Russia's military aircraft industry stays aloft

For the first time in over twenty years, an entirely new Russian fighter aircraft did take to the skies in front of the public at the MAKS-2011 air show, where the Sukhoi T-50 prototype combat aircraft is shown.

The fact that Russia did showcase its fifth-generation fighter for the first time is a testament to the survival of a meaningful military aerospace industry, after two decades of huge spending cuts. Russian aerospace has had to survive on what it could earn overseas, primarily in the burgeoning Asian market, particularly China and India.

Russia sold over 450 Su-27/30 and up to 180 MiG-29 fighter jets from 1999 to 2010, according to the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), a Moscow-based think-tank, helping warplane makers Sukhoi and MiG to stay afloat despite the lack of domestic orders.

Now, significant orders are once again coming from the Defense Ministry in Moscow. The Russian Air Force is forging ahead with a major re-equipment program after surviving for two decades with its existing fleet and almost no new aircraft.

The ultimate goal of the Russian military aircraft industry for the next decade is to ensure that 70 percent of the Russian Air Force consists of new and modernized planes by 2020, while successfully competing on global aircraft markets.The success of this ambitious program largely depends on efficient distribution of government funds and streamlining of production to ensure a quick transition from prototype development to full scale manufacturing.

The Russian Defense Ministry is seeking to procure up to 100 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, 100 Su-34 fighter-bombers, up to 70 fifth-generation T-50 fighters, 29 MiG-29K carrier-based fighters, and 30 Su-30MKI multirole fighter jets adapted for the Russian Air Force.

Delivery of combat and military transport helicopters, which showed a steady growth in the past decade on the back of mainly Asian exports, will also resume for the Russian forces. The Russian Helicopters corporation, which was formed in 2006, produced 214 helicopters in 2010 and is expected to deliver 260 and 300 helicopters in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Russian Helicopters announced in May it had signed the first of three long-term orders for around 1,000 helicopters for the Russian Air Force in the next decade, include 220 Mi-28N and 40 Mi-35M attack helicopters, 120 Ka-52 reconnaissance/attack machines, 26 Mi-26 heavy transports, 100 Ka-60 training/electronic warfare, and 30 Ka-226 training helicopters, up to 70 Ansat trainers and 500 Mi-8 transport helicopters (CAST data).

The Navy is expected to acquire 70 Ka-27M and Ka-29M, up to 30 Ka-52 and 20 Ka-226 helicopters for anti-submarine warfare, transport, training and search and rescue.

Procurement of transport aircraft remains in a poor state. The Russian Air Force has not received a single new transport plane since 1992, and production capacity has been largely neglected and lost.

Russia is expected to start mass production of a modernized version of its long-serving Ilyushin Il-76 heavy-lift military transport, known as the Il-476, in 2013-2014. The new aircraft will have PS-90 engines and modernized avionics allowing a smaller flight crew.

Other key projects for the air force are the production of the Su-35 fighter jet and the Yak-130 combat trainer, now in production at the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novogorod. The air force also has aspirations for modernization of its small strategic bomber fleet, and has funded a program for new precision weapons to arm it.

The MAKS-2011 air show will be held at Zhukovsky outside Moscow on August 16-21. In all, over 600 companies, including over 150 foreign, have registered to take part in the show.

Source: MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti, Valery Shuverov)