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RUSSIA/CIS OBSERVER № 3 (26) SEPTEMBER 2009 1

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1

• AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Return of the heavy transports..............2

Interview with Alexey Fedorov,

president of United Aircraft Corp. ........4

Urals titanium for Boeing 787 ..............6

Turning to the East ..............................7

Ka-226 prepares for tender ..................7

Interview with Alexander Rubtsov,

general director of IFC ........................8

Russian industry faces government

support ..............................................10

French power for Mi-34s....................10

• DEFENSE

New face of Russian Air Force............12

Russia’s 5th generation fighter is

expected to take off this year ..............14

Ka-52 helicopter will start

radar trials..........................................15

Air Force shows first Yak-130 ............16

Unmanned strike ..............................16

• AIR TRANSPORT

Russian airlines’ operational results

for the first half of 2009 ......................17

• BUSINESS AVIATION

Off-road business jet ..........................20

United lobbyists ................................20

• SPACE BUSINESS

Angara getting ready for launch ..........22

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Translated By:Andrey Bystrov, Alexey Rybak

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Russia & CIS Observerfrom the publisher of № 3 (26) september 2009

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RUSSIA/CIS OBSERVER № 3 (26) SEPTEMBER 20092

AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Alexey Sinitsky

First of all, rehabilitation ofAntonov An-124 Ruslan su-per heavy airlifter produc-tion had gained momen-

tum. Vice president of Russia’s UnitedAircraft Corporation (UAC) Victor Li-vanov, Antonov Design Bureau generaldesigner Dmitry Kiva and Volga-Dnepr Group president Alexey Isaikinhad signed the technical requirementsfor the development of An-124-100modernized version, potentially to en-ter series production. The aircraft’sloadlifting capacity will increase from120 to 150 tons, flight range with max-imum payload will reach 4,000 km,and the crew number will be reducedto 3 persons. Avionics and a number ofsystems will undergo deep mod-ernization.

So far the potential customers for thenew Ruslan include: Volga-Dnepr with40 aircraft, Polet Airlines with 15 air-craft, Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines with9 aircraft; several more An-124s couldbe purchased by Western airlines. Be-sides, the Russian Defense Ministry,currently operating 9 An-124 aircraft,may also place an order. Col. Gen.Alexander Zelin, Commander of AirForce, and Lieut. Gen. VladimirShamanov, Chief of Airborne Troops,had confirmed the interest towards An-124. The exact needs of the Ministry ofDefense and civil airlines are to be de-termined by the end of the year. Ac-cording to some data, the Russian mil-itary may order as much as 60 aircraft.

“According to our estimates, over$0.5 billion is needed to resume theproduction of these aircraft at Aviastar-SP, — says Alexey Fedorov, UAC presi-

dent. – Currently no one except thegovernment is able to invest such anamount into this project.”

Aircraft modernization according tothe new requirement may cost up to$180-200 million. However, AntonovDesign Bureau general directorVladimir Korol says that conductingthe modernization along with therestoration of the series production willallow to avoid overly high starting costs,and the first aircraft can be completedin just two years. The production canstart with the use of the in-processstock at the Ulyanovsk Aviastar-SPplant while the modernization effortsshould be gradual and based the alreadycertified An-124-100M-150 versionwith 150 tons capacity, upgraded avion-ics and a number of other enhance-ments (three aircraft of this type are op-erated by Ukrainian Antonov Airlines).An-124 enjoys considerable market de-mand even without modernization, andthe sale of the first and subsequent air-craft will allow to finance fur-thermodernization without inhibiting theprogram as a whole.

“In almost 20 years of commercialoperation An-124-100 became an in-

Return of the heavy transportsCommercial use of the transport aircraft with the ramp cargo door, initially de-signed for military operations, had allowed the Russian airlines to develop a newsegment in the cargo market: transportation of heavy and oversized cargo. Thissegment proved to be the most resilient in the current crisis. However, the dangerlurks within: production of ramp aircraft in Russia has practically ceased, and thelife span of the current fleet is limited. In August some documents were signedwhat could positively influence the fate of the Russian ramp aviation.

Russian Air Force may become the launch customerfor the modernized An-124 strategic air-lifter

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dispensable instrument of inte-grated industrial logistics of ul-tra-heavy and oversized cargo.No existing cargo aircraft hassuch capabilities”, says AlexeyIsaikin, head of Volga DneprGroup, the world’s largest oper-ator of Ruslans.

According to Vladimir Korol,during the An-124 productionrestoration it is worthwhile toretain the same cooperationscheme that existed when theproduction ceased: the fins, en-gine mount beams and nacellesare to be manufactured inUkraine, while production ofthe rest of the fuselage and thewings, as well as the final assem-bly, are conducted in Ulyanovsk.

Even under the most favor-able scenario, production of thesuper-heavy transport aircraft atAviastar-SP will not resume un-til 2012-2013.

Projects old and newTwo more documents signed in Augustduring MAKS-2009 air show nearMoscow can radically change the fateof the Antonov An-70 transport air-craft. Earlier, due to a number of fac-tors, work on this unique aircraft haspractically ceases, and in 2007 Russiahad made a loud statement on its exitfrom the Russian-Ukrainian mediumtransport aircraft joint developmentprogram. However, the contract wasnot formally terminated due to an un-resolved issue of penalties.

At MAKS Russian Minister of De-fense Anatoly Serdyukov and hisUkrainian counterpart ValeryIvashenko had signed a protocol, con-firming the parties’ agreement to con-tinue joint work on the An-70 program,including the financing of the aircraft’sgovernment tests and developing it upto production prototype stage. In theo-ry, the aircraft can be taken into serviceby the armies of both countries.

Besides, Antonov general designerDmitry Kiva and Volga-Dnepr’s Alex-ey Isaikin had signed an agreement ofintent to develop and market the air-

craft’s commercial version — An-70T.Volga Dnepr will be one of the launchcustomers while the delivery of thefirst batch of 20 aircraft is to start in2013. According to Isaikin, An-70Twill fill the same niche among 40-tonaircraft as An-124 currently does in itsown category – transportation of spe-cial and human aid cargo. Dmitry Ki-va said that the aircraft conforms toICAO Chapter III requirements, whilepro-peller-fan powerplant ensures 25-30% less fuel consumption comparedto similar turbojet engines. He addedthat An-70 features twice less the pur-chase and operational costs comparedto the European A400M aircraft,which is yet to conduct its first flight(A400M cost is estimated at 145 mil-lion euro). Besides fuel efficiency An-70’s advantages for commercial opera-tions include a large cargo cabin. An-70 features 47 tons maximum capacityand 425 m3 cargo cabin volume, com-pared to 37 tons and 340 m3 declaredfor A400M.

Of course, completion of An-70 testswill only allow to discuss potential mil-

itary and civil orders and seriesproduction. Russian companieswill handle approximately 80%of the project. According to theinitial plans, Omsk-based Poletfacility was to become the leadmanufacturer, with center wingsection to be produced inNovosibirsk and the wing itselfin Voronezh. It is obvious thatinvolvement of these facilities inSukhoi Superjet 100 andAntonov An-148 projects willput these production coopera-tion plans under review. Antonov also continues work onthe ramp transport modificationof the An-148T. The aircraft isto feature 15 tons maximum ca-pacity and 1.4 thousand kmrange (2.9 thousand km with 10tons payload). This aircraft canbe used in commercial opera-tions and humanitarian mis-sions. Russian manufacturers alsospeed up modernization and

production of ramp aircraft. The UACdevelopment strategy through 2025,adopted in 2008, involves, besides thesuperheavy An-124, production of theheavy Ilyushin Il-476 transport with 60tons capacity (Il-76 modification withPS-90A-76 engines, new avionics andother upgrades), medium-class MTAtransport aircraft (joint Russian-Indianproject) with the capacity of 20 tonsand 2.5 thousand km range, as well asthe light turboprop Il-112 aircraft with6 tons capacity and up to 5 thousandkm range.

To a certain degree, all these projectshave commercial capabilities. Il-112cargo cabin is designed with the possi-bility of using international-standardtrays, although demand for the trans-portation of small size cargo on rela-tively small distances is modest. Theclose relative of the future Il-476, theIl-76TD-90VD aircraft, had alreadydemonstrated its commercial efficiencyin the Volga Dnepr fleet (currently theairline employs two aircraft of this kind,with three more under construction onTashkent aircraft plant).

Positive changes have emerged in the fateAntonov An-70 transport

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— It is more than three years sincethe launch of the UAC. How completeis the corporation's organizationalstructure today?

— The UAC development schedule,approved by its board of directors in2008, has three phases: reorganizationand crisis management (2007-2010),evolution of existing projects (2010-2015) and further progress within thenewly created structure (2015-2025).We are still in phase one. Going for-ward, the business management of thecommercial and transport aviation seg-ments will be given to UAC – Civil Air-craft Managing Company and the UACTransport Aircraft company, respec-tively. The military aviation segmentwill be consolidated. The groundworkfor that process is now being laid byUAC senior vice-president [and a headof Sukhoi] Mikhail Pogosyan, who hasbeen appointed general director ofMiG Corp.

— Could you comment onthe prospects for improvingthe corporation’s financialstanding?— The UAC’s financialstructure has changed sig-nificantly since its creation.Our first budget, in 2007,equaled some 2 billionrubles. Last year it exceeded24 billion rubles [about$770 million]. Much of thatmoney was invested in civilaviation programs, in order

to improve the liquidity of the VASOand Aviastar-SP production facilities.It funded the R&D and retooling ef-fort for the Tupolev Tu-204 andAntonov An-148 production pro-grams, and developed the prospectiveMS-21 airliner project. Over 9 billionrubles was spent on the purchase ofIrkut Corporation shares from the pri-vate sector.

This year the UAC plans to pre-serve the general budget parameters,but we will be spending exclusivelyon our core business activities. Someof the money to be raised through is-suing additional shares will be chan-neled into the restructuring and re-covery of those of our enterpriseswhich have been hit especially hardby the crisis.

We have launched an effort to opti-mize the cost structure. Our aim is tocut the overhead costs by at least 10%.We are planning to reduce the cost of

materials and components by 10% forthe civil aviation segment and 5% formilitary aviation.

— In what way has the downturn af-fected the UAC?

— The effect on our long-termplans is insignificant because our ma-jor shareholder is the government.The aerospace industry in general,and the UAC companies in particu-lar, are viewed as a top priority of thestate investment and innovation pol-icy. The amount of federal invest-ments in various aircraft constructionprograms has more than doubledsince 2007. Now, in crisis times,these investments have temporarilysupplanted some of the so-called ‘ex-tra budgetary’ sources previouslyavailable to the industry. This enablesthe UAC to keep the key programs onschedule. For example, the amountof funding for the Sukhoi Superjet100 and MS-21 programs are actual-ly growing. In other words, the crisishas not caused the UAC to revise itslong-term strategy and global devel-opment objectives.

Unfortunately, I cannot say thesame for our short- and mid-termplans. The UAC board of directors inlate April revised the 2009-2012 pro-duction program due to the slump inairlines’ purchasing power, liquidityshortages and a reduction in the sizeof retooling investments. We hope thegovernment will help us overcomethese problems.

State-sponsored consolidationThe Russian aerospace industry continues its consolidation effort underthe umbrella of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). This year UACplans to get control over the new assets – MiG jet maker and KazanKAPO production facility. The consolidation of the aircraft industrywill be completed later with the merger with Myasishchev DesignBureau and the Gromov Flight Research Institute. The UAC PresidentAlexey Fedorov tells Russia & CIS Observer reporter Polina Zverevathat while the economic downturn has affected airlines’ purchasingpower and the UAC has revised its production plans, state funding forkey commercial programs has been preserved in full.

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Maxim Pyadushkin

In July, world’s largest titanium pro-ducer, Russian VSMPO-Avisma

Corporation, and Boeinglaunched a joint venture namedUral Boeing Manufacturing(UBM) in Verkhnyaya Salda.The new plant will do initialmachining of titanium forgingsthat are used for production ofBoeing 787 airliner. The new JVwill receive the titanium forg-ings from VSMPO-Avisma lo-cated in Verkhnyaya Salda whilethe final machining of the com-ponents will be done at theplant of Boeing in Portland in the USand at plants of other subcontractors.The annual output will correspond tothe production program of this airplane.

Boeing and VSMPO-Avisma an-nounced the plans to set up a joint ven-ture in 2006, but they were shapedlegally a year later — in July of 2007

each partner received a 50% block ofshares in the new company. Boeingdoes not disclose investments in thejoint venture but experts point out that

investments in such production facilitymay amount to about $100 million.

Press secretary of Boeing RussiaDmitry Khrol explains, «The advantageof the joint venture’s location in Russiais machining of components in thevicinity of the titanium productionsource, which is more beneficial from

the economic standpoint.» From thetechnological standpoint one of the ad-vantages is recycling of titanium shav-ings from machining at VSMPO, which

«allows creation of a closed-cy-cle chain of suppliers for main-tenance of production of titani-um forgings and other kinds ofproducts.» During machining oftitanium semi-finished productsin the US it was necessary tobring the remaining material toone of the local machining con-tractors.European aircraft manufacturerAirbus did not announce plansto set up a joint venture with

VSMPO-Avisma yet but in April the air-craft maker signed a framework agree-ment on purchase of titanium worth $4billion until 2020. Under this contractVSMPO-Avisma will supply round andflat rolled titanium, as well as forgingsfor all existing models of Airbus includ-ing А350XWB.

Urals titanium for Boeing 787

Titanium components forDreamliner are machined inRussia’s Verkhnyaya Salda

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Maxim Pyadushkin

Russia is still waiting for its chanceto join Europe’s Future Transport

Helicopter (FTH) program, but mayinstead develop a similar heavylift ro-torcraft together with China.

According to the Russian Heli-copters holding company, the contactswith Eurocopter on FTH programhave been suspended after it becameclear that the European manufacturerwas hoping to develop the 36-ton heli-copter jointly with a US partner. Spe-

cific mention was made of Sikorsky,which is currently working on aheavylift project of its own — the CH-53K helicopter. Russia, for its part,was offering to supply the Europeanpartners with the expertise gainedfrom the development of the 56-tonnes Mil Mi-26 — the world’s heav-iest rotorcraft to date.

At the same time Russia stands agood chance to join China’s programto create a 35-ton Advance HeavyLifter helicopter that is currently gain-ing pace, says Russian Helicopters di-

rector Andrey Shibitov. Russian andChinese specialists are already lookinginto possibilities of cooperation in thisarea and conduct the associated re-search. According to Shibitov, theconceptual design phase will be fin-ished this autumn.

Russia’s greatest challenge in work-ing with China will be the preservationof intellectual property. “We have stud-ied this issue thoroughly and are nowready to word the relevant agreement insuch a way as to eliminate the risks,”Shibitov says.

Maxim Pyadushkin

The Russian Helicopters holdingcompany is re-engining the Kamov

Ka-226 light rotorcraft in order to winthe Indian army tender for 197 light util-ity helicopters. Until now, the type hasbeen equipped with two Rolls-Royce Al-lison 250-C20R/2s. Kamov expects themore powerful Turbomeca Arrius 2G2gas-turbine powerplant to dramaticallyincrease the helicopter’s hover ceiling,expand its payload capacity and improvethe hot-and-high performance envelope.

Russian Helicopters and Kamovcontracted Turbomeca in January 2009to develop a variant of the Arrius 2G1for the Ka-226T helicopter. The enginehas a take-off power of 537 kWt (730hp) and a maximum continuous powerrating of 475 kWt (622 hp). The Heli-copter Servicing Company, a subsidiaryof the Oboronprom corporation, hassigned a contract with Turbomeca forthe delivery of the first 2G1 batch.

The first flight of Ka-226T with theFrench engines took place this summer.The rotorcraft climbed to 7,000 m, butaccording to the designers, it’s capableto reach higher altitude. The RussianHelicopters says that the new engineswill enable Ka-226T to be operated inmountain regions and in subtropics.

The Turbomeca-powered helicoptermay be certified in Russia at the end of2010. Russian Helicopters also work tocertify Ka-226 and Ka-226T modifica-tions in India. Series production of themodernized helicopter will be estab-lished at Kumertau Production Avia-tion Enterprise.

According to Russian Helicopters di-rector Andrey Shibitov, the Indian tenderis going to present a significant challenge.The US manufacturers have acknowl-edged this by withdrawing their bids. “Sofar we are answering all the questions ofthe tender commission and supplying thedocuments they request,” he says. “I be-lieve our chances to be fairly high.”

Winning the tender may boost the Ka-226T’s popularity abroad, but RussianHelicopters also hopes to attract domesticorders. “As for Russian customers, it is myhope that Gazpromavia and UTair Avia-tion will take a closer look at this heli-copter,” Shibitov says. In 2004 Gazpromplaced an order for 22 Ka-226 rotorcraft.The Russian gas monopoly needs thesehelicopters to monitor its gas pipelines. AtGazprom’s request the special Ka-226AGmodification with improved avionicsadapted for operation in harsh northerncondition has been developed. Accordingto the Russian Helicopter, the deliveriesof Ka-226AG to the gas giant continuedespite earlier delays.

Turning to the East

Ka-226 prepares for tender

The French engines will give Ka-226Tthe ability to be operated in mountain

regions and in subtropics


AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

— How has the aircraft leasing mar-ket changed over the past year?

— Lessors are now in a very difficultsituation. Passenger and freight traffic[in Russia] has declined by some 25-30%, driving down airline profitabilityand the need for additional throughputcapacity. Also, [one of IFC clients]KrasAir Airlines ceased to exist last yearand Aeroflot-Cargo cancelled its orderfor [three] Ilyushin Il-96-400s. We wereforced to repaint the aircraft and handthem over to Polet Airlines.

What makes the situation worse forlessors is the unavailability of ‘long mon-ey’. Long-term bank loans have all butdisappeared from the domestic leasingmarket since last September. We hope toget several such loans from large Russianbanks in the near future, but it’s easiersaid than done. A number of banking in-stitutions have found themselves in atight spot following the bankruptcy ofKrasAir, so they are now much stricterin their lending requirements. The diffi-cult financial situation at [another Rus-sian aerospace lessor] Finance LeasingCompany has also played a part in dis-crediting leasing companies in the eyesof banks. It sometimes takes us up to sixmonths to get a loan.

IFC currently needs to refinance theshort-term construction loans for sev-eral aircraft. Specifically, we have to getlong-term loans for five Tupolev Tu-204 airliners delivered to Red Wingsand three Il-96-400s delivered to Polet.We also have to secure funding for theAntonov An-148 production program.We hope this problem will be solved bythe end of the summer.

— What are IFC’s planned deliveriesfor next year?

There are currently fiveTu-204SM aircraft underconstruction for an Iraniancarrier. Early next year weare to deliver one Tu-204-100 to North Korea. Thereare plans to deliver Tu-204and An-148 airliners to theRussian presidential air de-tachment. Apart from that,we hope to lease out a coupleof aircraft to a potential newcustomer in the Middle East.

— At MAKS 2009 airshow you displayed the An-148 regional jet in RossiyaAirlines livery. Do you be-lieve this aircraft to be a rivalof another Russian regionalprogram — the Sukhoi Superjet 100?

As for the Superjet 100, I do notthink it is a rival to the An-148 because[in terms of seating capacity] the An-148 ends where the Superjet 100 starts.Rather, they complement each other,and not only where capacity is con-cerned but also in terms of operationalperformance. The An-148 is speciallydesigned to operate from unimprovedairfields. We are working to turn it intoan all-weather airliner capable of bothIFR and VFR landings in poor visibili-ty. Category IIIA landing trials are un-derway and we expect to end up with atruly all-weather airliner. For this, wewill need an infrared synthetic visionsystem.

How many An-148 orders do youhave at the moment?

Rossiya has six on order and an op-tion for another six. I hope that the firstthree of the firm deliveries will be madethis year, followed by three more during

2010. At MAKS Atlant-Soyuz Airlinesfirmed up a purchase 30 An-148s. Poletand Moskovia Airlines are each plan-ning to buy 10 An-148s. Saratov airlinesand Vladivostok Air is also in the list.Equador’s Icaro airline signed a MoUfor 2 aircraft. In the next 15 years we ex-pect to sell 350-400 of the type and 50%of all sales may be to foreign customers.

— What is your outlook on the pro-duction volume and the ratio of domes-tic and foreign sales for the Tu-204SMmodel?

I think that by the time the [newRussian] MS-21 airliner is available,100 to 120 aircraft of this type will havebeen built. The Tu-204SM will beavailable until 2018-2020. We expect tosell 40 to 50 examples in Russia and 70-80 in Latin America, the Middle East,South-East Asia, and Africa.

This interview was preparedby Polina Zvereva

Facing the hard timesThe financial crisis is forcing carriers around the globe to adjust theirfleet expansion plans and cancel aircraft orders. Russian lessor IlyushinFinance Co. (IFC) lost two clients even before the recession struck, buttalking with the Russia & CIS Observer IFC General DirectorAlexander Rubtsov is convinced his customer base will soon grow back.

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Maxim Pyadushkin

Generous state funding has so farprotected the Russian aerospace in-

dustry from the economic downturn. Ac-cording to the Ministry of Industry andTrade, in the first seven months of 2009commercial aircraft output declined byjust 2.4%. Such decline is explained by theslippage of delivery dates and delays withthe certification of new aircraft as well asby the increase of production expenses forassimilation of new technologies.

Russian manufacturers built 24 civilaircraft in January-July 2009, including 7commercial airliners, says the ministry’sreport. These included two Tupolev Tu-204 for Russia’s Red Wings Airlines, twoTu-214SP single-aisle airliners and оneIlyushin Il-96-300 widebody for theRussian presidential air detachment andtwo Beriev Be-200 amphibians.

Representatives of Russia’s UnitedAircraft Corporation told Russia & CISObserver about two more aircraft deliv-ered in 2009: Tu-204CE freighter washanded over to Cubana de Aviacionwhile another cargo modification – Il-96-400T went to Polet airlines. Butthese aircraft were assembled in 2008.

Irkut Corporation representative toldRussia & CIS Observer that there were

indeed two nearly completed Be-200s atthe Irkutsk-based IAPO productionplant. However, further work on theseaircraft has been suspended ever sincethe customer — the Russian Ministry ofEmergency Relief — stopped fundingtheir construction.

Russian rotorcraft manufacturers built62 Mil Mi-8/17 family helicopters duringthe first seven months of the year.

Russian industry faces government support

Polina Zvereva

In August France’s Turbomeca signed a MoU with Rus-sian Helicopters company to supply new engines for the

Mil Mi-34S2 Sapsan light helicopter. Dmitry Rodin, direc-tor of the Mi-34 production resumption project at theArsenyev-based Progress plant, says the S2 variant with itsTurbomeca Arrius 2F turboshaft engine will be priced atslightly more than $1 million. This makes it one of the mostaffordable rotorcraft in the three-tonne MTOW class. TheMi-34S2 is seen as a rival to the Eurocopter EC120 and therecently unveiled Robinson R66.

The Mi-34S2 is expected to receive CIS-wide certificationin 2011, followed by a production launch in the same year.Rodin says talks with potential customers are under way.Russian Helicopters will bid for a Rosaviatsia Federal AirTransport Agency contract to supply 20 training helicoptersto the Omsk aviation technical school.

It is planned to build a total of 150 helicopters within fiveyears of the production launch. Most will be sold in Russia,although Russian Helicopters is equally interested in foreigncustomers. Rodin gives a very cautious sales outlook for theUSA and Europe, where he says there are protectionist im-port duties on rotorcraft of this category. He names Asia,South America and Africa as much more promising markets.

Developed in the 1980s as a training and aerobatic heli-copter, the Mi-34 was originally powered by the M-14V26Vpiston engine. Series production was suspended in the early2000s. Rodin believes the project to resume Mi-34 produc-tion will cost tens of millions of dollars.

Apart from the Mi-34S2, Progress will also build the pis-ton-powered Mi-34S1 fitted with one M-9VF engine. TheMi-34S1 will be priced at about $600,000, but will be moreexpensive to operate due to the higher price of the fuel it re-quires. In the future Mi-34S2s may be re-engined withUkrainian Progress Ai-450 turbine designs, which could fur-ther reduce their price.

French power for Mi-34s

In the first half of 2009 two TupolevTu-214SP airliners were handed over tothe Russian presidential air detachment

The re-engined Mi-34S2 will be one ofthe cheapest light helicopters in its class

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DEFENSE

Maxim Pyadushkin

The Russian Air Force hasstarted a massive renovationof its fleet. According to theservice’s plans, by 2020 the

share of new and modernized aircraftshould reach 70%. For this purpose theAir Force are increasing the procure-ment of new equipment and continueto upgrade the existing inventory. Thegoal of this effort is to make the servicemore compact in size, but far more ef-fective.

In August the Russian militaryplaced the largest order since the early1990s, signing contracts for delivery of64 Sukhoi fighters. Under the deal, in2009-2011 Sukhoi jet maker will handover to the Air Force 12 Su-27SM single-seat fighters andby the end of 2011 – four Su-30M2 double seaters. In 2010-2015 the manufacturer will de-liver 48 Su-35S multirole com-bat aircraft.

The decision to increase theprocurement for the nationalair force was first revealed inMay 2009, during Prime Min-ister Vladimir Putin’s visit toSukhoi’s primary productionenterprise KnAAPO. Accord-ing to Sukhoi CEO MikhailPogosyan, these orders will en-sure the workload of the com-pany’s production facilities andshift the Air Force’s prioritiesfrom modernization to pur-chase of new aircraft. This is al-so the successful completion ofPogosyan’s years-long effortsto sell the Su-35 – originallydeveloped as an export aircraft– to the Russian Air Force.The jet was initially offered as

an interim solution until Russia’s fifth-generation fighter, currently under de-velopment at Sukhoi, is operational.But Pogosyan said in June 2009 thatproduction of the two similarly-roledwarplanes would run in parallel forabout a decade.

The Su-35 is a thoroughly upgradeddevelopment of the Su-27 multirolefighter. Sukhoi says the incorporationof fifth-generation technology gives itan edge over same-class aircraft. It isfitted with a new avionics suite builtaround an integrated digital aircraftcontrol system, the Irbis passive elec-tronically-scanned array radar and apair of NPO Saturn Product 117S vec-tored-thrust engines each producing14.5 tons of thrust.

Sukhoi says the two Su-35 test air-craft have by mid-2009 accumulatedover 100 flights. Static tests are set to becompleted this year, followed by super-agility trials. The flight-test phaseshould be finished in 2011.

The Air Force Commander Gen-ColAlexander Zelin also announced thathis service would take into serviceMiG-35S fighters soon. Like the Su-35, the MiG-35 is a transformationalredesign of the original MiG-29 aircraftthat introduces extended range, in-creased combat payload and an activeelectronically scanned array (AESA)radar. It was developed to take part inthe Indian Air Force’s tender for 126fighters under its MMRCA program.MiG press-secretary Elena Fedorova

told Russia & CIS Observerthat the number of MiG-35s tobe acquired by the Russian AirForce is still being discussed,but aircraft are already includ-ed in the defense procurementprogram through 2020. But theAir Force’s chief of armamentsMaj-Gen Oleg Barmin warnedthat the order may be placed ifonly the MiG-35 developmentcosts are not included in theprice of the aircraft as it waswith the Su-35s.Meanwhile the Air Force is al-ready renewing its fleet ofMiG-29 light fighters. In De-cember 2008 it signed a con-tract for delivery of 28 MiG-29SMT aircraft — a modern-ized version of MiG-29 basicvariant with ground attack ca-pabilities. These aircraft were

New faceof Russian Air Force

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initially assembled for the Algerian AirForce, but rejected by the customer in2007. Nevertheless Barmin character-ized SMT version as “a very successfulmodernization variant of MiG-29”.This year the Air Force reportedly ex-pects to get the first modernized MiG-29UB two-seaters also rejected by Al-geria.

Another important program for theAir Force is modernization of MiG-31interceptors. The service received thefirst upgraded MiG-31BM aircraft in2008. They have new onboard equip-ment, improved radar and satellite nav-igation and are able to use new guidedweapons. According to Zelin, the AirForce plans to have 9 squadrons ofmodernized MiG-31s with total of 108aircraft.

The Air Force will also modernize itsstrategic bombers. Zelin mentionedthat Tupolev Tu-95MS, Tu-160 andTu-22M3 heavy bombers will receiveupgraded avionics to be able to use pre-cision weapons. Simultaneously themilitary are preparing their require-ments for the next generation strategicbomber that, according to the Com-mander, will be more effective than ex-isting aircraft. It is expected to use widerange high-precision strike weaponswhat combined to new combat capabil-ities will enable to fulfill the deterrencetasks by completely new methods.

The fleet of military transports is tobe drastically renewed within the nextdecade, says the Air Force strategy. AsAlexander Zelin explained, in the nextyears Antonov An-22, An-12 and An-26 airlifters will be withdrawn from op-erations. In the heavy class, the AirForce will focus on modernization ofAn-124 and Il-76 aircraft. The firstprototype of Il-76MD-90 with im-proved cockpit avionics and new PS-90engines is expected to start trials in2010 while the production of the newversion is to start in Ulyanovsk-basedAviastar facility in 2011. The Air Forceplans to order about 40 aircraft.

An-26 is to be replaced with the newIlyushin Il-112V light transport withpayload of 6 tons. It avionics suite is de-veloped on the basis of Kotlin-Novator

Kupol-3 digital flight control and navi-gation system and will be common withthose at new Il-76s. The Air Force ex-pects that the first test aircraft will rollout next year while the flight trials areto start in early 2011. Zelin said that theinitial order from the Air Force may in-clude more than 70 Il-112 aircraft, butmore orders may be placed by othermilitary services and Russian govern-ment bodies. According to the repre-sentatives of VASO plant, where Il-112V is expected to be assembled, thefirst aircraft may start operations in2012.

The replacement for the mediumclass An-12 will be the new multiroletransport aircraft (MTA) jointly devel-oped by Russia and India. The twopartners are expected to set up a jointventure that will deal with the develop-ment and production issues. Accordingto the designers, the MTA developmentwill be finished by 2015-2016, while thefirst prototype may take off in 2014.With the cargo compartment twice theshorter than at Il-76, MTA will be ca-pable to carry up to 18.5 tons of pay-load. According to intergovernmentalRusso-Indian agreement, the RussianAir Force promised to buy up to 100MTAs. The expected order from theIndian Air Force is smaller – 45 air-craft.

Increased procurement of the newand modernized aircraft is supported by

new orders for air launched weapons.In August the Air Force and Russia’sTactical Missiles Corporation (TMC)signed a contract, valued at 6 billionrubles (about $190 million) for deliveryof 14 types of weapons for engaging air-borne and land and sea-based targets in2009-2011. The new TMC missiles willbe installed at new-purchased Su-35Sfighters and modernized MiG-31BMinterceptors.

Both the military and TMC didn’tspecify what kind of missiles are in thelist, but Zelin mentioned Kh-31 (AS-17) anti-radar missile and Kh-35 (AS-20) anti-ship missile. The TMC repre-sentative explained to Russia & CISObserver that the order also includesnew types, first unveiled at MAKS-2009 air show held recently inZhukovsky, near Moscow. There TMCshowed Kh-35UE modification withthe range doubled to 260 km as well asshort-range RVV-MD and medium-range RVV-SD air-to-air missiles. Theofficial weapons list of Su-35 also in-cludes the following TMC’s products:R-27, R-73 and RVV-AE air-to-airmissiles, Kh-29 and Kh-59MK land at-tack missiles and KAB-500 and KAB-1500 smart bombs. The Air ForceCommander explained that his servicewill also purchase air-launchedweapons from other Russian manufac-turers adding more than 20 new typesto its arsenals.

The Air Force plans to improve its air liftingcapabilities with the order for about 40

modernized Il-76MD-90 transports

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Maxim Pyadushkin

The first flight of the PAK FA(T-50) tactical fighter, thefifth-generation replace-ment for Russia’s Su-27

fleet, was officially postponed for a fewmonths compared to the previous ex-pectation, but the government and mil-itary officials assure that the develop-ment is under way. In August both GenCol Alexander Zelin, Commander ofthe Russian Air Force, and Mikhail Po-gosyan, head of Sukhoi jet maker that isa lead contractor under PAK FA pro-gram, said the new aircraft will make itsfirst flight by the end of the year. Theprevious deadline announced by Zelinat the end of 2008 was this year’s AirForce Day, celebrated on 12 August.Now the Commander confirmed thatone prototype, assembled at Sukhoi’sKnAAPO facility in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, has already been delivered toMoscow and started static tests. The

flying prototype is expected to be rolledout in November.

Although the PAK FA program is keptclassified, some details about the futureaircraft were revealed during MAKS2009 air show, held in Zhukovsky in Au-gust. Alexander Zelin told that the firstprototype will start flight testing pow-ered by a pair of NPO Saturn 117S en-gines. These powerplants, a furthermodification of AL-31 engines upratedto 14.5 ton thrust are now installed at thenew Su-35 multirole fighters. He ex-plained that the initial prototypes of newengine for T-50 are being designed at themoment by NPO Saturn and MMPPSalyut companies.

More progress is reported on T-50’savionics suite being developed byAvionica Concern. The company’shead Givi Djanjgava explained that twoavionics kits for T-50 are ready andthey include six-processor computer,visualization tools and flight instrumentsystem. The suite will be installed at T-

50’s first flying prototype in Septem-ber while now the company is work-ing on the software package for thefirst flight. According to Djanjgava,the new avionics will give T-50 net-work-centric capabilities, enable itto use new weapons and make thepilot’s work easier with graphic indi-cation.At MAKS 2009 air showTikhomirov’s NIIP unveiled a full-scale active phased array antenna, itdevelops for T-50. Unlike the otherRussian AESA radar – Zhuk-AEdeveloped by Phazotron-NIIR forMiG-35 fighter, in Tikhomirov’s an-tenna the transmit/receive (T/R)modules are hidden inside the array.

Anatoly Sinany, Tikhomirov’s chief de-signer, told Russia & CIS Observer thatT-50 AESA radar will have 1,500 T/Rmodules, produced by Iztok companyfrom Fryazino, near Moscow.

Now the first prototype of T-50’s X-band radar is passing a bench tests. Ac-cording to NIIP, the second prototypefor ground testing is to be assembled bythe end of this year. The AESA radarfor the first T-50 flying prototype is ex-pected to be ready only in mid-2010.

Besides X-band radar, Tikhomirov’sNIIP also showed an L-band activephased array that is believed to be in-stalled on the leading edge-flaps of thefuture aircraft. This L-band radarshould also be installed at Su-35 fighter.

So it looks like the first flight ‘post-ponement’ doesn’t indicate a delay inthe overall program. Previously, Sukhoiand state officials have said 2015 will bethe year the fifth-generation fighter en-ters service with the Russian Air Force.In June Sukhoi’s Pogosyan reportedthat T-50s will be procured by the AirForce in parallel with the Su-35s. AtMAKS 2009 Sukhoi and the Air Forcesigned a contract on delivery of 48 Su-35 that should be completed by 2015.This might imply that the next-genera-tion T-50 design will be subjected toprotracted testing before the militarygets a final product with the requiredperformance.

The Air Force Commander alsomentioned the two-seat version of T-50which he tentatively named as T-50UB(Uchebno-boevoy, combat trainer).Zelin explained that this modificationwill be developed jointly with the Indi-ans. India joined PAK FA program in2007, when it was assumed thatSukhoi and Hindustan Aeronautics(HAL) would develop a fifth-genera-tion fighter for the Indian Air Force ona parity basis.

Almost ready for flightRussia’s 5th generation fighter is expected to take off this year

In August Tikhomirov’s NIIP for the firsttime showed AESA radar for T-50 fighterA

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Maxim Pyadushkin

The government trials of Rus-sia’s new attack helicopter –Kamov Ka-52, dubbed Alli-gator, will be finished in

2010, promised the Air Force Com-mander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin inearly August. In September the heli-copter should start flight testing with itsnew onboard Arbalet radar station.

The twin seat Ka-52 was developed inthe early 1990s on the basis of the single-seat Kamov Ka-50 Black Shark assaulthelicopter after it became clear that Rus-sian Air Force want to have a new assaulthelicopter with two pilots, so Ka-50 islosing to Mil Mi-28N. The first Ka-52prototype made its maiden flight in 1997.

In 2003 the military selected Mi-28Nas a main attack helicopter obviouslybecause of its better armor protection.Although Ka-50 has armor equal to theMil machine, Kamov designers had tosacrifice it developing Ka-52 in orderkeep the take-off weight at 10,000 kgmark. The Kamov designers admit thatKa-52’s pilots have protective armoronly from the back of their seats.

But the Air Force found a special rolefor the Kamov helicopter. As the AirForce’s Chief of Armaments Maj. Gen.Oleg Barmin explained that Ka-52 issuited more for combat missions in ur-ban terrain and in mountains as well asfor air surveillance and target detection.

Kamov designers stress that Ka-52 isnot a simple two-seat modification of theBlack Shark but a deeply modernizedversion. The helicopter is powered by apair of new Klimov 2500 hp VK-2500engines. Agility is achieved by the use ofcoaxial rotor design. It enables the heli-copter to fly sideward with a speed of 80km/h and backward at 90 km/h. Coaxialrotors also increase the vertical speed andthe helicopter’s ceiling because, as one

of Kamov designer explained, the lack oftail rotor allows to direct all power of theengines to the main rotors. During theflight tests Ka-52 demonstrated a verticallift speed of 30 m/s.

The Alligator is armed with 30-mm2A42 gun and 12 Vikhr (AT-12) laser-guided antitank missiles. The Kamov de-signers say the next step may be the intro-duction of new Hermes-A ATGMs withself homing device that has a range of 15-20 km compared to 10 km at Vikhr. Butthe military is likely to unify the weapon-ry with Mi-28N and to use radio-guidedAtaka-V missiles. Ka-52 can also carry 4Igla-V or 2 R-73 air-to-air missiles as wellas 80-mm unguided rockets.

Ka-52 completed the first phase ofthe government testing at the end of2008. At that time the military ap-proved the production of pre-seriesbatch of 12 helicopters at Arseniev-based Progress facility. According toBarmin, the exact number of heli-copters to be purchased through 2020is to not specified yet, but initial planscalls for more than 25 rotorcraft.

So far the main disappointment for themilitary was the lack of Arbalet radar sta-tion at Ka-52 prototypes. Now the prob-

lem is solved as the first radar was to beinstalled at the helicopter at the end ofAugust. According to the Phazotron-NIIR Corporation, the designer of Ar-balet, the delays was caused by the deci-sion to relocate Ka-52’s GOES electro-optical sensor system in the nose conewhat takes some space earlier assignedfor Arbalet antenna. So the Phazotronspecialists have to lift the antenna in theupper section of the nose cone and makeits shape more elliptical, explained Pha-zotron chief designer Yury Gouskov.“Now the radar bean became wider andis capable to cover broader area”, he told.

The 8-mm wavelength Arbalet unifiedradar can detect and track moving tank-sized targets at up to 30km away. It canalso detect airborne targets includingplanes, helicopters and missiles. The Ar-balet will be integrated into a new Argu-ment-2000 onboard navigation andflight and weapons control complex thatenables the helicopter to operate round-o-clock in all weather condition. Ka-52’s communication system enables toexchange the information and distributetargets between other helicopters of thegroup on the battlefield turning the Alli-gator into a command aircraft.

Arbalet for AlligatorKa-52 helicopter will start radar trials

The Russian Air Force willuse Ka-52 attack helicopter for

combat missions in urban terrainand in mountains as well as for air

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Robert Hewson andMaxim Pyadushkin

The Russian Air Force is interest-ed to have new unmanned air-

craft in its inventory, said Gen. Maj.Oleg Barmin, the service’s chief ofarmaments, in August. He explainedthat together with the fifth genera-tion fighter, being developed now bySukhoi, the Air Force plans to takeinto service a new unmanned com-bat aerial vehicle (UCAV) that will

be capable to use the same weaponsas the future aircraft.

Among Russian aircraft designersonly MiG Corp. is known to be in-volved in the development of UCAV.Two years ago it showed a full-scaleengineering mock-up of a strikeUCAV dubbed Scat. But since thattime no progress was reported on theprogram.

Meanwhile Sukhoi General Direc-tor Mikhail Pogosyan said that a newunmanned combat aircraft could be

the first joint product of a unifiedMiG and Sukhoi. The two compa-nies are moving towards a merger toform the single Combat Aircraft unitwithin UAC. Pogosyan says that dis-cussions have already been held withthe Russian Ministry of Defense re-garding its operational concepts forUAVs, and Sukhoi is working onsome relevant designs. “As soon as wehave the Ministry’s final perspec-tive,” says Pogosyan, “we will de-monstrate our results.”

Maxim Pyadushkin

The program of Russia’s new Yakovlev Yak-130combat trainer is moving into the productionphase. At MAKS-2009 air show, held in August inZhukovsky, near Moscow, the Russian Air Force

displayed its first series production Yak-130 trainer. This air-craft, assembled at Nizhny Novgorod’s Sokol plant, madeits maiden flight in May. The first batch of 12 Yak-130s wasordered in 2005. According to the Air Force CommanderCol. Gen. Alexander Zelin, now the procurement plans al-ready include 72 aircraft that will replace the aging fleet ofSoviet-ear Czech L-39 trainers.

The new jet trainer was developed by the Yakovlev DesignBureau, which later merged with the Irkut Corporation. In2002 the Russian Air Force chose Yak-130 as its new jet aircraftfor basic and advanced pilot training. It is equipped with a glasscockpit and a re-programmed fly-by-wire system that canreplicate the characteristics of various Russian generation 4+fighters as well future Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation aircraft.

It can also carry up to 3 tons of combat load. Besides thetraining purposes the Air Force plans to use Yak-130 as alight attack aircraft. As Zelin explained, it will be able to useguided weapons against ground targets.

Meanwhile, three Yak-130 prototypes continue their govern-ment trials. The first phase – testing with standard weapons,including short-range R-73 (AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missiles,80 mm air-to-ground rockets, air bombs and 23-mm gun pod– was completed in May. Now the prototypes have moved tothe second phase that includes trials with an expanded weapon-ry list. This is expected to be completed this year.

Besides the Russian Air Force Yak-130 already has a for-eign customer. At the end of August the first export version ofthe trainer, assembled for Algerian Air Force, made its maid-en flight at Irkutsk aviation facility, a subsidiary of IrkutCorp. This is the second production site for the Yak-130. Ac-cording to the Irkut Corporation, the deliveries of 16 aircraft,ordered by Algeria in 2006, should start next year.

The company also notes that this trainer is the first Russianproduction aircraft built with the full use of digital technolo-gies. In Nizhny Novgorod the digital technologies are usedonly for manufacturing certain assembly parts and compo-nents. According to Irkut, the use of digital technologies, cou-pled with lean management techniques, allows to improve thequality and to increase in the production rate of 25-30%.

Irkut’s president Oleg Demchenko points out that theIrkutsk facility is capable of rolling out 60 trainers a year,while the experience gained in digital technologies is impor-tant for the company’s plans to assemble Russia’s new MS-21 commercial airliner.

Unmanned strike

Air Force shows first Yak-130

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Polina Zvereva

Russian airlines lost nearly20% of their passengers inthe first six months of 2009.None of the Top Five carri-

ers succeeded in improving their 2008results. This is unlikely to happen in thesecond half of the year as the summerperiod with increased air traffic is usu-ally followed by decrease in demand inautumn. Taking into account the insta-bility of the Russian economy and thestrong expectations of the second waveof the financial crisis, this autumncould be worse for the local airlinesthan a year ago. The market has fallenback to where it was in 2007. So toohave passenger load factors, indicatingthat as they have acquired new (mostlyWestern) aircraft, Russian airlines haveoptimized capacity by retiring obsoleteSoviet-era airliners.

The five largest airlines continue toaccount for over 50% of all passengersflown by Russian carriers. In the firstsix month, Aeroflot has come out ontop again despite a drop in passengernumbers from 4.4 million for the firstsix months of 2008 to 3.9 million. S7Airlines, which had occupied the No. 2slot for several years in a row, was over-taken by Transaero both in terms ofpassengers carried (1.88 million com-pared to Transaero’s 1.95 million) andpassenger kilometers flown (4.33 mil-lion to Transaero’s 7.58 million).

Additionally, S7 lost its title as thelargest carrier on domestic routes toAeroflot. Overall, the airline saw a 30%decline in passengers. One reason forthis was its recent fleet optimization ef-fort, which saw S7 parted with all Sovi-et-built airliners. Another factor worthnoting was the establishment by S7’sowners of a separate charter operationnamed Globus in 2008, which drew off

a sizeable portion of the previous S7customer base. In 2009 Globus morethan quadrupled the number of passen-gers carried compared to 2008 while ondomestic flight the number of its pas-sengers skyrocketed by 31 times.

Rossiya Airlines moved to No. 5ranking in terms of passengers carried,with a fall of about 20%. UTair thattook the fourth place, turned out to bethe only Top Five airline to not onlyend the first six months with nearlyidentical results to the same period in2008 (losing just 5% of passengers and0.1% of passenger kilometers), but toboost its passenger load factor by 4.5%.

Despite the general drop in demand,some individual carriers still managedto grow. Besides Globus, Orenair alsostrengthened its positions acquiringbetter share on the charter market.Former large players in this segment arelosing clients for a number of reasons.The operation results of VIM-Avia air-line were decreasing faster than themarket in general while another carrier,Atlant-Soyuz that grew significantly in

the last few years, lost almost half of itspassengers in the first six month of thisyear. One of the reasons for such slumpmay be unclear situation with thelaunch of Rosavia airline established byRussian Technologies Corporation onthe remains of the bankruptedAirUnion airlines alliance. It looks likewhile Atlant-Soyuz that is expected tojoint Rosavia, was busy taking the routenetwork of the former AirUnion,tourist operators find other carriers forcharter flights this summer.

Nevertheless the demand decline rateslows down what became more evidentin July. According to the official statis-tics, in this month the decrease in pas-sengers carried by the Russian airlinesamounted only to 10.7% compared tothe same period of 2008. In June thedecline rate was 13.4% while in Jan-uary-May it was 20%. Such results cor-respond with the global air transportmarket that also showed the lowest de-cline rate in July, according to the In-ternational Air Transport Association(IATA) statistics.

Ever Fewer PassengersRussian airlines reported about their operational results for the first half of 2009

S7 Airlines, that used to be the second largestRussian carrier for several years in a row, wasovertaken by Transaero both in terms of passengerscarried and passenger kilometers flown

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Top 20 Russian airlines, by passengers carried and passenger kilometers flown in the first six month of 2009

* Not listed in the top 35 for the H1 2008** No official data available at the moment of the issue’s releaseSource: Russian Transport Clearing House.

Passengers carried Passenger kilometers

Airline Ranking in Passengers, Change to 2008, Ranking in H1 2009 Passenger km, Change to 2008,H1 2009 (H1 2008) thousand % (H1 2008) million %

International and domestic routesAeroflot — Russian Airlines 1 (1) 3,852.5 -12.15 1 (1) 11,337.9 -10.78Transaero 2 (3) 1,950.9 -5.55 2 (2) 7,584.5 -4.84S7 Airlines 3 (2) 1,885.7 -32.95 3 (3) 4,332.0 -36.48UTair 4 (5) 1,437.3 -5.09 5 (5) 2,306.2 -0.37GTK Rossiya 5 (4) 1,247.3 -19.31 4 (4) 2,545.9 -22.99Orenair 6 (14) 630.1 +44.10 6 (13) 1,982.4 +89.96Ural Airlines 7 (9) 560.2 -12.49 8 (10) 1,512.6 -9.15VIM-Avia 8 (6) 513.5 -34.46 10 (6) 1,142.4 -47.17Aeroflot-Don 9 (10) 472.3 -16.85 14 (12) 900.7 -18.15Vladivostok Air 10 (17) 461.2 +28.75 7 (11) 1,580.0 +36.58Globus 11 (32) 458.0 +355.44 9 (29) 1,217.7 +361.64Aeroflot-Nord 12 (13) 456.8 +2.59 16 (19) 635.1 +11.00Sky Express 13 (12) 377.7 -22.84 18 (18) 548.7 -9.93Atlant-Soyuz 14 (7) 364.7 -47.43 13 (8) 1,001.7 -45.29Red Wings 15 (22) 360.1 +60.77 12 (20) 1,032.1 +92.95KD Avia 16 (11) 352.8 -35.38 17 (16) 607.1 -31.44Nordwind 17 (*) ** * 11 (*) ** *Kuban Airlines 18 (18) 251.7 -21.38 22 (23) 347.3 -18.24Yakutia Airlines 19 (21) 251.5 +12.29 15 (17) 823.4 +28.76Kavminvodyavia 20 (19) 250.8 -5.48 19 (22) 456.7 -7.78

International routesAeroflot — Russian Airlines 1 (1) 2,396.6 -10.14 1 (1) 7,647.7 -13.35Transaero 2 (2) 1,546.6 -14.42 2 (2) 5,732.0 -17.20GTK Rossiya 3 (4) 570.4 -28.51 3 (4) 1,656.3 -28.18Orenair 4 (11) 533.5 +87.85 4 (10) 1,836.4 +120.98VIM-Avia 5 (6) 507.7 -15.19 7 (6) 1,117.1 -34.66S7 Airlines 6 (3) 457.0 -47.32 5 (3) 1,213.2 -50.52Red Wings 7 (14) 359.6 +65.47 8 (13) 1,031.8 +96.72Nordwind 8 (*) ** * 6 (*) ** *Atlant-Soyuz 9 (5) 326.9 -52.11 9 (5) 895.8 -50.56Ural Airlines 10 (8) 290.7 -6.37 10 (7) 881.6 -16.43Aeroflot-Don 11 (7) 261.0 -22.55 11 (11) 592.8 -22.00Globus 12 (17) 163.6 +79.23 12 (16) 444.5 +78.61Vladivostok Air 13 (16) 161.1 +41.03 13 (15) 427.9 +52.63KD Avia 14 (13) 137.0 -39.07 16 (14) 206.1 -37.32Moskoviya 15 (18) 107.4 +45.60 14 (18) 287.2 +42.61UTair 16 (15) 100.3 -27.63 18 (17) 150.1 -35.55Tatarstan 17 (12) 81.1 -71.19 15 (12) 213.3 -71.70Sky Express 18 (*) 76.4 * 17 (*) 153.3 *Kavminvodyavia 19 (20) 59.3 -11.06 19 (19) 142.7 -13.12Yamal Airlines 20 (29) 48.8 +127.70 20 (27) 127.4 +140.94

Domestic routesAeroflot — Russian Airlines 1 (2) 1,455.9 -15.27 1 (2) 3,690.2 -4.94S7 Airlines 2 (1) 1,428.7 -26.54 2 (1) 3,118.8 -28.59UTair 3 (3) 1,337.0 -2.82 3 (3) 2,156.1 +3.56GTK Rossiya 4 (4) 676.9 -9.49 6 (6) 889.6 -11.01Aeroflot-Nord 5 (6) ** ** 10 (14) ** **Transaero 6 (11) 404.3 +56.43 4 (5) 1,852.6 +76.75Sky Express 7 (5) 301.3 -38.44 12 (11) 395.4 -35.09Vladivostok Air 8 (12) 300.2 +23.00 5 (7) 1,152.1 +31.44Globus 9 (*) 294.4 * 8 (*) 773.3 *Ural Airlines 10 (8) 269.5 -18.25 9 (10) 630.9 +3.43Yakutia Airlines 11 (15) 238.3 +19.80 7 (12) 783.7 +35.80KD Avia 12 (9) 215.9 -32.80 11 (13) 401.1 -27.97Aeroflot-Don 13 (13) 211.3 -8.55 15 (18) 307.9 -9.54Kuban Airlines 14 (10) 210.6 -20.32 16 (17) 293.9 -15.94Kavminvodyavia 15 (16) 191.5 -3.61 14 (19) 314.0 -5.14Gazpromavia 16 (19) 165.6 +3.12 13 (20) 344.1 +5.54Tatarstan 17 (23) 153.6 +5.27 21 (26) 154.7 +14.80Yamal Airlines 18 (17) 143.9 -25.26 19 (23) 176.0 -28.67Alrosa 19 (25) 104.5 -16.50 17 (22) 248.0 -15.54Dagestan Airlines 20 (31) 97.6 +32.72 20 (27) 162.9 +32.87


BUSINESS AVIATION

Alexei Sinitsky

Mastering of series production of Anotonov An-148 re-gional jet in Russia, at the Voronezh VASO aircraft

building plant, and growth in quantity of orders for this airplanealso increased the interest of customers in the airplane’s VIPversion, dubbed Antonov Business Jet or An-168. It is possibleto attribute to its indisputable advantages a possibility of opera-tion from any airfields including unpaved runways, availabilityof its own entrance stairs and a volume of the cabin big for busi-ness-class airplanes that allows having both convenient VIPconfiguration and spacious option for corporate transportation.

During MAKS-2009 air show in August, Russian IlyushinFinance leasing company signed agreements to supply of 59An-148 airplanes in various modifications including 30 firmorders. If all agreements of intent are transformed into firmcontracts the portfolio of orders for An-148 will approach afigure of 100 aircraft.

Atlant-Soyuz airline ordered five An-148 in VIP version inthe framework of its contract for purchase of 30 aircraft ofthis class (the company plans beginning of operation of thebusiness version in three years). Possibility of supply of twoairplanes to the presidential aviation squadron and two air-planes to the government of Colombia is discussed too butthese contracts are not signed yet.

Anna Nazarova

In July two Russia’s professionalbizav organizations, the United

Business Aviation Association (UBAA)and the Russian Business Aviation As-sociation (RBAA), announced a merg-er. The resulting entity will be known asthe Russian United Business AviationAssociation (RUBAA). The move waspreceded by nearly a year of consulta-tions. RUBAA chairman LeonidKoshelev says, “The establishment of asingle business aviation association is asignal that the Russian industry is turn-

ing into a serious player to be reckonedwith, by both our European colleaguesand the Russian civil aviation authori-ties.” He adds that from now on, na-tional regulators should recognize busi-ness aviation as a separate sector fromcommercial aviation, and treat it ac-cording to its needs.

The RUBAA’s mission will includelobbying the government on issues suchas customs restrictions, aircraft financ-ing and state regulation of the industry.Some serious progress has already beenmade. Customs duty on aircraft weigh-ing 2 to 20 tons has been waived, and a

law on aircraft ownership registrationcame into force on 1 September.

Koshelev notes however that, “itwould be good to see the duty similarlywaived on light aircraft” and large-cabinbusiness jets such as the Gulfstream 550and the Global XRS. Anther pressingneed is for harmonization of Russia’scustoms regulations on permitted peri-ods of stay for foreign aircraft. Almosteverywhere else in the world a clear lim-it is set on the number of days an aircraftis allowed to stay at that country’s air-port before clearing customs. A similarlimit should be codified in Russia.

Koshelev believes his association has tosecure major breakthroughs on the cus-toms and aircraft registration front beforetaking on the more complicated problemof state regulation in business aviation.That issue, among other things, requires“the laying of the legal groundwork forthe supervision over safety of corporateand private aircraft”. Work on this prob-lem is impossible without first reformingthe civil aviation authorities and harmo-nizing the Russian Air Code with ICAOrecommendations, the US and EU avia-tion legal frameworks, he says.

Off-road business jet

Ilyushin Finance already has an orderfor five An-148 airplanes in VIP version

Mar

ina

Lyst

seva

Mar

ina

Lyst

seva

United lobbyists

With the set-up of RUBAA, Russia’s nationalregulators are expected to recognize businessaviation as a separate sector


SPACE BUSINESS

Igor Afanasyev, Dmitry Vorontsov

Development of the Angaraspace launcher is thelargest Russian space pro-ject included in the Fed-

eral space program for 2006-2015. Thesignificance of the project is underlinedby the fact that its curator, first viceprime minister Sergey Ivanov, hadcalled Angara the “project of state im-portance”. As of second half of 2009, itcan be said that the work has enteredthe final stage, albeit not without someserious problems.

Research on the new heavy launcher,aimed to replace the Proton rocket, be-gan back in the end of 1980s but wasnot completed due to harsh economicconditions. After the collapse of SovietUnion, The Russian Ministry of De-fense had encountered difficulties inusing the Baikonur spaceport on theterritory of sovereign Kazakhstan.Many manufacturers of componentsfor space launchers, as well as theboosters themselves (e.g. Zenit-2),found themselves outside Russia. Thecountry faced a real threat to lose inde-pendent access to space, especially re-garding the geostationary orbit.

In these conditions, in 1992 it wasdecided to start work on the Angaraproject: development of the most ratio-nal heavy space launcher to be used atthe uncompleted Zenit-2 launch pad inthe Russian spaceport of Plesetsk.Khrunichev Center was declared thewinner in 1994, with the project of An-gara-26 two-stage booster with charac-teristic strap-on fuel tanks. The firststage was to feature an oxygen-kerosene RD-171 engine developed byNPO Energomash, the second stage –oxygen-hydrogen engine designed byKBKhA. Both were modifications ofthe proven engines used on the ultra-heavy Energia booster. The 640-tonrocket, launched from Plesetsk, couldhave carried 26 tons of cargo into thelow-earth orbit. In 1995 it was decidedto build the Angara launch pad on thenew Far East spaceport of Svobodny.

Since the beginning the project raninto funding problems. In fact, it onlypresented interest for the Ministry ofDefense, which was actually in need of aheavy booster. Russia’s Space Agency(Rosaviakosmos), on the other hand,was satisfied with the existing launcherline-up and did not want to get involvedin a long-term project with unclear

prospects. In addition to that, the Inter-national Space Station project hadchanged the priorities of the Russiancivil space authority. For a few years,Khrunichev Center had developed An-gara on its own with limited participa-tion of the Ministry of Defense.

In 1996-1997 the project had under-gone radical changes. The use of hydro-gen in the launcher’s main rocket wasabandoned in favor of kerosene (althoughthe heavy versions of Angara were stillcryogenic), and the unification principlewas introduced. During that period, aconcept of the Universal Rocket Modulewas introduced. Approximately by 2001,Angara had gained its now-familiar tech-nical shape. The unification principle wasto reduce manufacturing costs for thelaunchers of various classes.

The space launcherCurrently the Angara family comprisesfour main models. They are modularand differ in the number and type ofUniversal Rocket Modules (URM).The modules of both types areequipped with oxygen-kerosene en-gines: URM-1 with RD-191 engine de-veloped by NPO Energomash, URM-2with RD-0124A designed by KBKhA.

The heavy Angara-5 version, neededby the Ministry of Defense and orderedin the first place, is in most demand. Thelight Angara 1.1 and 1.2 launchers areaimed to replaced the Kosmos-3M,Tsiklon and Rokot heptyl launchers. TheAngara-3 niche is currently occupied bythe Russian-Ukrainian Zenit launcher.However, the Khrunichev Center man-agement is optimistic about its prospects,certain that all members of the launcherfamily will find their place.

During the last 2-3 years KhrunichevCenter had presented two more mem-bers of the family – Angara-5P and An-gara-7. The first one was positioned asthe prospective launcher for piloted

Angara getting ready for launch

Angara family has a modulardesign based on Universal

Rocket Modules


SPACE BUSINESS

spacecraft to be used at Vostochny space-port, but the contest was won by the con-sortium of TsSKB Progress, RKK En-ergiya and Makeev Design Bureau. An-gara-7 is the most powerful launcher inthe family. Depending on the modifica-tion, it is able to put 35-41 tons of pay-load into the low earth orbit and is de-signed for lunar piloted programs, heavyautomated various-purpose satellites andinterplanetary probes. The launchercomprises six URM-1s located aroundthe new increased-diameter centralmodule. The project is solely an initia-tive of Khrunichev Center and is not fi-nanced by the government.

The Angara development had allowedthe Khrunichev Center to take part inthree international projects. Since De-cember 2004 the company, in coopera-tion with the Kazakhstan Republic, isworking on the Baiterek program, in-volving Angara-5 commercial launchesfrom Baikonur. Although the project isstalling due to insufficient funding, itstill has good chances to succeed be-cause it will allow both parties – Russiaand Kazakhstan – to continue the jointuse of Baikonur even after the Vostochnyspaceport is commissioned.

The company intends to develop afamily of light- and medium-classlaunchers for the Brazilian SouthernCross project. Prospects of this project,which is currently being negotiated, areunclear. However, the development ofSouth Korean KSLV-1 (Korean SpaceLaunch Vehicle), also based on URM-1, has been completed.

Money and hardwareBeginning from 2004, the Angara

program had gained stable financing, aswell as high-level political support, andthe launcher had finally gained shape. The preparations for flight develop-ment tests of the launchers are to startin the end of 2010. The first launch ofthe light-class Angara-1 rocket isscheduled for the 1st quarter of 2011,with the first launch of the heavy An-gara-5 version to follow in the 4th quar-ter of 2011. The booster assembled atPO Polet facility is to start in a year; the

company had joined the Angara familydevelopment project in 2009. Produc-tion of two bay types for the newlauncher is scheduled to start in the au-tumn of 2009. Currently Polet ispreparing for production and con-ducting technical modernization. 400new jobs were created at the plant; de-livery of 15 high-tech metal-process-ing centers is expected. Equipmentsetup and software installation is to becompleted by the end of 2009. Overall,the plant is to use over 771.4 millionrubles (about $25 million) of budgetfunds this year: approximately 310

million rubles will be allocated forequipment purchase, while the restwill be spent on reconstruction of pro-duction facilities. By 2015 the Omsk-based plant is to produce 60 URM-1modules for 10 heavy Angara-5launchers and 10 light Angara A-1.2launchers. In 2015-2020 the companyintends to increase the production vol-ume to 120 modules per year.

Other plants are also preparing forthe project. In particular, Proton-PMwill invest 4.5 billion rubles in Angaraengine production, including 1.5 bil-lion rubles in 2010-2011. The company

The most important success ofthe year was the launch of SouthKorean KSLV-1 rocket, that has afirst stage developed on thebasis of Angara’s URM-1 module


SPACE BUSINESS

intends to create about 2 thousand newjobs in 2010-2015 at the plant.

Experimental testing of the RD-191engine developed by NPO Energomashwas practically completed in 2009. 9development models and 16 test en-gines were assembled within the frame-work of the program. 101 static test fir-ings were conducted, totaling 22094seconds; maximum mean time per en-gine amounted to 3635 seconds. Cur-rently RD-191 is undergoing finishingdevelopment and interdepartamentaltests and are ready for shipment.

In 2009 RD-0124A engine had suc-cessfully undergone two lengthy statictest firings. Construction of the Angaralaunch pad and technical facility is un-derway at Plesetsk spaceport.

Successes and problemsSuccessful development of the project isunderlined by several events. First of all,on July 30 the long-expected static testfirings of the complete URM-1 modulestarted on the NITs RKP test bench. Thetests, conducted according to the An-gara-1 first stage flight sequence, were acomplete success: all performance rat-ings were confirmed. Static test firings-2– certification of the module for opera-tion as an Angara-5 side thruster – arescheduled for autumn, to be followed bystatic test firings-3 to certify the URM-1for operation as an Angara-5 mainthruster. However, the most importantsuccess of the year was the flight testingof URM-1 on a South Korean KSLV-1(Naro) rocket, launched in the end of

August. Although the booster did not putthe satellite into orbit, the first stage, de-veloped by Khrunichev Center, per-formed flawlessly.

Besides the successes, Angara projectalso faces serious problems, not least ofall because of the economic crisis. Dur-ing the visit of Russian Prime MinisterVladimir Putin to Khrunichev Centeron March 18, Vladimir Nesterov, thecompany’s general director, had askedhim for additional financing of over 10billion rubles. The funds are needed toensure the start of Angara developmenttests before 2011, as the underfunding in2009 amounted to over 3 billion rubles.Besides, due to the ruble devaluation,the company’s accounts payable had in-creased sharply: during 2008, dollar debtof Khrunichev Center had decreasedfrom $740 million to $738 million, whilethe ruble debt had increased from 17 bil-lion rubles to 26 billion rubles. Becauseof the lack of funding, some work is be-ing delayed. In particular, static test fir-ing of the complete URM-2 was notconducted yet; launch pad constructionat Plesetsk is also delayed.

However, in the last few years theRussian government demonstrated in-creased attention towards the space androcket industry, allowing to hope thatAngara project will be completed, al-beit later than planned.

The next stepsFull-scale operation of the Angaralauncher is expected to start approxi-mately in 2015. Light Angara-1.2 and

heavy Angara-5 rockets are likely to beused in federal civil and military pro-grams, with the latter eventually replac-ing the current workhorse, Proton-M.However, operation of the medium An-gara-3 launcher is likely only in unfore-seen circumstances, such as the ceasein Zenit-2 production.

Commercial future of the newlauncher is much less clear. In order tosucceed, it needs a long history of suc-cessful launches and acceptable cost –something which Angara will not haveduring the initial period of operation.Besides, the international market ofcommercial launches will be filled withcompetitors – new modifications ofEuropean Ariane-5 and Chinese GreatJourney-5. New players may alsoemerge: for example, U.S. SpaceX is of-fering a heavy Falcon-9 launcher at halfthe competitors’ cost. Japan is also aim-ing for this market, bringing the cost ofits H-2B to the level of Proton-M.

Internal competition also complicatesmatters. TsKB Progress had become thehead developer of a new Rus-M rocket tobe used at Vostochny spaceport. Featuresof the new rocket’s basic model allow it tocompete with Angara-5. Besides, unlikeAngara, Rus-M has a large potential formodernization, allowing to developlaunchers with payload of 30-40, 50-60and even 100 tons. Although the capacityof this launcher is somewhat lower, it willprobably be cheaper and, unlike its com-petitor, will be able to be launched fromany Soyuz launch pad in Plesetsk,Baikonur and French Guiana.

The test firings, conducted in Julyaccording to the Angara-1 first stage

flight sequence, were a complete success

The Show Observer is brought to youby the publisher of the renowned AirTransport Observer magazine (ATO)and its sister publications – Russia’sonly true aerospace industry publica-tions, which are recognized worldwidefor the quality of reporting and in-depthnews coverage since 1996.

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Russia/CIS Observer, 26

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Transcript of Russia/CIS Observer, 26