Russian Civil Aviation: News #4

Kiko wrote:The Russian aviation industry challenged the success of the USSR, by Olga Samofalova for VZGLYAD. 09.08.2022.


Aeroflot's portfolio of orders includes 40 Tu-214 aircraft. However, this aircraft is rather an intermediate stage. “This aircraft also has no flight restrictions and can fly all over the world. But it is unlikely to become massive. This is an aircraft with outdated technologies, in a number of characteristics it is inferior to Western counterparts a

https://vz.ru/economy/2022/9/8/1176428.html

GunshipDemocracy wrote:

Kiko wrote:The Russian aviation industry challenged the success of the USSR, by Olga Samofalova for VZGLYAD. 09.08.2022.


Aeroflot's portfolio of orders includes 40 Tu-214 aircraft. However, this aircraft is rather an intermediate stage. “This aircraft also has no flight restrictions and can fly all over the world. But it is unlikely to become massive. This is an aircraft with outdated technologies, in a number of characteristics it is inferior to Western counterparts a

https://vz.ru/economy/2022/9/8/1176428.html

This journo must have been smoking stuff form liberal sources. Tu-204 was actually designed on level of Boeing 757 or Airbus 321. Avionics can be replaced to new one but nothing's wrong with the hull. Of coruse MS-21 is better but dont forget:  Russia needa also AWACS/ ASW platform. Guess where Tu-204/214 could go

Rodion_Romanovic wrote:

Also because the current 737 max is nothing but the third modernisation of the original 737 introduced in 1968 (the first modernisation with CFM engines was done in the 80s (737 "classic") and the 737 next gen with improved CFM engines, glass cockpit and  winglets entered into service in December 1997.

lancelot wrote:The Russian state chose not to fund the Tu-204SM project, which would have modernized the avionics and turned it into a fly by wire aircraft, and diverted all the funds into MC-21 development. I think that was a good option, but it also means that such an aircraft is not available for production right now. Any Tu-204 they produce will still be obsolete because of that. But MC-21 should enter production in 2 years.

GarryB wrote:There is no such thing as obsolete avionics.... the core of the business is engines... if you put decent Russian made engines like PS-90A3s or which ever is the all Russian version they should be fine for now.

In the longer term when better engines and domestic avionics can be installed then install them... until then they will still be better than any aircraft type they are not allowed to operate.

Kiko wrote:Another 15 billion rubles will be given to the MS-21 aircraft project, by Arina Litova for Viedomosti. 09.12.2022.

Money is needed to expand production capacity, experts say.

The project of the domestic medium-haul aircraft MS-21 will receive an additional 15 billion rubles. to the expansion of production. This was announced by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during an operational meeting with deputy prime ministers on September 12 (the transcript is available on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers).

The funds will be allocated as part of a strategy to support the Russian economy in the face of sanctions pressure, Mishustin said. The government as a whole will allocate more than 100 billion rubles for these purposes.

Additional comments were not provided to Vedomosti at the time of publication in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as well as in the manufacturer of the MS-21 and other Russian aircraft - the United Aircraft Corporation ( UAC , part of Rostec) - were not provided.

At the meeting, Mishustin also said that state support of 25 billion rubles. will receive an "air traffic management system". On September 1, Vedomosti wrote about plans to allocate such an amount in the form of subsidies to the main Russian provider of air navigation services - the State Corporation for Air Traffic Management (State Air Traffic Management Corporation; subordinate to Rosaviatsia).

This is not the first time that budget funds have been allocated to support the MS-21 project. In January 2019, the government allocated 10.5 billion rubles. for the creation, production and maintenance of these aircraft. The money had to be received within three years: in 2019 - 1.58 billion rubles, in 2020 and 2021. - 4.11 and 4.81 billion rubles. respectively. Director General of Roscosmos Yuri Borisov, who in 2018 held the post of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of industry, then estimated the cost of creating MS-21 at 465 billion rubles. until 2025.

According to the program for the development of the aviation industry until 2030, domestic carriers should receive 270 MS-21 aircraft. At the same time, 210 of these aircraft will be bought by Aeroflot , the airline's CEO Sergei Aleksandrovsky said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin (Vedomosti wrote about this on August 26). At the EEF-2022 in Vladivostok, on September 7, Aeroflot signed a contract with UAC for almost 1 trillion rubles. for the purchase of 339 domestic aircraft, including 210 MS-21, which will be leased from 2023 to 2030. Firm orders for the MS-21 in 2018 were also made by the Red Wings airlines (16 aircraft) and Iraero (10 aircraft), as well as the leasing companies VEB-Leasing, Sberbank Leasing and Ilyushin Finance.

In 2022, the Russian aviation industry received an unprecedented amount of state support due to sanctions imposed against it by unfriendly countries after the start of a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine. 100 billion rubles were allocated to domestic airlines. for the organization of transportation within the country. In June, the Federal Air Transport Agency distributed these funds, and the Aeroflot group received half of the subsidies.

Carriers also received 19.4 billion rubles. for the return of tickets for flights canceled due to external restrictions. Russian cargo airlines received 2.9 billion rubles. subsidies. State support of 3.79 billion rubles. 11 airports in the south and center of Russia that were closed after the start of the NWO were also received.

The state has also invested in selected Russian airlines. Aeroflot was recapitalized by 52.5 billion rubles, after which the state's share in the airline increased to 73.77%. 17 billion rubles were allocated for the restructuring of the debt obligations of Ural Airlines, Aurora and S7. from the National Wealth Fund (NWF).

The anti-Russian sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation after the start of the NWO effectively cut off the access of Russian airlines to new imported equipment (including the most common Boeing and Airbus in their fleets), as well as to maintenance and insurance of these aircraft (AC).

The editor-in-chief of the portal Avia.ru Roman Gusarov suggests that the allocated 15 billion rubles. for the MS-21 will be aimed at accelerating the serial production of aircraft. He added that under the sanctions and blocking the supply of imported aircraft, the MS-21 aircraft are “very much needed by airlines.”

HSE expert Fyodor Borisov also connects the need to expand the production of MS-21 liners with the need to increase production capacity for this aircraft. “If earlier this airliner was supposed to become a competitor to Airbus, now the MS-21 is generally one of the few aircraft available for Russian airlines,” the expert explains.

According to Borisov, the amount allocated for MS-21 "is not excessive." “Moreover, additional investments in MS-21 are beneficial for the state, since the money will return to the budget through the fiscal system in a few years,” adds Gusarov.

https://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2022/09/12/940428-samoleta-ms-21-15-mlrd

ludovicense wrote:If Russia had invested massively in its aeronautical industry from 2014 until now, it would be in another stage and would not be experiencing this "squeeze". They should never have given up their own development independently of cooperation with the West. In any case, investing in the MC 21 as a reference aircraft to replace Boeing and Airbus is a wise decision. The potential of this aircraft is enormous. Even the success of this aircraft is a guarantee of security not only for Russia, but for everyone who wants to get out of the USA/EU blackmail, since everyone depends on them in this segment.

lancelot wrote:

ludovicense wrote:If Russia had invested massively in its aeronautical industry from 2014 until now, it would be in another stage and would not be experiencing this "squeeze". They should never have given up their own development independently of cooperation with the West. In any case, investing in the MC 21 as a reference aircraft to replace Boeing and Airbus is a wise decision. The potential of this aircraft is enormous. Even the success of this aircraft is a guarantee of security not only for Russia, but for everyone who wants to get out of the USA/EU blackmail, since everyone depends on them in this segment.

Russia should license produce this aircraft in India and/or China.

GarryB wrote:

If Russia had invested massively in its aeronautical industry from 2014 until now, it would be in another stage and would not be experiencing this "squeeze".

The problem was there was no market for these Russian planes at the time because western planes leased were in place as the solution to the problem and as long as western airline companies didn't have Russian airlines and Russian airspace under sanctions then there was nothing to push those Russian airlines to shift from what they were already using.

International organisations like the WTO demand free and fair trade so Russian airlines could just stop using western aircraft for no reason, and an all Russian aircraft policy goes against those rules even though that sort of thing is practised everywhere behind closed doors.

The funding by the government of civilian airliners is considered bad too... western companies get away with it by their militaries simply buying lots of Boeings and Airbuses when airlines don't buy so many... most military forces have an enormous range of roles modified civilian airine aircraft can do with a little modification... from VIP transport with almost no modification to ELINT and MPA and transport and inflight refuelling  and AWACS and plenty of other missions... all paying top dollar to Boeing and Airbus to keep their bottom lines nice and healthy even in difficult times.

Interestingly in the case of Russia there are enormous numbers of planes that need to be replaced from Il-20/22 aircraft, through the Il-38 Mays, Tu-134 transports , Tu-154Ms etc etc.

There is a Tupolev design called Tu-330 that is a transport plane based on the Tu-204/214 that is in the 35 ton payload class that would sit nicely between the An-12 and old Il-76 in performance, but it was never built because the orcs saw it as a threat to the An-70, and the Tu-204 and Tu-214 were not in mass production so the commonality didn't matter so much.

Well now the Tu-204 and Tu-214 are going to be produced for the airlines in very significant numbers it just makes sense to say... well the military did buy a few Tu-214s... how about making some more and looking at that transport again in a payload category that is going to be very empty soon as old Il-76s are upgraded or scrapped and the An-12s are getting very worn out and will be scrapped too soon.

Some might argue that this is not relevant because these are civilian aircraft, but combining the investment for civilian and military products is part of the reason Russia gets such value for money...

In the west the US Navy does not have the same fighters or SAMs as the Army or the airforce... even their F-35s are special versions... the F-4 showed it didn't have to be like that... and the ESSM is actually an ancient Sparrow missile the Air Force no longer uses.

Even the 20mm vulcan is slightly different in the Phalanx.

GarryB wrote:
The funding by the government of civilian airliners is considered bad too... western companies get away with it by their militaries simply buying lots of Boeings and Airbuses when airlines don't buy so many... most military forces have an enormous range of roles modified civilian airine aircraft can do with a little modification... from VIP transport with almost no modification to ELINT and MPA and transport and inflight refuelling  and AWACS and plenty of other missions... all paying top dollar to Boeing and Airbus to keep their bottom lines nice and healthy even in difficult times.

GarryB wrote:
there is no incentive to rebuild Antonov for instance as that is only competition that no one wants.

Bench testing of the VK-800 engine began at UZGA
22.09.2022

The Ural Civil Aviation Plant has started bench testing of the gas generator of the VK-800 turboshaft engine, the UZGA press service reported.

“At present, cold cranking and “hot” starts have been performed, during which the gas generator has been put into operation. Tests confirm the operability of the product and its units, the correctness of the chosen design solutions and the high convergence of the obtained data with the calculated ones.

The VK-800S engine is designed for installation on Baikal light multi-purpose aircraft.

Gas generator tests are carried out at the own bench base of the "Engines" division of "UZGA" JSC. A gas generator was mounted on the stand, as well as all systems providing testing: fuel, oil, hydraulic, 11 systems in total. The control of the gas generator from the first start was carried out using a digital automatic control unit.

“The first stage of testing, which involves testing at various operating modes and load levels, is designed for one month. Subsequently, the gas generator will be disassembled to install additional sensors, which will allow obtaining detailed information about the operation parameters and the state of the units in real time,” the representative of the aircraft plant explained.

The test program for the VK-800 engine also includes installation on specialized stands for isolated tests of the combustion chamber and engine compressor. To carry out these works, the bench base of the Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after A.I. P.I. Baranov.

UZGA JSC expects to start bench testing of the experimental VK-800 engine by the end of 2022. Engine certification is scheduled for the end of 2024.

Currently, a new production building for the Ural Civil Aviation Plant is being built at the Uktus site of the Titanium Valley near Yekaterinburg. The new workshops will assemble the turboprop regional aircraft TVRS-44 Ladoga and the light multipurpose aircraft LMS-901 Baikal. The corresponding contract was previously signed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and UZGA JSC.

GarryB wrote:They have made a mistake I think... the Ladoga is a 50 plus seat aircraft... there is no way it could operate with two 800-900hp engines.

The Ladoga is supposed to get a decent helicopter like engine, something like the Klimov TV7-117ST-01 in the 2,400hp power range.

This new engine they are talking about is definitely for the Baikal and the L-410 modification they are working on... both are much smaller than the l-610 which is more like the Il-114 level of engine.

The gas turbine version of the VK-800 engine is also being developed and will be a valuable addition to the helicopter fleet as well with it being used in Ansat and Ka-226 types.

I wonder if there is potential for the gas turbine version to be adapted for use in propeller driven aircraft where the gas turbine is not run under load and is essentially used as a generator that powers electric powered props that could be carried in numbers.

Note the Ladoga is supposed to replace the An-24/25/26, as well as the Yak-40 and foreign types in that class.

GarryB wrote:They have made a mistake I think... the Ladoga is a 50 plus seat aircraft... there is no way it could operate with two 800-900hp engines.

The Ladoga is supposed to get a decent helicopter like engine, something like the Klimov TV7-117ST-01 in the 2,400hp power range.

This new engine they are talking about is definitely for the Baikal and the L-410 modification they are working on... both are much smaller than the l-610 which is more like the Il-114 level of engine.