Russian MIC sees 12% growth in H1 2010

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 26

Russia’s defense industry increased production by almost 12% in January-June 2010, the Industry and Trade Ministry said in a report received by Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.

“Plants manufacturing conventional armaments, ammunition, chemical warfare agents, radio-electronic items, and missiles increased the output of civilian products,” the ministry said.

Meanwhile, civilian output of aircraft and shipbuilding plants decreased, the ministry said.

Aircraft builders decreased output by 5.8%, the ministry said. In all, Russia built 63 helicopters, including 35 for foreign clients (two Mil Mi-17, 25 Mil Mi-17-V5, six Mil Mi-171 and two Kamov Ka-32) and 28 for domestic clients (five Mil Mi-171, 21 Mil Mi-8AMT, one Mil Mi-8AMT1 and one Kamov Ka-226). Two Antonov An-148 light passenger jetliners were produced.

The output of aircraft engines rose by 68.6%, while the production of parts for missile engines and propulsion units of space rockets and spacecraft increased by 30%, and the production of parts for aircraft engines increased by 15.2%.

Civilian output of ammunition and specialized chemical plants grew by 12.1% as compared with January-June 2009, the ministry said.

Source: Interfax-AVN

First series produced Mi-38 helicopters to be delivered to customers in 2015

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 26

The Mil Mi-38 helicopter will undergo test flights and certification with locally produced and imported engines, a representative of the defense sector told Interfax-AVN.

“Four Mi-38 helicopters will take part in the test flights and certification process. Two of them will run on locally produced TB7-117B engines, and the other two on Pratt & Whitney engines,” he said.

In all, 600-700 test flights will be made.

“Russian certification of the Mi-38 will be done in 2014, and batch deliveries of the new helicopter will begin in 2015,” he noted.

The Mi-38 will replace Mil Mi8/17 and Mil Mi-6. The maximum takeoff weight of the Mi-38 is 15.6 tonnes. The Mi- 38 has a maximum speed 285 kilometers per hour, a ceiling of 5,500 meters, and a range of 820 kilometers.

Source: Interfax-AVN

Russian government dedicates 3 upgraded Il-114-300T’s and 2 Il-76′s to Arctic research

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 18

A special air squad will be formed in Russia to study the Arctic region and to expand the scope of Arctic research, a military source told Interfax-AVN.

“The government is expected to adopt a relevant resolution in October,” he said.

“This work is part of the state course to enlarge the aviation component to be involved in the development of the Arctic region,” the source also said.

“For now, three upgraded Ilyushin Il-114-300T transport planes and two aircraft of the IL-76 type will be made available for the special air squad,” the source said.

“The Il-114-300T will have a wheel-ski undercarriage for work in Arctic conditions,” the source said.

Source: Interfax-AVN

Shibitov comments on need for next gen helicopter designs

DATELINE: KAZAN Aug 16

The Helicopters of Russia holding has defined the key directions of advancing technologies the implementation of which will allow the industry to remain competitive on the world market, its executive director Andrei Shibitov says.

“If by 2014-2016 we fail to apply at least one third of these technologies, the competitiveness of our range [of helicopters] will start plummeting because by that time a new generation of helicopters made by European and U.S. companies will appear on the market that will be by far superior to ours from the viewpoint of advanced technologies,” he said at the international conference on aerospace technologies in Kazan.

“That is critical for us,” he said. “Therefore we plan to complete work on key technologies by 2015-2016 the latest,” he said.

Shibitov said he was speaking of a promising high-speed helicopter.

He said that today the cruising speed of helicopters reaches 250-270 km/h and the maximum speed is 350 km/h. “Our U.S. colleagues have reached the speed of 460 km/h. It is our objective to make 350-450 km/h the cruising speed of our helicopters,” he said.

He said that if this complex technical aim is reached, the transport effectiveness of helicopters will sharply increase.

The holding is also planning to carry out the program of an environmentally friendly helicopter that will result in the reduction of the negative impact of the vehicle on the environment. The list of strategic programs of the holding also includes the programs of a safe helicopter and a friendly helicopter. Their implementation should make helicopters much safer as well as more adaptive and ergonomic.

Source: Interfax-AVN

Zelin comments on new SAM systems — says nothing new

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 16

Russia is developing radically new air defense systems Vityaz and S-500 and aircraft capable of operating in outer space, Russian Air Force Commander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Saturday.

“In fact a new system with new weapons is being developed – this is a system called Vityaz,” Zelin said on Echo Moskvy radio.

Compared to the S-300 system, Vityaz has a significantly larger combat ammunition load and requires a shorter time to get it operational, Zelin said.

S-400 air defense missile systems will be supplied to air defense forces protecting the central industrial region of Russia and Moscow, he said.

Russia is also developing the S-500 system, which will serve not only as an air defense but also a missile defense system. “This weapon will enter the Air Force’s inventory by 2020,” he said.

Asked whether Russia is working on constructing planes capable of operating in outer space, Zelin replied, “Naturally, it is.”

Such projects are being pursued in other countries as well, Zelin said. “We are also doing this. We cannot trail along at the back. There are projects, there is understanding as to how to do this, and there are technical solutions,” he said.

Source: Interfax-AVN

Zelin slams domestic UAV producers

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 16

The Russian domestic industry is so far incapable of providing the armed forces with state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Russian Air Force Commander Col. Gen.

Alexander Zelin said on Saturday.

“We would be happy to buy our own devices, but unfortunately they don’t meet the high standards that this kind of weapons is supposed to meet,” Zelin said on Echo Moskvy in commenting on the decision to buy UAVs in Israel.

Russia could set up a joint venture to assemble UAVs devised abroad, he said.

“It might make sense to set up a joint venture, as is done in other countries, like India or China,” Zelin said.

The Mistral helicopter carrier that Russia plans to buy from France for its Navy will carry Ka-52 helicopters on its deck, Zelin said.

“I believe our helicopters are most advanced and are not inferior to foreign ones,” he said.

Source: Interfax-AVN

Sam146 engine gets Russian certification

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 16

The Interstate Aviation Committee has granted the Aviation Register certificate to the SaM146 engine of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, the Saturn Research and Production Center said in a report received by Interfax-AVN on Friday.

That is very important for the delivery of serial engines. The delivery was impossible without such certification and approval of serial production procedures, Saturn Managing Director Ilya Fyodorov said.

The engine, a product of Saturn and French Snecma (part of the Safran Group), was certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on June 23.

Airworthiness certification of the engine by European and Russian standards makes it possible to install the engine in planes used in Russia, CIS and EU countries.

Saturn designs, produces and services gas-turbine engines for military and civilian aircraft, naval vessels, power engineering and gas pumping installations.

Source: Interfax-AVN

State acceptance trials of Su-35BM fighter to commence in next month or two

DATELINE: MOSCOW July 12

Sukhoi Company is finishing preliminary tests of the Sukhoi Su-35 multi-role fighter jet and plans state tests for this fall, Su-35 Program Director, Sukhoi Chief Designer Igor Dyomin told Interfax-AVN.

“The plane may be presented for tests in September or October,” he said.

Two Su-35 are taking part in test flights, but the number will grow to six when state tests start, he said, adding that the third aircraft would start flying in the fourth quarter of this year.

Earlier reports said that the preliminary tests had confirmed the declared characteristics of the new jet, including the maximum speed near ground of 1,400 kilometers per hour, altitude speed of 2,500 kilometers per hour and the maximum altitude of 19,000. The jet can trace air targets at the distance of over 400 kilometers, which greatly exceeds similar characteristics of existing planes.

Source: Interfax-AVN

An-70 design to be see “upgrade” before mass production

DATELINE: KAZAN Aug 13

The Antonov An-70 military-transport aircraft will be upgraded and fitted out with new equipment, said Dmitry Kyva, president and general designer of the Ukraine base Antonov Corporation

“We have launched a program to upgrade the An-70 and we have signed a plan and an adjusted technical assignment with the customer. New hardware components and avionics will be installed, he said.

“Without changing the algorithm mechanisms of control we are changing equipment. The plane will have a new look with modern digital systems,” he said.

Russia and Ukraine agreed in 2009 to continue modernizing the An-70 aircraft and carry out further tests.

The An-70 is capable of carrying 300 servicemen or 20-30 tonnes of military hardware, and land on a 700 meter-long runway, Kyva said.

It compares very favorably in terms of range, cargo lifting capability and size of the cargo compartment to its rival, the European military-transport plane A400M, recently demonstrated at air shows in Paris and London. The catalogue price of the European plane is 160 million euros. “The price of our plane is 50% lower,” Kyva said.

It is estimated that over 10 billion euro was spent making the A400M. An additional 3-5 billion euro is needed to fine-tune the aircraft.

Source: Interfax-AVN

Arzamas gets into UAV business

DATELINE: NIZHNY NOVGOROD Aug 13

The Arzamas Instrument Plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region has started developing components for unmanned aerial vehicles, a report from the plant says.

“Mikran LLC [Tomsk] developed the technical specifications of the components for the plant,” the report says.

At the plant Interfax was told that all the details of the project will be announced later.

The Arzamas plant makes instruments and control systems for the aerospace industry; water, gas, heat, oil and alcohol measuring systems; hydraulic and pneumatic equipment for road construction vehicles, and medical equipment.

The Almaz-Antey concern in Moscow owns 20% of Arzamas and the Moscow-based Military Industrial Company owns 17%.

Source: Interfax-AVN

So far no real details.