

Q. Do you have growth potential in terms of thrust?

We have already gone up by 5%. At the beginning we had the initial model designated 1S17. Now we have the 1S18 for the Long Range version of the Superjet. With that, we have been able to provide the additional 5% of thrust without any hardware change. [During a ceremony on August 29th at the MAKS’2013 airshow, Gazpromavia airline accepted the first deliverable Sukhoi Superjet 100 LR, suffix for the Long Range. This version of the regional jet is powered by SaM.146 1S18 engines. Gazpromavia acts as the launch customer for the SSJ100 LR, with the contract for ten such aircraft placed at MAKS’2011.

Among advantages of the SaM146 1S18 is the increase in thrust by 5% over the previous 1S17 version, to 16,100 lb, enabling the Superjet to increase its maximum takeoff weight].

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Q. Now the airframer is talking about the Sukhoi Business Jet that will fly even further. Launch customer ComLux intends to fly its SBJs from Paris into the US non-stop. Are you confident enough that the SAM146 can do Cross-Atlantic missions without a problem? Do you think ETOPS requirements can be met with this engine?

We are confident, of course. For installation on the SBJ we deliver the engines in the 1S18 version. At the same time, for the business jets there are no ETOPS rules.

They have other rules, dissimilar to those for commercial airplanes. So we have not formally applied to the authorities for ETOPS. In fact, it is a choice of the airframer. You need to certify the airplane and the airline if you want to fly commercial passengers over the ocean. Of course, if somebody wants to serve a VIP charter and sells this service on the marketplace, then, probably, that one would decide whether to apply for ETOPS certification. For my part, I am confident that we can meet all the necessary standards for the Cross-Atlantic flights. As you probably know, our parent company Snecma and its industrial partner in the US - General Electric - provide, via CFM International, the CFM56 series engines to the Boeing Business Jets and the Airbus Corporate Jetliners. These are twin engine airplanes safely flying very long distances.

Q. Right now Sukhoi is talking about ramp-up of the Superjet production. Do you think PowerJet can cope with the increase in aircraft production rates?

Surely, we think we are able to provide the required number of engines for the Sukhoi company. To ensure that, both Snecma and NPO Saturn are very capable manufacturers. So, they can cope with the increase in production.

Q. Are you considering any changes or improvements to the current production engines?

We have not made any fundamental changes for the moment, but we have al-

ready incorporated certain improvements.

For example, we are working on ways to reduce the engine's weight. This is one of the objectives we're aiming for within the scope of our continuous improvement initiative. Moreover, we have been progressing from the entry into service, supporting the operation. Today, the situation is just like you said in the beginning: no issues with SaM.146 reliability, no drawbacks being reported by the airlines.

We have a very good reliability in service. We have a good SFC (specific fuel consumption). It is important to notice that we were at the specification on entry-intoservice, and it is so unique nowadays to be on the spec at EIS! And now, after few years of production (2.5), we are even better than the spec.

Q. Every engine has deterioration in performance as it logs flying hours.

Have you assessed what deterioration the SaM.146 has had in service? What do you do to ensure that the deterioration rates are kept in check?

You probably know that the CFM56 is famous for its low deterioration rates. With the SaM146 we have the same proven architecture with some modern components such as the reshaped high pressure compressor with lesser number of stages. So, we do not see a reason why we should be doing worse than the CFM56. In fact, we think the deterioration rates will be comparable.

Again, this claim is based on the fact that we use the CFM56-proven architecture. I am not speaking of the [newly developed motor called] LEAP, since this one is based on different technologies. But as compared to the CFM56, the SaM.146 has either same or better technologies. Compared to the CFM56-3, the SaM.146 has some better technologies in it, and some of them are even better than those in the more advanced CFM56-7 now in production.

So there is no reason why the SaM.146 should deteriorate more. As of this time, we are following the parameters of in-service engines, and do not see any deviation to our predictions. This is so because the SaM.146 has an excellent pedigree!

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Big boss talking TABLE 1. SaM.146 vital data Version Application

1S17 SSJ100-95B

Thrust at emergency power mode Thrust at normal takeoff mode Fan diameter Bypass ratio Overall pressure ratio (at max climb mode) EASA certification date

17,300lb 15,400lb 48in 4.4 28 June 2010

1S18 SSJ100-95LR, SBJ 17,800lb 16,100lb 48in 4.4 28 January 2012

Claude Poulain became the new Chairman and CEO of PowerJet on July 10, 2013. In that capacity he replaces Jacques Desclaux (in this post since since February 2011) who is taking up other duties. The respective decision was made by the company’s board of directors who met on July 8, 2013 at Snecma’s headquarters. Claude Poulain, 59, is a graduate from the Paris Business School ESSEC and got his Mechanical and Electrical Engineer diploma from ESME (Paris). He started his career in 1981 at Snecma’s Genevilliers plant as financial controller joining then in 1986 CFM International SA as company secretary [CFM International is a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran) and GE. It develops, produces and markets the LEAP and CFM56 family of engines]. In 1988, Claude Poulain was named head of commercial transactions and customer finance for CFM International at Snecma’s Marketing and Sales division. From 1994 till 2001, Claude Poulain was senior VP Finance at Snecma taking care of both structured and customers finances. From 2001 to 2009, he was at the head of the commercial engines market, in charge of marketing the CFM56 and SaM.146 engines. In 2010, Claude Poulain is named Snecma senior Vice President commercial strategy for commercial engines and services and senior VP Marketing & Sales for PowerJet. Founded in July 2004, PowerJet is a joint venture of Snecma (Safran) of France and NPO Saturn of Russia.

The company manages the SaM.146 engine program, including development, production, marketing and sales, as well as customer support and MRO services. In April 2003, the SaM.146 engine was selected to power Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet.

Q. Pratt & Whitney is introducing into service the GTF (“geared turbofan”) or PurePower family of engines. These are said to be 15% more fuel efficient than the current engines. What’s your answer to that challenge?

The GTF is still under development. No aircraft with a GTF engine is in service yet. At the same time, the SaM.146 has proved its reliability during more than two years in operation. If an airline wants an aircraft in the short time, it has rather narrow choice of airplanes and engines.

There is the Embraer E-series and Bombardier CRJ, both powered by the CF34 from General Electric. But the latter airplanes – they are not offering the same level of

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passenger comfort. Besides, the SaM.146 is more advanced than the competition available now. As per next-generation aircraft, there are some issues with their timely availability. As we read in the press, the MRJ is postponed till 2017 - officially now. Embraer’s improved jet is scheduled for 2018. At the same time, Sukhoi is going to have a ramp-up. For engines sized for regional jets like the SaM.146, a gearbox would be problematic… because we think this type of architecture introduces too many complexity and risks, without any advantages. For a regional aircraft engine, reliability as well as low cost and easy maintenance are among the main benefits sought by the operators.

For instance, a geared fan is supposed to

Claude Poulain chairman and executive officer, PowerJet reduce the number of stages in an engine, but the SaM.146 already has two or three fewer stages than the PurePower family of engines for regional aircraft. This viewpoint of ours is shared by Snecma. You know that with its US partner GE, Snecma is working on the LEAP. They have deliberately selected a direct drive architecture for the same reasons, that is to say reliability, simplicity and proven architecture. And now we can see that the LEAP is a highly efficient engine as well as a concentrate of new technologies. In fact, if you want to have your airplane’s engines to have a gearbox, you cannot have it right now.

You have to wait till 2019 or 2020, when some new aircraft are said to be available for delivery.

Q. Sukhoi’s product is competing with the Embraer E-190/195. The Brazilian airplanes rely on the CF34 engines.

What are your advantages over the Embraer’s engines?

We know that fact very well because we are supporting Sukhoi in the worldwide sales campaign. The aforementioned aircraft have the CF34-10 engines,

Big boss talking

As of August 31, 2013 a total of 38 SaM.146 engines were in operation. By that time they had accumulated 54,271 flight hours in 34,597 cycles. The maker PowerJet describes the product in the following way: «The SaM.146 is the result of an in-depth investigation into all the qualities needed for a durable regional jet engine, offering high performance, cost-effectiveness and eco-design in a powerful, compact package. It was designed from the ground up to reduce total cost of ownership by combining low fuel burn, high reliability, low direct maintenance costs, environmental-friendliness and high resale value.»

which are, in a way, a scale down of the CFM56. The SaM.146 has been developed after the CFM56, so it benefited from the then-recent R&D programs done

by Snecma. In other words, the SaM.146 is more advanced. Because the Superjet is a regional aircraft, we focused more at the time on the maintenance costs than fuel burn improvement. And yet at EIS we were slightly better on the specified fuel burn than the CF34-10. So the actual SaM.146s are even better in terms of SFC than the CF-34. In addition, we developed the engine to have lesser number of parts; we developed the engine to have an advantage on the maintenance cost compared to in-service engines. Besides, we have higher margins for the noise and emission because the SaM.146 was developed later and took advantage of the A I R F L E E T

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new technologies available at the time.

We believe that the SaM.146 is a strong part of the Superjet when it comes to comparison with other in-service aircraft.

Q. You have recently been appointed as the new chairman and executive officer at PowerJet. A new leader is meant to have some ideas how to develop his company. So, do you have some ideas how to make PowerJet better?

The company in itself is a joint venture between Snecma and NPO Saturn. The company is managing the SaM.146 program and in charge of marketing and sales. This is so because the partners wanted to have a single face to the customer. I think PowerJet has been good at

it. In a sense we do not need changes in this regard. At the same time, we always need to improve in customer services and support. For example, we want to draw on the extensive expertise built up through CFM International, and feedback from nearly 600 customers, to further improve PowerJet support services. This is being demonstrated on a daily basis with our current customers, especially Interjet, which recently [September 18, 2013] commenced commercial flights on the Superjet [as the show in Dubai opens, Interjet has three such aircraft in operation].

We have assigned staff to the airline to help ensure cost-effective operation of the SaM.146 and their aircraft. This is something we are focusing on.

Vladimir Karnozov

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Airshows PAKFA in V-like formation

MAKS:

the military side The eleventh International Aerospace Salon MAKS’2013 in Zhukovsky near Moscow attracted over a thousand local firms. Over 340,000 visitors gave their attendance. The show had the largest-ever foreign exposition: 287 companies from 44 countries. The exhibition area grew to 20,000 square meters of roofed space and 140,000 square meters of outdoor expo area. The latter was large enough to accommodate 176 aircraft in the static line.

A total of 256 locally- and 49 foreign- made aircraft made their appearance at the show. Of those, 116 were demonstrated in the air. There were nine display teams on 60 aircraft, including six Chengdu J-10A/B fighter jets. They belong to PLAAF 1-st August team on first-ever tour outside Chinese national territory. Worth of mention is the fact that the J-10 came to existence thanks to a substantial Russian assistance.

It covers the supply of AL-31FN engines and sharing of the radar, smart weapons etc.

At MAKS2013 the Almaz-Antey Concern of Air Defense Means exhibited for the first time the S-350E Vityaz SAM consisting of 50P6A transporter/erector/launcher (TEL) loaded with

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twelve 6M96/6M96E missiles featuring active radar seekers, 50N6A multifunctional radar, 50K6A control post all on BAZ 8x8 wheeled chassis. The system can guide up to 32 missiles at a time within the 360 degree body angle, and simultaneously engage 16 conventional enemy aircraft or up to 12 cruise missiles flying as low as 10 m above the ground surface.

The main means of kinetic action against the hostile flying vehicles is the 9M96 series missile with a maximum firing range of 60km. Development of that system commenced in 2007. In production at the Obukhov Plant, the S-350E has just begun fire trials in preparation for EIS in 2015. The Vityaz shall replace the ageing S-300PS and S-300PM/PMU. At a governmental meeting on current state and prospects for Russian combat aviation held on the eve of MAKS'2013, president Putin said the national defense procurement program allocates Rouble 5 trillion for the air force acquisitions, or one-fourth of the grand total for the whole of Armed Forces. Plans call for purchase of two thousand airplanes and helicopters so as to bring the share of modern aircraft in the air force inventory up to 70%.

The president was expected but did not attend the show for the first time he served in this capacity. In these circumstances prime-minister Dmitry Medvedev accepted the leading role.

Addressing MAKS’2013 participants from the stage of the International Aviation Congress held in frame of the show, he noted the aviation industry has “its own problems” such as long cycles and high technological risks. To reduce them, the Kremlin will continue to inject public funds into the local industry.

Last year these injections accounted for “nearly 90 billion Roubles”, or thirty times more than in the beginning of this century, Medvedev said. As a result, over the past decade, the volume of Russian aircraft production rose twofold.

“On one hand, this is a good rise, on the other…. we are not satisfied with this”, the PM said. Past year the income of the whole industry employing nearly 400 thousand barely exceeded Rouble 1 trillion. “It is clear that, despite the post-crisis environment, the global aviation market will rise. We need to sale our aerospace products worldwide”.

Medvedev especially mentioned the business version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, the

Airshows

improved Tu-204SM, the PAKFA fifth generation fighter and “a number of 4++ generation aircraft” on display at MAKS as able to generate interest from the side of foreign customers.

The PM emphasized the need for international cooperation in aircraft development and production, “such as that arranged in the course of the Superjet program”. Medvedev thanked “world’s leading manufacturers” taking part in this effort. “There are some plans by [UAC and COMAC] to produce a wide body airplane. The use of new composite materials is centerpiece of the Russo-Austrian program on development of multirole airplanes. We also work on creation of joint products in the sphere of helicopters with our Italian partners. Hopefully, all products aforementioned have good market prospects, otherwise we’d rather not waste time on them”, he concluded.

During the show contacts worth US dollar 21.2 billion were signed. While MAKS’2011 focused on defense contracts, this year’s event concentrated on civilian products. The only notable deal on defense products signed at the show was an agreement between the Russian defense ministry and United Aircraft Corporation on keeping in-service aircraft airworthy, with estimated value of 3 billion dollars. At the same time, firm orders and commitments came for 15 Tu-204SM and 82 MC-21 narrow body jets and 96 Superjets worth in excess of 10 billion. Framework agreements on the Bombardier Q400 NextGen to be assembled locally calls for a hundred deliveries worth 3.4 billion.

The Sukhoi T-50, also known as PAKFA, Russian acronym for Perspective Aviation Complex for Frontal Aviation, was again the brightest star of MAKS. On the opening day three such aircraft appeared in a three-ship “V-like” formation, making it the first time the Russian fifth generation fighters ever flew in this style.

The airplanes were controlled by test-pilots Roman Kondratiev, Sergei Chernyshev and Sergei Bogdan – the former also flies solo in the PAKFA after the formation breaks.

Speaking to media at MAKS’2013, Russian air force commander Lt. Gen. Victor Bondarev said the PAKFA project is currently at the experimental phase of development. “Operable specimens continue to undergo manufacturer’s trials in preparation to submission to the defense ministry for state acceptance trials. The latter A I R F L E E T

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will last for a minimum of three years. After the aircraft is checked for compliance to the tactical&technical specification, it will be accepted into service”, he stated.

In the third quarter 2013, examples of PAKFA are expected at an air force base for trials to be performed by Russian air force crews.

With first flight in January 2010, the aircraft is now available in four operable examples, with fourth having made a ferry flight from the manufacturing site in Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Zhukovsky in January this year. The maker promises to have eight aircraft by the end of this year.

Victor Bondarev further said that a hundred of new airplanes and over 300 helicopters have already been delivered, while in-service MiG-31 Mach 3 interceptors and Su-25 attack aircraft continue to undergo modernization. "Imported avionics" is being installed into Russian air force aircraft in increasing quantities

A-50U

PAKFA

Su-34

Il-76MD-90A 39

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"in order to ensure that our airframers satisfy our demanding requirements to their new and upgraded end-products". Bondarev expects "the next-gen strategic bomber" (apparently, PAK DA, Russian acronym for Perspective Aviation Complex of Long Range Aviation) to enter service in the beginning of the next decade.

The Russian air force modernizes An-124 Ruslan super large air lifter fleet at a rate of two airframes a year. The defense ministry has already placed order for 39 Il-76MD-90A heavy air lifters and, as Bondarev announced at the show, is preparing a separate contract for "about 40" Il-478 tankers on the same platform.

Replacement of ageing An-24/26 tactical airlifters is going on with deliveries of Russian-built An-140-100 passenger airplanes with minor modifications. "We shall have 11 such aircraft in the inventory in 2014", he added.

The air defense units have already received a number of S-400 and Pantsyr SAMs as well as Nebo-M radar sets. On completion of state trails on the Vityaz SAM and the Container beyond-horizon radar, these systems will also be added to the inventory. The S-500 development shall complete in 2015, extending the reach of antimissile ranges into the near space.

At MAKS’2013 the Russian air force exhibited Red 33, its second A-50M AWACS aircraft that underwent modernization and refit into the new A-50U standard.

The baseline A-50M has detection range of 300 km for land and 650 km for aerial targets, and the ability to track up to 300 targets simultaneously. The A-50U parameters are classified, but described as “vastly improved”.

In particular, the A-50U is better at detecting cruise missiles, helicopters and other low-flying aerial targets.

Work on the A-50U commenced in 2008.

Aerial trials began the following year on the industry-owned prototype Side 37. The defense ministry certified the improved aircraft in November 2009. Modernization centers on replacement of outdated analogue subsystems of the A-50’s Shmel radar set with more modern digital components with higher performance, lower weight and better reliability. Operator work places are now furnished with large-screen LCDs in place of cathode ray tubes. The new standard also differs in having a crew rest area, a canteen and a comfortable toilet the lack

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of which had long been bitterly complained by the A-50M crews.

The A-50U features “all-digital” processing of radar/targeting information. The weight of the radar system has been considerably reduced, and this allowed a notable increase in range with same MTOW though carriage of more fuel. Satellite-aided navigation improved accuracy. Automated control for interceptor aircraft is provided by radio commands transferred via secured data-link.

The Russian air force accepted its first A-50U Red 47 (RF-92957) in October 2011. The airplane is stationed at Ivanovo AFB along with the majority of operable A-50M aircraft. The second airframe (built in 1984) was reworked into the new standard in late 2012 and returned to combat duty in February 2013. The MoD has plans to upgrade all A50 fleet – said to be 26-unit-strong – to the new standard.

At MAKS’2013, Beriev general manager Victor Kobzev said: “The defense ministry already operates upgraded A-50s and more such aircraft are slotted for upgrades". He further collaborated that the work is ongoing on “a brand-new AWACS aircraft”, obviously referring to the A-100 Premier. "We must provide a replacement for the ageing A-50. The defense ministry has presented us with its vision and specification to a replacement aircraft. It calls for the new aircraft to be far better than any of the in-service types in Russia and abroad.

We are working hard to meet their requirements", Kobzev collaborated. The A-100 is to use the Il-476 platform and all-new radar with active phased-array radar from the Vega company. This aircraft is expected in 2016.

On AWACS export perspectives, Kobzev said: "I believe that there are some countries in the word that will get interested. Aircraft such as the A-50 are national assets". Specifically on India, Kobzev said this customers, already operating three customized A-50EI (suffix for “Exportable, Indian”) aircraft is soon expected to firm up the options in the initial contract with Russia and Israel. The A-50EI features Israeli Phalcon radar set in place of the original Shmel.

On the eve of MAKS’2013 Antonov and Aviacor established a joint venture that will see to production and sales of the An-140, both passenger and militarized variants. The decision was made in the wake of Ukraine and Russian presidents - Victor Yanukovich and

Vladimir Putin - decision to encourage creation of joint ventures between major manufacturers from both countries.

Meantime, development of the An-140T ramp freighter requires investment of US dollar 50 million, according to Antonov president and general designer Dmitry Kiva. “Some time ago we reached agreement with the Russian defense ministry on some 40 ramp-equipped An-140s, but this project has slowed down.

We hear that Russia is instead considering resumption of the Il-112. By my reckoning, work on completion of the Il-112 development is allocated some US dollar 300 million, or six times more than our offer [of the An-140T]”.

He also labeled as “unprofessional” the intent to produce a passenger version of the Il-112. “Aircraft having a fuselage with square cross section will be 30% less fuel efficient than the today’s An-140. Besides, Russia lacks a suitable engine… They only have the [Klimov] TV7-117, but its shaft power is limited to 2,500 horsepower, which is not enough [for the Il112]. This means that at this stage the Il-112 is more of a dream than real airplane”.

Kiva also addressed the matter of the An-70 air lifter, saying that “some decision makers in Russia lack sufficient knowledge in aviation” and this “often leads to some strange decisions that knowledgeable people will never make”.

In particular, he criticized Russian deputy prime minister Oleg Rogozin for calling the An-70 “a virtual reality” and depicting it as a competitor to the Il-476.

“I think that only incompetent people can say these things. The An-70 was specifically designed to deliver troops, up to 300 soldiers on two decks, and big-sized weapons to short unpaved runways, 700-900 meters in length, located very close to the battleground. This is something the Il-76/476 was never meant to, and cannot do. That’s why the An-70 and Il-476 do not compete.

Besides, their hourly fuel burn rates are 4.4 tons and 8 tons respectively”.

Despite certain Russian decision makers lacking common sense, Antonov is keen to continue cooperation with Russia “which remains our strategic partner”. Kiva further stated that all critical points on the An-70 that the Russian defense ministry once handed over to Antonov, have been addressed, and in today’s form the airplane meets the

Airshows S-350VE Vityaz

documented Russian air force specification completely. “Having checked this, the Russian side issued a statement of compliance, and we started to hand over documentation to the plant in Kazan for setting up An-70 series production there… But as of today there are no more talks of series production”, Antonov president grumbled.

Following implementation of a few changes in the current avionics set the 42-tonne-grossweight Beriev-200 amphibian twin jet will be again submitted to European Aviation Safety Agency. Although EASA already issued Restricted Type Certificate for the Be-200SE-E version in November 2010, it presented the Russian side with a list of improvements required.

KRET or Radio-electronics Technologies Concern, a member in Rostec or Russian Technologies corporation, is addressing the issue. At MAKS’2013 the company exhibited some reworked avionics items including some already installed in a Be-200SE-E on the static display.

KRET deputy general manager for strategic planning and defense orders Andrei Tyulin hopes that improved version of the Be-200 will completely meet European safety standards.

This will lead to uplifting of the current flight envelope limitations and, subsequently, make possible sales to European customers.

In his turn, Beriev general manager Victor Kobzev said that the series production of the Be-200 has been re-established: “We will have first airframe of the new batch assembled by the year-end”. The backlog of orders is sufficient to resume production at the new location in Taganrog site to where the assembly line was moved in 2008 from IAZ in Irkutsk. Russia's Ministry for Emergencies has ordered eight aircraft in addition to six it already operates.

The defense ministry awarded Beriev a contract worth Rouble 8.4 billion for six aircraft in April 2013 and is considering follow-on orders.

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"There are indications that the new order will be far more than six [the figure announced to the media at the first contract signing ceremony].

The MoD has determined a planned strength of the naval aviation. The current MoD plans call for an increase in numerical strength of its amphibian fleet", Kobzev insisted.

He further said that the negotiations with China on the Be-200 and Be-103 seven-seat piston flying boat are expected to be completed by the year-end with signing of license production agreements. Even though local manufacturers produce similar designs of their own, the performance and quality of their products do not satisfy the customers. Negotiations are in an advanced stage; the Be-103 issue is likely to be agreed upon first. “They have been long been asking us for Be-103 production rights", Kobzev comments.

The matter of the Be-200 is more complicated. The Russian side insists on a worthwhile quantity of assembly kits to be contracted in exchange for license production rights. Should Chinese assembly line get established, the grand total of the Be-200 production rate may grow up to 12 annually. "In my view, there must be two assembly lines", Kobzev stressed.

He declined to identify Chinese structures for the Be-200.

Earlier media reports said People’s Liberation Army was seeking to procure ten aircraft for naval aviation units in search-and-rescue and maritime patrol versions, and the Forestry Service twelve aircraft for firefighting duties.

In another interesting development, the Samara space center, famous for making Soyuz and Progress space vehicles, has brought to MAKS'2013 (in addition to earlier exhibited operable example that flew daily during the show) the freshly made fifth example of the Rysachok commuter aircraft in an armed version with two rocket launchers under fuselage

Pantsyr

hard points. The machine is pained in a military color scheme resembling a Russian air force livery.

In this configuration the aircraft is being offered to the Russian air force as a multirole aircraft for training, liaison, transport and other duties. Samara says this example is fifth-built and the last in the initial production batch. Out of the five, three are operable (including the example on display). The remaining two airframes are for testing, one for static, the other one for fatigue tests.

The Rysachok was developed by the Technoavia design house headed by Slava Kondratiev. Formerly he served a former chief designer at Yakovlev and Sukhoi, and was responsible for the Yak-18T, Yak-55, Su-26 and other successful single piston aircraft designs.

Production of the twin turboprop is set at the Samara Space Center which seeks to load its excessive manufacturing capacities and fill the niche for an affordable aircraft for a wide circle of commercial and governmental users. The Rysachok was developed primarily as a trainer for civil aviation school students.

Samara people at MAKS'2013 said that a second batch of five aircraft has been just started. Of those four will have same airframes as the initial batch, taking up to ten passengers, while one airframe will be feature a stretched fuselage for 16 passengers. In paratrooper training version the airplane can take up to 19 persons.

Technoavia says it is about to commence certification trials on the Rysachok so that to win a national type certificate for passenger and cargo transportation. Two aircraft will be involved in the campaign. “We plan to complete the certification process in 2014”, Kondratiev was quoted as saying.

Vladimir Karnozov

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Airshows

MAKS,

a good show for Russian OEMs

Russia’s leading aircraft makers Tupolev, Irkut and SCAC won a punch of new orders for their passenger twin jets.

Firm orders and commitments came for 15 Tu-204SM and 82 MC-21 narrow body jets as well as 96 Superjets, altogether worth about 10 billion US dollars.

At the same time, no western makers were able to sell any airplanes at the show save Bombardier. The latter won order for fifty Q400 NextGen from Ilyushin Finance Co. (IFC). This contract is a part of a bigger deal under which the Bombardier Q400 NextGen regional turboprop will be to be assembled locally, in the view of a hundred deliveries worth US dollar 3.4 billion.

The business started when Russian prime-minister Dmitry Medvedev arrived at the show on the opening day of August 27, to inspect the aircraft on display, see aerial performance and attend some signing ceremonies. He

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moved into the show site after chairing the governmental meeting on national transport strategy.

Medvedev announced that the strategy has been adjusted to the new realities of the global market. “We need to sale our aerospace products worldwide”, he said. At the same time, he acknowledged that the bank interests and leasing rates “are, regretfully, substantially higher than in other countries, and this reduces competitiveness of our aerospace products”.

The PM said that the government is carefully addressing this issue. “To ease sales of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 in the overseas markets, we are carrying out a set of measures aimed to support the exporters through the lines of our development institutes, such as the Vneshcombank (VEB) and the Agency for insurance of export credits and investments… I want to emphasize that we have always supported our manufacturers and will continue to do so in the frame of existing procedures and rules set by the World Trade Organization and the Organization of Economic Cooperation.”

The Kremlin encourages international cooperation, such as that arranged in the course of the Superjet program.

Medvedev thanked “world’s leading manufacturers” taking part in this effort for their assistance in speeding up and easing the process of EASA certification for this aircraft.

The PM further carried on: “There are some plans by [UAC and COMAC] to produce a wide body airplane. The use of new composite materials is centerpiece of the Russo-Austrian program on development of multirole airplanes. We also work on creation of joint products in the sphere of helicopters with our Italian partners. Hopefully, all products aforementioned have good market prospects, otherwise we’d rather not waste time on them”, he concluded.

During MAKS a pair of orders came for the newly-certified Tu-204SM. This is the most recent version of the Tupolev narrow body twin first flown back in A I R F L E E T

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1989. IFC signed with VIM-Avia on five Tu-204SMs due for delivery in 20142015, with option for five more. Then, the lessor signed with Red Wings on ten Tu-204SMs with first three due for delivery in 2014. Besides, Red Wings indicated its interest to eventually have a fleet of 30 Tu-204SMs. Funding for these deals is arranged by a consortium of Russian financiers led by Novikombank. IFC general manager Alexander Roubtsov said that from 2015 onwards deliveries shall continue to both airline customers at the rate of 4-5 aircraft per year.

The Tu-204SM has the Aviadvigatel PS-90A on earlier versions replaced by more advanced PS-90A2 35,270-lb turbofans in which, as Pratt&Whitney once claimed, some high-tech American technologies are used. Vital data released by Tupolev indicates a recent increase in the maximum takeoff weight up to 238,100lb. This permitted increase in range to 2,625nm with full commercial load of 50,700lb. The Tu-204SM can transport 194 passengers seated at 32in pitch mono-cabin 2,600 nm. Up to 215 passengers can be seated, but the factory standard two-class layout is for 174 travelers.

The Tu-204SM features a modern avionics set from KRET or Radio-electronics Technologies Concern, a member in Rostec or Russian Technologies corporation. At MAKS the company announced that during certification tests the airplane’s avionics saw considerable changes for a larger KRET share, effectively placing the latter in the position of avionics integrator. The avionics specialists also announced that the sticker price for the Tu-204SM avionics set called PNK-204 is Rouble 110 million. Twenty major components together making a whole set are produced at the Concern member enterprises.

KRET general director Nikolai Kolesov said the PNK-204 is at the same technology level with “best avionics available in the West” and today represents the most advanced Russian avionics package ever made for airlin-

ers. “We have provided Tupolev with a completely integrated high-tech package which brings their airplane into the line of modern narrow body jets from world-leading airframers”, he stated.

Compared to previous avionics set on preceding Tu-204 model, PNK-204 is 300kg lighter, occupies five times less volume, requires far less maintenance and, at the same time, costs 30% less.

At the show Tupolev president Alexander Bobryshev signed agreement with Novikombank. The latter will provide funding for various defense and commercial projects. Speaking before media, he said that the improved Tu-204 can generate 150 sales. The aircraft maker Aviastar-SP plant in Ulianovsk terminated Tu-204100V production in 2010 due to lack of orders. Low-rate manufacture of the shorter fuselage Tu-204-300 continues under contracts from the Russian government.

The Tu-204-300 will stay in production till 2017, and be assembled mostly in VIP and special purpose variants.

The plant’s general manager Sergei Dementiev says the enterprise is adjusting the Tupolev assembly line for the Tu204SM. So far two such aircraft were completed, and these were used in the certification campaign that culminated in the issue of ARMAK type certification in May this year. Aviastar-SP has four airframes in production with 50% readiness, and plans for 20 such aircraft by 2017. The Russian government says it puts together a consolidated order for some thirty Tu-204SM/300 for use by various governmental structures.

The show in Zhukovsky was successful for the MC-21 narrow body jet. On the opening day, the Kremlincontrolled VEB bank firmed up its earlier MoU with Irkut on 30 MC-21s, the deal estimated at US dollar 2.5 billion. Deliveries are due in 20182022. The lessor says that six of these planes will be placed with Transaero and ten with UTair airlines. At the same time, UTair signed deal with SCAC and VEB-Leasing on six Superjet-LR aircraft

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Airshows

worth US dollar 217.2 million by catalogue prices. This quantity comes from a framework agreement on 24 such aircraft that UTair signed back in 2010, but hesitate to firm up since then.

Also on the opening day, IFC converted the option of 22 MC-21-300s into firm order, thereby bringing the total of firmly-ordered aircraft of the type to fifty. Being the first customer for the MC-21 to make a prepayment, IFC says it enjoys some “hefty discounts”.

With these taken into account, its total order comes to US dollar 3.5 billion.

Next day IFC announced that it signs a memo with Transaero on placing six MC-21s. Previously IFC placed three Tu-214s and two Tu-204Cs with this airline. Proper after sales support allows these Tupolevs to show similar utilization rates as achieved on Boeing aircraft making up for the majority of Transaero fleet.

On August 28, IrAero airline awarded Irkut a firm order for ten

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MC-21 next-generation narrow-body jetliners. By catalogue prices the deal is estimated at US dollar 720 million.

The document was signed by IrAero general director Yuri Lapin and by Irkut president Oleg Demchenko. Deliveries are slotted for 2019 to 2022 inclusive.

IrAero is a steadily developing airline specializing in regional services out of Irkutsk, and also flying long-haul charters into Lithuania and China. It plans services to Japan and Korea.

“Our need for modern, highly economical narrow body jets has been growing as we, year after year, expanded our route network. Our specialists have found the MC-21 advertized performance, fuel burn and maintenance costs meeting our expectations. We can place the MC-21 on some recently opened routes, such as those to Urumqi, Kaunas and other remote destinations. We also found that airports in Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Sochi, Rostov-upon-Don, Omsk,

Moscow-Domodedovo as well as Yuzho-Sakhalinsk can handle MC-21 flights, and we are going to fly this type to these destinations”, Lapin said.

On 29 August Russia’s largest Savings Bank (Sberbank) signed agreement with Irkut on twenty MC-21s worth US dollar 1.7 billion by catalogue prices.

Deliveries are due in 2019 – 2025 timeframe. The document was signed

by Sberbank general director Dmitry Eroshok and Irkut president Oleg Demchenko. The buyer expresses its intent to place these airplanes with airlines on finance lease terms.

That same day Sberbank also signed similar agreement with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) on twenty Sukhoi Superjet 100 jets worth US dollar 0.7 billion by catalogue prices.

It determines major parameters of a future contract that shall struck later this year. The bank is yet to find airlines with which to place both aircraft types.

This new agreement follows a general one concluded on the MAKS’2013 opening day in which the bank and SCAC declare their intent to cooperate in placing Superjet with Russian airlines on operational lease terms. The two sides also declared their intent to set up a joint venture that would lease Superjets out to airlines starting in 2014. According to business plan that the parent companies prepared for the start-up, it shall place with Russian airlines some fifty aircraft worth US dollar 2 billion.

Somewhat similar agreement SCAC signed with AviaAM Leasing.

At the show SCAC handed over first Superjet 95LR to launch customer

Airshows

Gazpromavia and second replacement Superjet 95B in “Aeroflot-full” configuration to the national flag-carrier. It also displayed three more Superjets: one in Lao Central livery (which made some demo flights at the show before flying off to the intended customer), one in Sky-Aviation’s and one bearing Rosoboronexport’s logo on its sides.

IFC has also firmed up its soft order for twenty Superjets announced at this year’s Paris airshow. Deliveries are broken in two batches. The first batch of five machines in the Long Range version is configured with 103 “slim seats”, is due for delivery in late 2015 but yet to find an airline customer. The second batch of fifteen aircraft in the Basic version are intended for airline customers based in Southeast Asia and Middle East, with deliveries due to start in 2015.

On 28 August IFC signed memo on 50 Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprops to be assembled in Russia as a part of a comprehensive pack of Russo-Canadian deals concluded on the same day between Bombardier, Russian Technologies (Rostec), Irkut and IFC. These airplanes will be purchased from a Russo-Canadian joint venture that will manage the Russian production line.

Speaking at the event, IFC general manager Alexander Roubtsov estimated the purchase at 1.695 billion by catalogue prices. Roubtsov further said that another deal signed at MAKS’2013 – that on support of MC-21 jetliner operations by Bombardier and its vast network of service centers round the world - will help IFC place with international carriers some of the fifty MC-21s it has on order. “I think that with the An-148/158, CS300, MC-21, and now the Q400 in our portfolio, and with the customer support agreement also in place, we can offer our airline customers a better deal.

Considerable vendor parts commonality between the CS300 and MC-21 shall occupy a very important place in our offering”, he said.

MAKS'2013 visitors saw on display a third example of deliverable An-158 A I R F L E E T

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twin jet in Cubana de Aviacion colors.

The Ukrainian manufacturer delivered one in March and second earlier this month to Cuba's flag-carrier. Upon taking delivery of the third airframe later this month, Cubana shall commence international services on the type - so far the flights have been confined to domestic routes within the island. An-158s are placed with Cubana de Aviacion via IFC. At MAKS'2013 IFC has signed follow-on deal with Cubana for three more An-158s thus bringing the total firm order to six units.

On the third day of the show, IFC placed with VIM-Avia five C Series 300 out of 32 it has on order from Bombardier. The airline is slotted to receive them in 138-seat configuration in 2015-2016 timeframe. Altogether, during MAKS’2013 ILC signed for 92 new airplanes with the manufacturers. Today, the lessor’s portfolio contains five major aircraft types – Antonov-148/158, Sukhoi Superjet 100, Bombardier CS300, Irkut MC-21-

300 and Tupolev-204SM. Together they make an interesting pack with the smooth distribution of seating capacity: from 68 seats for the smallest and up to 212 for the largest in 15-25 seat increments, without overlapping.

The show did not go without some confusion. Following media reports about Transaero “buying” twenty Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the airline had to issue a special statement calling this information “wrong”. The airline adds that it never had plans to sign for foreign made airplanes at MAKS’2013.

Vladimir Karnozov

45

Military-technical cooperation

Basant

to support MiGs RAC MiG selects Basant Aerospace PVT Ltd. as local partner to support Indian MiG-29s Russian Aircraft Corporation “MiG” and Basant Aerospace Private Limited signed two deals worth US dollar 55 million in frame of the MiG offset obligations before India relating to recent jetfighter sales. The respective ceremony took place on 28 August, the second day of MAKS’2013 air show. The respective work is to be done in frame of the General Offset Contract awarded by the Indian air force to the aircraft supplier.

The company called «Basant Aerospace PVT. Ltd» (http://basantaerospace.com/) was established in July 2007 with specialization in maintenance, repair and services on combat

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aircraft and helicopters. The firm also undertakes special programs in the national defense interests.

The famed Russian airframer naming Basant Aerospace, being a privately owned enterprise, makes it the first such case not just in the Indo-Russian relations history, but also that between India and combat jet Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) round the world, in which a private company rather than public structure has been selected as main partner on support of major hightech military hardware imported into the country.

The first deal is worth US dollar 43 million and applies to setting up a main-

tenance center in the region of New Delhi that would do repair and maintenance on the electronic blocks and modules used in the Zhuk-ME series of airborne radars. These are developed

by Phazotron-NIIR and manufactured by the State Instrument Plant in Ryazan (Russian acronym GRPZ). These radars equip the Indian air force MiG-29UPG and Indian navy MiG-29K/KUB fleet.

The second deal is worth US dollar 12 million and is about setting up a maintenance center that would repair some blocks in use on the Indian air force MiG-29upg aircraft including autopilot, communications, data link, other avionics, hydraulics etc. In future the same center will also work on the MiG-29K/ KUB aircraft in service with the Indian navy air arm.

Speaking to journalists during the event, RAC MiG general director Sergei Korotkov said the purpose of the deals is to ensure a high readiness level and safe operations for the Indian

Military-technical cooperation

MiG-29upg/K/KUB fleet by means of rendering high-quality and timely repair services to onboard equipment in use in these airplanes, as well as offering consultancy services to the Indian armed forces’ maintainers on the matter of keeping their MiGs operational. Korotkov noted: “Offset program has become an essential and inseparable part of the main contract on supply of modern combat aircraft to the importing nations.

And this is a very sensitive part for the supplier because it imposes additional obligations. Quite often this part is, well, an in convenient one for the manufacturer. This is very much true in our case, but I am happy with the fact that we have managed to reach agreement on such an important topic”.

The process of negotiations between RAC MiG, Basant and Indian defense ministry took some two years, but in the end it bore fruit. Korotkov added that he wants to expand this cooperation in future as the MiG’s business in India evolves, progresses and grows. Potentially, the turnover through this partnership can reach up to half-a-billion US dollars. In particular, the OEM is looking to establish warehouses in the Indian territory. This is to shorten reaction time to requests of the Indian armed forces on urgent repair of their MiGs. Explaining why his company was selected, managing director Air Vice Mar-

Indian navy project team with MiG-29K in the background

shal Arvind Agrawal (VSM, retired) said that in part this was due to the highly professional team he had assembled.

Its core is made up by his former mates in the Indian air force’s and Navy’s aircraft maintenance divisions. Basant Aerospace employs half-a-dozen of experienced engineers and two dozens of skilled technicians (maintainers), but the number can increase to a total of 40-50 people provided the workload is sufficient.

Agrawal further said that his company is capable to provide investments into expansion of defense-related businesses.

The Basant-run maintenance center – that combines both the radar and on-

MiG-29upg at work in Moscow A I R F L E E T

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board systems repair units in one building in the New Delhi area – is already in place, but needs to be filled up with additional tooling and equipment. This is something RAC MiG is going to supply during the second half of this year.

After the press conference on August 28, Air Fleet chief editor Vladimir Karnozov had some exclusive moments with Air Vice Marshal Arvind Agrawal (ret.)

Q. How did that happen?

A. Let me clarify this. There are some governmental companies in India that do manufacturing and license production, and undertake maintenance of

Sergei Korotkov and Arvind Agrawal 47

Military-technical cooperation

equipment brought into the country under orders of the Indian air force. As per private sector companies - you are probably aware that starting from 2006 India changed its weapons procurement policy. On any foreign procurement a minimum of 20% has to be re-invested by those foreign collaborator companies into the Indian industry. Luckily for the people like me, the government said: this concerns not only public sector, but also the private sector.

Q. So behind this deal, decision was made not to give this work to HAL or any state-owned company‌ A. I would not say "not to give it". Like in this pack, I only have a part. For the whole obligation of RAC MiG of approximately three hundred million - out of it my part is 55 million. There are some other companies including HAL that also benefit from this offset.

There are four or five of us involved.

Q. Will you be giving some work to other Indian companies as part of your participation in the offset?

Because, obviously, you may not be able to handle 100% of your contact in frame of the offset‌ A. To start off, I will be able to handle 100%! We will be doing everything in our workshop.

Q. What will you do to the radar?

Which components are you going to work on?

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A. Let me explain about the radar. In fact, this is the most complex component. But the scheme of work is similar for the rest of it. This radar consists of thirteen blocks. The Indian air force may define that one of the blocks is not working. When they define that one or more blocks are not working, they would remove these blocks and send it to me. I will have test equipment to find out what is wrong with that block. Then we would open that block, carry out a repair either by replacing the component or

repairing the component. Put it back on the testing rig, have it tested, - and the repair is done.

Q. What about the general support contact?

A. It is the same. The above said applies to any equipment, and I explained everything to you on the examples of the radar since it is the biggest and most complex item. We are also going to deal with the communications equip-

Military-technical cooperation

ment, autopilot, datalink, and other components. Apart from the thirteen parts from the radar, thirty more components we will be repairing.

Q. Where does your expertise come from? You are quite a new company, where did you get the skills from?

A. Our expertise comes from the fact that many of our employees are former officers of the Indian air force. I have a partner who is a master in electronics. I myself had spent 37 years serving with the Indian air force and doing exactly the same job I am doing now. The job is to repair the avionics components. So, I have 37 years' background on that. I have a friend who spent equal time in the naval aviation. Today, all of my core team is made up by the people retired from service with the navy and the air force. Those had spent a minimum of fifteen years doing same work in the

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armed forces. These people brought their expertise from their long careers in the Indian armed forces.

Q. Could you please say more about careers in the Indian air force? What did you do there?

A. I have done a lot when in the Indian air force. I joined it when a young officer, we maintained fighters from the front line. I started working on ... I do not know if you heard of this aircraft - the Sukhoi-7. Then I worked on the MiG-21F, FL, MiG-23, MiG-29 and some western types as well. I also qualified as a flight-test engineer. In that capacity I took part in life testing of many aircraft. So, one has a little of background in combat aviation.

Q. How many people, do you think, this venture will require? What is the level of stuff will you have?

A. Today, apart from people working in the office, I have in my workshop four engineers and twenty five technicians.

This is what I have already. We are going to start with them. Then, as the work volume increases, we will see how more people we need. Maybe from twenty five technicians we will go to fifty technicians. But I think that to start our work, that many are sufficient.

Q. Where does your workshop situate, in which dwelling point?

It is in Delhi itself.

Q. Is it any near to an airport or an air force station?

No. Actually, we do not need to be any near to the airport to work on the blocks.

Vladimir Karnozov

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Chalet 3G at MAKS-2013