Aviation industry of Russia

First World War in flight Russia had 24 aircraft manufacturers at the outbreak of war, but they did not have the materials or the capacity to replace the aircraft that were lost. In particular, they were dependent on foreign engines. It produced 1893 aircraft and imported 883 from 1914 to 1916, but it only produced 920 engines in this period while importing 2326. Production declined sharply after the February Revolution, and had virtually ceased when Russia left the war in 1918. The most famous aircraft produced during this period was the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets, the first four-engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit. This heavy bomber was unrivalled in the early stages of the war, as the Central Powers had no comparable aircraft until much later. During World War I, Russia lost only one Sikorsky Ilya Muromets to enemy action in more than 400 sorties. 1922-1991 Soviet era: East giant In the Soviet planned economic system, free market competition between companies was seen as wasteful. The Soviet system was instead multi-tiered, the chief components of which were design bureaus, known as OKBs, and manufacturing complexes. The OKBs did not possess the means to mass-produce manufactured aircraft and the manufacturing complexes were unable to design aircraft. Operational requirements for proposed aircraft were created by the Soviet Air Forces, for which individual OKBs would create a design informed by state research institutes. The state research institutes would then provide the OKSs with information on aerodynamics and available systems. This process led to competing designs being very similar in appearance. These competing designs would be evaluated against each other the winning design would be handed off to the manufacturing complexes for production. Most of these complexes were within the Soviet Union, but some production lines were assigned to allies within the Warsaw Pact. Due in part to political considerations, the assignment of production was widely dispersed, creating supply chains in which the role of state planning was paramount. When exported, a third tier existed in the state-run export companies due to neither design bureaus nor manufacturing companies being responsible for the marketing of their products overseas. The state-run export companies did not benefit from the sale of their products, with proceeds instead being allocated to design and production units in order to meet centrally determined production targets. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact and Comecon there came a disconnect between end users, export companies, OKBs, assembly plants, and component manufacturers (some of which now existed in newly independent and sometimes hostile nations). Russia also found that entire segments of its aviation requirements now lay in foreign countries. One example of this was the manufacture of jet training aircraft, which was assigned to Czechoslovakia, while Poland got light helicopters and crop-dusting airplanes. Additionally, Romania possessed the manufacture of light helicopters, the majority of Russia's tactical airlift design capability in the form of the Antonov was now in Ukraine, and the main assembly plant for the Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft was in Georgia. 1992-2005 Post-Soviet adjustments: Competition and struggles MiG-29. MiG-29 fighters were one of the industry's key exports during the crisis years in 1990s Aerospace was a well-developed industry in the Soviet Union. In late 1980s, the Soviet Union accounted for 25% of the worldwide civilian and 40% of the worldwide military aircraft production. The consequences of the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991 were however catastrophic. The whole manufacturing sector was devastated by imports, while the aerospace and automobile industries barely managed to survive under highly protective tariffs. On the positive side, the military aircraft industry managed to benefit from improving export possibilities. It profited from a large stock of components and parts which had been produced during Soviet times. The civilian aircraft industry fared much worse: while in 1990, the country had produced 715 civilian aircraft, by 1998 the number had dropped to 56 and in 2000 only four civilian aircraft were produced. The aerospace industry's total output in 2000 was $2.7 billion, with a net profit of $600 million. Exports of military aircraft in 2000 amounted to $1.3 billion. The military aircraft industry survived the 15 years of crisis almost exclusively through exports. Only in 2005 did the industry start to receive substantial financing from the state budget. 2006-2022: Industry consolidation programme and New projects and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (right) in 2008. In 2005, the government under President Vladimir Putin initiated an industry consolidation programme to bring the main aircraft producing companies under a single umbrella organization, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). The aim was optimize production lines and minimise losses. The programme was divided in three parts: reorganization and crisis management (2007–2010), evolution of existing projects (2010–2015) and further progress within the newly created structure (2015–2025). The UAC, one of the so-called national champions and comparable to EADS in Europe, enjoyed considerable financial support from the Russian government, and injected money to the companies it had acquired to improve their financial standing. The UACs first budget in 2007, was about 2 billion rubles, and next year it increased to 24 billion rubles (about $770 million). The deliveries of civilian aircraft increased to 6 in 2005, and in 2009 the industry delivered 15 civilian aircraft, worth 12.5 billion roubles, mostly to domestic customers. Despite the 2008 financial crisis, Russia's aircraft manufacturing industry as a whole increased production and sales by 19.5% in 2009. Fifth-generation fighter In 1998, the Russian Air Force asked the industry to develop a light multirole frontline aircraft. In 2001, the requirements were upgraded to a multirole frontline aircraft system, which later became the fifth-generation fighter Sukhoi Su-57, regarded as Russia's response to the American Joint Strike Fighter. The Su-57 performed its maiden flight in 2010, breaking United States's complete monopoly on the development and production of fifth-generation jets. Moscow Defense Brief hailed it as a major coup for the Russian aerospace industry, writing that: :''"while not America's equal militarily, Russia is still a solid second in terms of defense technology, outranking both Western Europe and China and punching well above its economic weight."'' Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin announced that government would increase financing of Russian defence industry complex. Su-57 development could be delayed due to international sanctions on Russia's defence industries following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Russia could not import semiconductors and high-tech machining equipment from the European Union. Sukhoi Superjet 100 The Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional airliner is the first major Russian civilian aircraft whose development was started after 1991. The plane, which first flew in 2008, was described in 2009 as the most important and successful civil aircraft program of the Russian aerospace industry. Designed by the United Aircraft Corporation subsidiary Sukhoi in cooperation with foreign partners, all versions of the plane are assembled by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) in the Russian Far East, while Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) focuses on component production. The two companies have been heavily investing in upgrading of their facilities, and were expected to produce 70 airframes by 2012. Yakovlev MC-21 (05.28.2017) Development of the Yakovlev MC-21 passenger aircraft was begun in the early 2000s. The aircraft, which will have a passenger capacity of 150–200 and a range of 5,000 km, is being designed by Yakovlev Corporation, initially in cooperation with foreign partners. It is targeted at the most popular segment of the domestic airline industry, and is intended to replace older planes such as the Tupolev Tu-154. The program is in the production phase. The MC-21 certification and delivery was initially planned by 2016, but delivery was delayed. The developers aim to sell 1,200–1,500 planes in total, amounting to a 12–15% share of the international market. 2022-today: Impact and renovation In 2022, after international sanctions against Russia were imposed, Rosaviatsia announced that in a resulting change of plans, Russia will only use a domestic engine. The original model – the MC-21-300 powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines – will not enter service, and instead production will have to wait for the MC-21-310, powered by the Russian Aviadvigatel PD-14, built by the United Engine Corporation. == Structure ==