This sounds like a good idea in principle. I already discussed the possibility of such an aircraft before. This Tu-324, or similar, would be a regional jet that would serve more remote locations with few passengers including in the Far East. It would replace small Canadian and Brazilian regional aircraft from Bombardier and Embraer. Presumably a small engine based on the Al-222 or SM-100 engine core could be developed to power it. Another possibility would be a lower power PD-8 variant.
I personally think spending additional resources on the Tu-334 or Tu-214 is a waste of time though. They would compete in resources with the more modern SJ-100 and MC-21 and would be a duplication of effort. The Tu-334 and Tu-204/214 pair were a good concept in the 1990s when it would be competing with the A319, A320, A321. But today those airframes are just totally obsolete. See how many people are interested in buying the A319NEO for example. Nobody wants it. Using a shortened version of a larger airframe just means you will have to carry loads of weight around on a small aircraft which won't make it cost effective to operate. Compare the empty weight of the Tu-334 (28,950 kg) vs SJ-100 (25,100 kg). The Superjet weighs almost 4 tons less and carries about the same passengers. The max takeoff weight of both aircraft is also way worse for the Tupolev. 47,900 kg for the Tu-334 vs 49,450 kg for the SJ-100. This means the Superjet is just way better in any operational metric. The only advantage of the Tupolev would have been lower development costs because of shared design with Tu-204. But the development of the SJ-100 is a sunk cost at this point.
Possibility of resuming the Tu-324 aircraft project under the Aurus brandFebruary 12th
Tatarstan network publication “BUSINESS Online” in the material of Timur Latypov “Tatar” jet: the “unfinished” Tu-324 will be turned into a flying Aurus. Gazprom structures are involved in the creation of the aircraft, for which Minnikhanov has fought for years, and reported that the reincarnation of once-stalled aircraft construction programs continues. Designed in the late 1990s by order of the government of Tatarstan, the Tu-324 aircraft will become the basis for the creation of a business jet of the Aurus transport line. What’s interesting is that the topic will be hosted not by Tupolev or the UAC at all, but by one of Gazprom’s companies. Why the raw materials giant became interested in the aviation industry and why a winged limousine was needed in our difficult times, the BUSINESS Online correspondent found out.
When we say Aurus, do we mean Gazprom?It was decided to use the Tu-324 aircraft project as the basis for creating Russia’s first specialized business jet, sources in the aviation industry told BUSINESS Online. The aircraft will become part of the Aurus transport line. What is noteworthy is that it will not be developed by Tupolev or any other company of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), but by Gazprom, which is creating a design bureau for this purpose. BUSINESS Online invited Tupolev, UAC and Gazprom to comment on this information, but at the time the article was published, it did not receive an answer to its questions. Adviser to the Prime Minister of Tatarstan Nazir Kireev, who today remains the director of the group managing the creation of the Tu-324 aircraft under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, did not comment either (as it turns out, no one canceled the Russian government’s decree on the development of the aircraft), explaining only details of a historical and technical nature .
The most intriguing part of the sources’ information is about Gazprom. What does a gas monopolist have to do with it? Meanwhile, recently it has been increasingly mentioned in connection with Aurus vehicles. Last May, the gas monopoly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the United Shipbuilding Corporation signed an agreement of intent to cooperate in the implementation of the Aurus-Marine project - the creation of a premium class vessel. Last October, Vedomosti sources reported that the raw materials giant could enter the capital (and receive up to 40%) of the luxury car manufacturer. Allegedly, a fundamental decision on this has already been made at the government level. The reason is that the project needs investment.
The aviation industry theme can also be traced in the activities of Alexey Miller’s company. In March 2023, Gazprom Tech LLC was created in St. Petersburg, owned by two wholly owned subsidiaries of Gazprom - Gazprom Capital LLC and Gazprom Gasoilproduct Holding LLC. In September, Gazprom Tech became the owner of Aurus-Aero LLC, which was established in July 2022 by the investment and venture fund of Tatarstan (share - 950 thousand rubles) and a wholly owned subsidiary of UAC - Oak-Resource LLC (50 thousand rubles). The main activity is the production of helicopters, airplanes and other aircraft.
Despite the unimpressive authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles, Gazprom Tech is positioned as a company created “to consolidate high-tech assets in the shipbuilding, aviation and automotive industries, as well as radio electronics, space and other activities. It is indicated that it is “implementing a long-term development program that includes the creation, implementation and improvement of innovative production projects and technologies.”
On the HeadHunter portal, the company posted information that it was looking for a head of the department for the production and cooperation of aviation equipment, a head of the department for aircraft design, and a head of the department for avionics and aircraft systems. According to our sources, the program will be conducted by a team that, on the Russian side, participated in the creation of the Russian-Chinese wide-body CR929. As you know, in 2023 our country withdrew from the project, otherwise Western manufacturers refused to participate in it. Last summer, China introduced the aircraft as its own development, COMAC Wide-Body.
Our interlocutors did not talk about the extent to which the developments once made on the Tu-324 will be preserved, but they believe that it will be significant. According to them, the project was chosen for two reasons: first, a solid foundation; the second is the only thing that Russia already has in terms of the required size.
Aborted takeoffThe history of the Tu-324 is unusual, if only because the customer of this aircraft was a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. “After in 1993, Boris Yeltsin announced to the team of KAPO named after Gorbunov (today the Kazan Aircraft Plant - a branch of Tupolev, KAZ - editor's note) about his decision to stop purchasing Tu-22M3 and Tu-160, the situation of the enterprise became catastrophic , recalls Kireev. — There was an urgent need to resolve the issue of loading it. The Tupolev Design Bureau, as has been customary since the time of Andrei Nikolaevich, had developments on promising aircraft. Then, at our joint request with the bureau, the Gromov Flight Research Institute conducted a study [on] what kind of aircraft airlines needed in the near future. It showed that from 2000 a machine will be needed to replace the Yak-40 and Tu-134, the flight life of which will be exhausted by this time. The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute confirmed this conclusion.”
There was no money to create the aircraft, and they decided to earn it by selling oil abroad (the details of the scheme were not disclosed). Mintimer Shaimiev conveyed this idea to Boris Yeltsin, and he approved it. As a result, according to open data, approximately $100 million was invested in the design of the Tu-324 (the total development program was estimated at $330 million).
In 1997, the project directorate created by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan entered into an agreement with the general developer, Tupolev, and, according to his proposal, with the developers of units and on-board equipment. Software was purchased specifically for the project for Tupolev and specialists were trained in Germany. The Tu-324 became the first aircraft in Russia designed digitally. “Tupolev coped with the task perfectly and survived for almost three years thanks to the republic’s order,” says Kireev. — The Tu-324 project is a family of three modifications: passenger, with a range of 2.5 thousand kilometers and a capacity of 52 passengers; VIP, with a range of up to 7 thousand and a capacity of 19 people; for 72 passengers, with a range of up to 3.5 thousand kilometers. They differ in the length of the fuselage, and the modification for 72 passengers has a more powerful engine and an increased area of the wing and tail... By the way, the Russian government’s decree on the implementation of the project is still in effect today.”
KMPO, Ukrainian Progress and Motor Sich used their own money to develop the Ai-22 engine specifically for the Tu-324 over 2.5 years. Ukrainians managed to get interested in a potentially huge series. Three prototypes were produced... Also, on the instructions of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Research Institute of Aviation Equipment (Zhukovsky) developed avionics (later it was installed on the Be-200 amphibian).
As a result, the working documentation was transferred to KAZ, and the production of equipment and tools began. Shaimiev stated: if there is help from the federal center, it is realistic to begin deliveries of the Tu-324 in 2007. But mutual understanding with Moscow was never achieved. “A lot has been done on the Tu-324,” Nail Khairullin, general director of KAPO, told BUSINESS Online at the time. — The engine is almost ready for production, and its production near the aircraft plant would be a very big advantage. There were completers. Production began at KAPO. About $100 million was spent on the development of the project. It would be a cool car. It was simply blasphemy for the state to throw this money away!”
There are at least two versions of why the project was stopped. Khairullin is sure that this was done to please Superjet, which was then also seen as a regional aircraft. The BUSINESS Online source believes that some people really did not want to preserve the plant capable of building strategic missile carriers.
Minnikhanov, Tu-324 and AurusSubsequently, the topic came up several times - mainly through the efforts of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. One gets the feeling that for him the promotion of the Tu-324 has become a matter of principle.
In April 2015, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an interview with him, in which he made a number of proposals for the revival of the aviation industry, and one of the main topics was the Tu-324. When asked whether it was possible to return to the project, Minnikhanov replied: “We can no longer leave regional lines without such an aircraft and continue to get to neighboring regions through Moscow, as is being done now. It is no coincidence that the Tu-134 and Yak-40 aircraft, which the Tu-324 should replace, have produced a total of more than 1.8 thousand units... Analogs of the Tu-324 remain widely in demand... More than 70 units of Brazilian and Canadian “regionals” alone have already been imported to Russia.” .
In May 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the same thing: “We know how difficult it is to deliver passengers in the Far East, Eastern Siberia, and within regions. Often people have to fly to nearby, neighboring regions via Moscow or St. Petersburg. This is completely unacceptable. It creates difficulties for people and for the economy as a whole... In this sense, our own regional aircraft, especially with the ability to land and take off from unpaved strips, is of great importance to us. At one time, we had a lot of such aircraft, they were widely used, but they are all outdated... You can, of course, purchase this equipment by import, as we have done until now, but for a country like ours, of course, you need your own aircraft.” In response, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov said that there are three main options (all turboprops) - the Russian Il-114, the Ukrainian An-140 and the Chinese MA-700. The official also mentioned the Tu-324. “It was not put into further work due to the fact that we devoted all the main, so to speak, resources to the MC-21, while this aircraft remained in development,” he noted.
But even then the matter ended in nothing, including for the Il-114 (by the way, a development in the 80s). Today, in the promising UAC line, it is the only candidate for the role of a regional aircraft. But at the end of 2023, it became clear that if the car appeared in hardware, it would not be earlier than 2026.
Let's move on. In 2017, Minnikhanov addressed Putin with a letter about the need to complete preparations for production and begin production of the Tu-324. This was motivated not only by the transport needs of the country, but also by the need to keep the plant in good shape to restore production of the Tu-160 (the decision on this was made in 2015). The President of Russia assessed the project as “necessary” and asked for relevant proposals. History is silent about what happened next, but almost simultaneously there was a leak in one of the federal publications that the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation notified Putin about the inexpediency of continuing work on the Tu-324.
Finally, in 2022, after the start of the SVO and the cessation of supplies of imported aircraft to the Russian Federation, Minnikhanov (who by this time had also become the chairman of the board of directors of Tupolev) proposed launching the production of not only the Tu-214, but also the Tu-324 (and also Tu-204SM and Tu-334). And it is possible that now this idea has been looked at more closely.
Let us note an interesting trend: Tatarstan is becoming increasingly attached to the Aurus theme. In 2021, Aurus Senat began to be produced in Yelabuga, and Aurus Komendant in 2022. In 2019, the Kazan Helicopter Plant presented the Ansat Aurus, a helicopter with a luxury cabin. It was assumed that officials at various levels and government-related businesses would be transferred to it from foreign cars.
Where political will is headingThe main technical problem of the reincarnation of the project can be called the lack of an engine. “The Tu-324 Aurus topic is stillborn,” says one of our interlocutors. “There are no engines yet, which means there is no plane.” Khairullin recalled that the documentation for the AI-22 was not completely transferred to Russia at that time, and the PD-8, which is currently being developed for Superjet, is redundant for the Tu-324. “In general, if I were the initiators of the project, I would remember the Tu-334,” suggested the former head of KAZ. — Firstly, it is already certified. Secondly, it can provide a more comfortable interior. And thirdly, Ufa received all the documentation for the D-436 engine.” But Kireev has no doubt that there are options for developing the AI-22 theme, the developments for which are already being used in Russia.
But all these considerations fade into the background before the question of why it was necessary to create a business jet now. The specialized community was also somewhat surprised by this turn. “Under the conditions of sanctions pressure, the main problem of the domestic business aviation market is the shortage of aircraft,” Dmitry Petrochenko, head of the BizavNews portal, told BUSINESS Online. “But even in this situation, there are schemes for purchasing aircraft from abroad. There are small volumes of imports, and every month more and more new options are being tried, which allows, although in small quantities, to still satisfy demand. In addition, it is possible to purchase Western-made aircraft on the secondary market. And then, users of such machines are very pragmatic, and the new type will inevitably have childhood illnesses, plus the lack of specialized maintenance and repair centers will not add bonuses. And one more thing: the current fleet of foreign jets is very young by market standards, and aircraft with RA registration are completely illiquid abroad. This means that the owners will use them for a long time, and maintenance problems can still be solved.”
“The appearance of a new member in the Aurus line is more of an image story,” sums up the expert. — Most likely, his niche is government agencies, state-owned companies. In any case, I think that here we are not dealing with a “strong economic project,” but with political will.” To some extent, this explains the words of our original source that “Gazprom received the command to deal with such a topic from the president.” Let us recall that there has already been one image experiment in this area - in 2021, the public was shown the Aurus Business Jet, made on the basis of the Superjet 100. But this is still a remake of a serial commercial aircraft, and not a machine originally created as a business jet.
One of our sources agrees with the political will thesis, but in a slightly different way. He does not exclude that the topic of a business jet is only a prologue to the resumption of the regional jet program. The country still cannot manage without such a machine, our interlocutor is sure. And he explains the removal of the topic beyond the scope of Rostec by the company’s workload with the production of long-haul aircraft, as well as an experiment in changing the contractor.
The version has a right to exist. As we remember, the Tu-214, which today claims to be one of the saviors of the Russian civilian fleet, was preserved as a type only thanks to corporate orders - from the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the special services, and the military. Why shouldn’t this story repeat itself with the Tu-324?
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