Russia's United Aircraft (OAK) aerospace conglomerate is shifting its focus from large regional jets to mainline airliners, as it looks to address the long-term fleet replacement requirements of the country's airlines.
Victor Khristenko, Russia's minister for industry and power generation, says OAK fears that continuing delays afflicting two regional jet programmes - the Sukhoi Supejet 100 (SSJ), which has seen its first flight slip, and the Antonov An-148, which has had a hold up in its production line set-up - may disrupt the task set for the company by the Kremlin, which is to see Russia established as world's third-largest civil aircraft manufacturer in 2010. "We have decided to support production of [Tupolev}]Tu-204/214, and then replace it with the next-generation MS-21," Khristenko says.
The Kremlin has selected MS-21 as its new first priority in funding this year, so as to enable the type's entry into service no later than 2015, he adds.
The SSJ has enjoyed priority in state funding since the Kremlin's project approval in 2005. With its high level of non-Russian systems, the 100-seater is seen primarily as an export opportunity rather than a solution to Russia's urgent fleet renewal needs, which has become first priority for Kremlin.
Meanwhile, the Tupolev Tu-334, which Khristenko believes has limited export opportunities, is better suited for meeting the needs of the Russian market "as its content is almost all of the Russian origin and so it can serve the market better, especially special missions".
A decision on a successor to the Ilyushin Il-96 widebody has not yet been made. "We do not yet see a future widebody in the class of Il-96 which would offer a 15% [cost] advantage over today's aircraft," says Khristenko.
Source: Flight International
