The Russians say that nine pregnant women gathered together will never deliver a child anyhow in one month. The same thing can be practiced upon the today Russian aviation industry. For more than twenty years the industry have been consciously ruined and now it takes the Russians at least twenty years more to restore the glory in this field. Right now the industry exists due to the fall-on resources after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
History knows a lot of examples when the wrecked aviation industry was not able to rise again. That happened to Germany; in 1940s the country produced 3.5 thousand “Me-262” then up-to-date combat aircraft equipped with “JUMO 004” turbojet engine. After the WWII the allies prohibited Germany to develop the aviation industry for 15 years. Today despite all efforts, exerted in cooperation with Rolls Royse, and millions of Euros invested to the aviation industry Germany cannot restore it in full.
It was a similar story came about with Japan, the country that in 1940s also had pretty well done engines and aircraft, today it has nothing.
Small wonder, as a nine-hour-time-zone country Russia is bound to overcome the woes. The author of the article tries to point out the current problems Russian aviation industry has faced today and discern the ways to recover.
In the beginning of 90s of the last century, the folly privatization and boastful conversion of the defense industrial complex as well as adherence to laissez faire put it on the edge of collapse. According to the Report by the Department of Defense Industrial Complex, drafted in 2005, one third of all defense industrial enterprises are bankrupts. The value financial investments in research and development are in 10 times, in training of personnel in five times and productivity of labor in five times less than in developed nations. More than 50 percent of one-of-a-kind technologies in the field of defense are stalled. The fortune of many defense enterprises is not clear, as more than half of machine tool population is deteriorated almost 100%.
Things are in bad way in the Russian aviation industry as well, that currently faces three main problems: technological underdevelopment, corruption and unfair business practices, acute shortage of staff.
Technological underdevelopment
One should admit that still Russian Air Force has many good aircraft. However the aircraft are the product of a Soviet defense industry but not Russian one. So, Su-32 and Su-35 are the deeply modernized fighter Su-27. As far as MiG-35 is concerned it is based on the well known fighter MiG-29, that was put into service in 1980s (It is fair to say that MiG-35 equipped with the Russian made “JUK-MAE” phased array was the first aircraft that exercised the missile launch at a long range with such array guidance) . Tactical bomber Su-34 substituted Su-24, however the missiles and bombs remain the same. Taking into account the aircraft range, about 600 kilometers, the bomber is capable to inflict damage upon the advanced enemy only. Moreover all electronic “stuffing” of the Russian aircraft does not meet the modern requirements. It is no coincidence that the buyers of the Russian military aircraft demand Israel or French electronics to be installed on board. Striking example are Su-30 MKI (for India) aircraft which have French and Israel avionics equipment.
The same situation is with rotary wing aviation. The Mi-28N helicopter has been developed in Design Bureau named by Mil since 1968. In December 14, 1987 according to the Decree of Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Council of Ministers of the USSR the helicopter was put into serial production. In spite of so long time of development some sort of problems are failed to be solved. For instance all helicopters that are in service do not have the up-to-date airborne radar as it is reportedly not ready. However, the tests of the radar were launched in 2007. In addition to that the serial Mi-28N does not have on-board self-defense facilities. Some problems occur with accuracy of fire.
Complicated situation exists in commercial aviation. Today the champions in delivery of the commercial aircraft to the Russian market are foreign companies. The percentage rate of the foreign made jets in the Russian market is getting closer to 90%. In 2009 totally 129 commercial jets replenished the fleet of commercial aviation. Only nine airplanes were designed and manufactured in Russia. In 2010 out of 91 aircraft supplied 78 were purchased abroad.
A-320, B-737 Next Generation, B-777 and A-330 are the leaders in the Russian market. However as far as regional jets are concerned the 50-seat An-148 aircraft still is in popular demand.
Today the objective reality is that Russian aircraft carriers need modern airplanes. The core of the Russian made aircraft is mainly old-version airplanes which are failed to compete with the foreign made passenger jets in many factors, par excellence fuel consumption.
The modern Russian aircraft of the Tupolev family as Tu-204/214 and Tu-334 can rival with Western jets however even they can be considered as modern aircraft with great reserve. The design bureau named by Tupolev was tasked to develop Tu-334 in 1986. The first flight took place in 1995. The aircraft underwent the certification in 2003. The serial manufacture was planned to be launched in 2004 using productive capacities of the MiG Company. Initially the manufacturing process was planned to be organized in the Lukhovitsy town, but in April 2005 in accordance with the Government resolution the aircraft should be manufactured in Kazan aviation group enterprise.
In summer 2010 the head of “Sukhoi” company Mikhail Pogasyan said that the program to manufacture the Tu-334 jet died as “the jet has been created for 20 years, and on-board equipment and materials develop very fast and Russia should design an aircraft in correspondence with current time”.
As far as the offspring of “Sukhoi”, unduly advertised Super Jet-100 is concerned it cannot be considered as a Russian made aircraft as about 80% of the component parts are purchased abroad.
Corruption and Unfair Business Practices
In 2000 around 32.5 billion rubles were wrote off as a debt of the Ministry of Defense as fulfillment of the defense order. The Russian government committed itself to pay off the debt and in two years paid it off. However for 2004 the defense industrial complex set another amount of indebtedness at a rate of 55 billion rubles.
Around five billion of rubles were invested into the development of the up-to-date air drones that are widely used in the modern warfare. However the result is ZERO. None of the manufactured drones were able to pass the first stage of the official tests. No drones no money.
Tu-334 and An-148 aircraft are much spoken about today. Some officials in Russian Design Bureaus underline that the President of Joint Stock Company "United Aircraft Corporation" (UAC) Mikhail Pogosyan (appointed in February 2011) tries to ignore the advantages of the mentioned jets and as a vendor of Sukhoi Super Jet-100 impedes the bringing to market these aircraft. Tu-334 and An-148 are mentioned to be the real rivals of the Sukhoi and under equal conditions could draw federal budget money off.
Strong pro-western lobby acts towards the pilots. The crews which operate the Russian made aircraft are forced to re-train for Вoeing and Airbus jets as the salary of pilots of Russian aircraft, for instance long haul commercial jet Il-96-300, is around ten times low. Deliberately the Russian made commercial jets are regarded as inferior to foreign made ones.
Acute Shortage of Staff
It must be confessed that the pour quality education prevails. There are no clear links between teachers, students and employers. The education programs almost became obsolete. The prestige of engineer profession is rapidly declining. Against all these factors the average age of personnel who work in the industry estimates within 55-57 year-old range. Every third young specialist quit in a year after his or her graduation from an institute or university due to small salaries in factories and design bureaus. Despite the deep-seated prejudice that business can solve the problem concerning the human resources, almost nothing was done by it. The main burden lies on the state’s shoulders. That’s why the state should take responsibility for long term investment in the education of future specialists who will work in the industry. Today just-specialists are not in demand the reality dictates that specialists of a new formation are needed. It takes up to five years, minimum, to train and educate such a specialist.
In April 2009, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation issued the Multilevel Continuous Education Strategy in the Military Industrial Complex for the Period up to 2015. Along with the Ministry, Federal Space Agency, State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom" and Ministry of Education took part in the drafting of the Strategy. The Strategy embraces measures aimed to keep specialists in the enterprises of the military industrial complex, to develop professorship and professional chairs as well as workshops, to establish developmental training centers based on large integrated educational institutions.
Additional measures have been undertaken to keep young specialists at the enterprises in the framework of the Strategy. These measures include:
- Providing educational maintenance allowance for young specialists in the military-industrial complex from the Federal Budget since 2010;
- Foundation of a special Governmental allowance for the students, who study in the state institutes and universities in the field of military industrial complex;
- Foundation of a monthly rated increase for the special Governmental allowance;
- Provision of housing.
However, despite of the declared Strategy, the integrated financing of it is failed to be taken into effect. Currently the financing is divided into several sources such as budgetary and extra-budgetary sources. Along with it the financing does not embrace all professions that are urgently needed for the industry.
Agog with Expectations
After the recent tragedy that took place near Petrozavodsk in June 23 this year with Tu-134 the President of the Russian Federation D. Medvedev ordered prompt replacement of the old jets to new ones. According to rough estimations the domestic aviation industry should be able to produce around one thousand commercial jets within the period to 2020. The specialists underline that the carriers will be interested in all types of aircraft. Taking into account the current sad state of a host number of airfields the Russian manufacturers can stand a chance.
However the challenges the Russian aircraft are expected to face on the market are well known and rooted in to the political and economic crisis of 90s. Duly financial backing of the industry yield fruit along with governmental program that stipulates special prices for the companies which operate Russian made commercial aircraft. As an example, the total number of Tu-204/214 jets has been increased by four times and the transportation share by 12 times in comparison with 2000,
In the end of 2009 the An-148 Russian made new generation commercial jets (An-148-100А, -100В, -100Е) entered the market. The aircraft is capable to lift 70-80 passengers at a distance up to 4500 kilometers. The jet was developed in conformity with Russian operational environment. Experts say that the airliner outperforms the buzzed-off Tu-134 and can be compared with foreign made CRJ-700/705, ERJ-170/175. One of the advantages is that the jet is not fastidious for the surface of airfields. Six An-148 were operated by the “Rossiya” (Russia) company in 2009-2010.
Of Tu-334, the authorities are said to announce the program of manufacturing this aircraft in the framework of the MAKS-2011 air show that takes place in August this year.
As far as midterm plans are concerned one of the most ambitious projects is MC-21 for 150, 181 and 212 passengers. Taking into account the specifications stated, the aircraft outperforms Airbus А320 and Вoeing 737NG. The project is running smoothly and without any delay. In November 2010 the mock-up aircraft was developed. In 2010 MC-21-200 is planned to be put into service.
Today Russian officials herald a new Government Armament Program 2011-2020 and ambitious program on development of the Russian Defense Industrial Complex up to the year of 2020. According to it from 2013 up to 2015 ten Fifth Generation Fighters T-50 are planned to be purchased by the Ministry of Defense. As far as serial purchase of the fighter is concerned it is planned to be furnished starting from 2016. In the framework of the Program 60 T-50 fighters are said to be fielded to the Russian Air Force.
Production of the An-124 “Ruslan” airplanes are said to be revived. The purchase of Il-112, Il-476 and modernized Il-76MD is included in to the Program. Along with it the Russian Air Force is planned to receive previously ordered An-70 cargo planes.
As far as rotary aircraft are concerned around one thousand helicopters will be fielded to the Air Force while the focus is going to be on heavy transport helicopters.
However there are alarm signs. The manufacturing of long haul commercial airplane Il-96-300, the plans on production of the medium range airliner Tu-204CM are due to be curtailed. According to some sources “Aeroflot” airlines, state owned company, is reluctant to purchase the Sukhoi Design Bureau made airliner “Sukhoi Superjet-100”, preferring American and European made jets. Grand problem occurs around a newly designed jet engine NK-93. Still no one can take a decision to come along with official tests of the engine.
At the same time to renew the fleet of the Russian commercial aviation aircraft industry should produce around 400 long haul airplanes, 500 regional jets and 160 cargo airplanes.
It seems that Russia must develop both commercial and combat aviation. In case of giving preference to one of the industry sector the second is abolished. The military and commercial aircraft constitute links in one and the same chain. For sure grand sums of money demand to restore the aviation industry, but it hardly needs to be said that Russia is the country which obliged to be involved into the development of such industry due to certain reasons such as outstretched territory and geopolitics.
Russian still has leading design bureaus. They need to be financially supported that gives opportunity to develop and implement new engineering designs.
It remains to be seen whether Russia is able to meet such requirements and carry out obligations. Anticipation will not take long time.
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