"Solid third place"

Russian aircraft manufacturers have set themselves goals for 18 years ahead

The development strategy of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) will be determined by the end of the year, UAC President Alexey Fedorov said yesterday at a press conference dedicated to the MAKS-2007 international air show, which will open on August 21 in Zhukovsky near Moscow. Mr. Fedorov said MAKS would be UAC's "public debut." Unlike previous years, when Russian aircraft manufacturing firms exhibited individually, this time they will appear, in Mr. Fedorov’s words, “as enterprises united in the UAC and working as a single team.” He said that the corporation will occupy two pavilions at the show, one of which will display military aircraft, and the other - civilian aircraft.

The product range of UAC, created in February 2007, has not yet been formed. Mr. Fedorov said that work on it is coming to an end. As for the financial and production aspects of the corporation’s activities, they have already been defined in general terms, and for many years to come.

The President of the UAC said at yesterday's press conference that the strategic goal of the reforms being carried out in the domestic aviation industry is “a solid third place in the aircraft industry in the world (that is, after the American concern Boeing and the European Airbus. - Ed. ).” To reach this position, the domestic aviation industry will have to significantly increase the production of aircraft, especially civilian ones. “For civil aviation, we plan to increase volumes (of production. - Ed.) by 15 times by 2015, and by 27 times by 2025... The total sales volumes, for example, of civil aviation in 2025 are set at 17 billion dollars,” Mr. Fedorov said, referring to the draft UAC strategy prepared for approval. In the field of military aviation, according to this document, growth is also expected, although not as large-scale: by 2015 - 3.5 times, and by 2025 - 4.5 times. In particular, large-scale (in percentage terms) growth is expected from special transport aviation. However, according to Mr. Fedorov, in this case the fact is that now the production of such equipment in Russia is almost at “zero.” The assembly of aircraft for this purpose in the USSR was carried out by enterprises in Ukraine and Uzbekistan, where they remained after the formation of new sovereign states. As a result of the transfer of these production facilities to Russia, our country’s own production of transport aircraft should increase 40 times by 2025 and then reach a volume of $2 billion annually.

The total volume of production and sales of aircraft in the Russian aviation industry from 2007 to 2025 was estimated by the President of the UAC at $250 billion. “It is necessary to produce about 4.5 thousand aircraft during this period. Two-thirds of this volume will account for civil and transport aircraft,” Mr. Fedorov said.

He said that the UAC leadership expects to radically increase the share of civilian products in the aviation industry. “Currently the ratio of military and civil aircraft is seven to one, but in the end we will achieve a ratio in favor of civilian products - two to one,” Mr. Fedorov noted. According to him, by 2025, the UAC will annually produce 300 civil aircraft, about 100 transport and more than 100 combat aircraft.

The UAC will begin the implementation of these grandiose plans with relatively modest investments. “A decision was made to make direct investments in the aviation industry in the amount of up to 6 billion rubles for 2008, 2009 and 2010. annually,” Mr. Fedorov said yesterday.

Mikhail KUKUSHKIN