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november 2013 Special edition for Dubai Airshow 2013

Ka-62
kicks off its trials
[p.24]

MiG-29K
back on deck
[p.38]

Russian new
spacecraft and LVs
[p.44]

IFC entering
global market
[p.14]

SUKHOI SUPERJET 100

[p.8] finds more customers
Russias aerospace industry novelties from MAKS 2013 [p.16, 28, 34]
advertisement

november 2013 Special edition for Dubai Airshow 2013

Ka-62
kicks off its trials
[p.24]

MiG-29K
back on deck
[p.38]

Russian new
spacecraft and LVs
[p.44]

IFC entering
global market
[p.14]

SUKHOI SUPERJET 100

[p.8] finds more customers
Russias aerospace industry novelties from MAKS 2013 [p.16, 28, 34]
 HIGH TECHNOLOGIES.
GETTING REAL
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OBORONPROM Corporation, a Russian Technologies State Corporation company, is a diversied industrial-investment group
inthe engineering and high technologies sectors

The Corporation integrates more than 30 leading Russian helicopter and engine manufacturing companies in 12 Russian regions

Russian Helicopters Company, a subsidiary of OBORONPROM Corporation, is the leading Russian designer and manufacturer
ofrotary-wing aircraft equipment

United Engine Corporation, a subsidiary of OBORONPROM Corporation, is the leading Russian industrial group producing
engines for aircraft, aerospace industry, gas compression stations and power plants

UNITED INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION OBORONPROM I 29/141 Verejskaya st. Moscow 121357 Russia I oboronprom@oboronprom.ru I www.oboronprom.ru
 November 2013
Editor-in-Chief
Andrey Fomin
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Vladimir Shcherbakov
Editors
Artyom Korenyako
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Columnist
Alexander Velovich
Special correspondents
Alexey Mikheyev, Victor Drushlyakov, Dear reader,
Andrey Zinchuk, Valery Ageyev,
Natalya Pechorina, Marina Lystseva,
You are holding the latest issue of the Take-off magazine, special
Dmitry Pichugin, Sergey Krivchikov,
Sergey Popsuyevich, Piotr Butowski, English-language supplement to VZLET Russias national aerospace
Alexander Mladenov, Miroslav Gyurosi magazine, dedicated this time to the Dubai airshow which stands
among the major respectable international aerospace exhibitions. Russian
Design and pre-press participants interest in it grows up as the Middle East and North Africa
Grigory Butrin region becomes one of the leaders in Russian-made aircraft procurement
Mikhail Fomin and establishing international aerospace cooperation.
Translation Russian aircraft are widely known in the region. Two years ago
Yevgeny Ozhogin two brand-new Ilyushin Il-76MF transport planes were delivered to
Jordan while Irkut corporation provided Algeria in the recent years with
Cover picture 44 supermaneuvrable Su-30MKI(A) multirole fighters and 16 Yakovlev
SuperJet International
Yak-130 combat trainers. Russian-made transport and combat helicopters
traditionally have a high popularity in the region. Today Russian
Publisher Helicopters holding company consolidating major Russias rotor-wing
aircraft developers and manufacturers offers its new products both
military and commercial ones.
Director General Just about two months before this Dubai airshow, the town of Zhukovsky
Andrey Fomin in the Moscow Region saw the completion of the 11th International Aviation
and Space Salon MAKS 2013 the aviation-related event of the year in
Deputy Director General Russia. According to numerous MAKS 2013 exhibitors and visitors, the
Nadezhda Kashirina show became far more impressive, with the number of exhibitors growing
Marketing Director noticeably, number of foreign delegations increasing and infrastructure
George Smirnov of the show improving. The status of MAKS as a business event and a
place to conduct scientific fora and conferences has been bolstered. New
Business Development Director products of Russian aerospace industry unveiled at MAKS 2013 became
Mikhail Fomin the topics in this issue.
Special Projects Director As usually we also focus our attention on the main events in Russian
Artyom Korenyako aviation life of recent months, with preference given to those of them that
could be of special interest to the current and potential users of Russian
aircraft in the Middle East and North Africa.
News items for In Brief columns are prepared by editorial I wish you fruitful work at the Dubai airshow, useful contacts and
staff based on reports of our special correspondents, press lucrative contracts!.
releases of production companies as well as by using information
distributed by ITAR-TASS, ARMS-TASS, Interfax-AVN, RIA Novosti,
RBC news agencies and published at www.aviaport.ru, www.avia.ru,
www.gazeta.ru, www.cosmoworld.ru web sites

Items in the magazine placed on this colour background or supplied

with a note Commercial are published on a commercial basis. Sincerely,
Editorial staff does not bear responsibility for the contents of such items.
Andrey Fomin,
Editor-in-Chief,
Aeromedia, 2013 Take-off magazine

P.O. Box 7, Moscow, 125475, Russia

Tel. +7 (495) 644-17-33, 798-81-19
Fax +7 (495) 644-17-33
E-mail: info@take-off.ru
www.take-off.ru
contents

COMMERCIAL AVIATION
Launch customers for Tu-204SM? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
November 2013 Cuba receives its third An-158 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
New MC-21 orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Superjet finds more customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

IFC entering global market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5
INDUSTRY
Il-76MD-90A commences its official tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Trials of Russian Defence Ministrys first An-148 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Another Il-96 is airborne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Mi-38 to enter full-rate production in two years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Russian Helicopters displays RACHEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8 Debut of Mi-171A2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Certification of hydromechanical control system-equipped Ansat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
19
Rysachok for commuter airlines and for the military . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
An-140T ramp-equipped version of regional airliner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Q400 to be made in Russia in the end? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Austrian diamonds of Russian cut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Sukhoi supersonic bizjet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Debut of PD-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

24 Ka-62 kicks off its trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Second wind of Yak-40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Kaleidoscope of re-engined An-2s in Zhukovsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
New Mi-26T kicks off commercial service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
An-70 waiting for decision by Russian Defence Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Mi-28UB commences tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
34
MOTOR SICH programmes in helicopter industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

MILITARY AVIATION
The fifth T-50 is in the air! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
More Su-34s for RusAF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Irkut carries on with Yak-130 deliveries to Russian Air Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Su-30SMs fielding to start in autumn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
38 RusAF looks forward to Su-35S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
MiG-35 awaiting order by Russian Air Force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

MiG-29K back on deck

Report from Vikramaditya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

COSMONAUTICS
44 Space novelties of MAKS 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

2 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru

 commercial aviation | news
Launch customers for Tu-204SM?
Both examples of the upgraded
Tupolev Tu-204SM medium-haul
airliner were part of the recent
MAKS 2013 air shows flight pro-
gramme and static display. The
aircraft with reg. RA-64150 was
flown in the flight demonstration
programme, while the one regis-
tered as RA-64151 was shown as
a static exhibit Tupolev JSC used
it for visits of potential customers.
During the air show in Zhukovsky,
two Russian carriers VIM-Avia
and Red Wings displayed actual
interest in the Tu-204SM, the inter-
est that led to the signature of
documents.
On 29 August, the third day of
the air show, the Ilyushin Finance
Co. leasing company and VIM-Avia
signed a memorandum on financial
leasing of five Tu-204SM airliners
in the course of 201415, with five
options. The carriers news release
read: The seating layout of the
new aircraft is supposed to be 215
seats. The Tu-204SMs will fly the
carriers current lines and expand
its scheduled operations further.
According to the Federal Air
Transport Agency, VIM-Avias air-
craft fleet comprised eight Boeing
757-200s in mid-August. Three
more medium-haul airliners of the
type were in the aircraft fleet of the
Bashkortostan airline that was a
subsidiary of the VIM-Avia group
(the planes have been returned
to the parent company already).
The operator bought the planes
in the mid-2000s, which enabled
it to have become a leader of
the charter operations market. In
2005, VIM-Avia launched its first
scheduled services. Ever more stiff
Alexey Mikheyev
4 take-off november 2013
competition on the charter opera-
tions market and the ouster of
companies lacking orders for inter-
national operations led to VIM-Avia
having launched a whole range
of scheduled services since 2011,
even though it had initially posi-
tioned itself as solely a charter air
carrier. In 2012, its airliners were
conducting scheduled flights to
as many as about 30 cities. Today,
around 80% of VIM-Avias services
are scheduled.
The altering of the development
approach influenced the moderni-
sation of the carriers aircraft fleet,
which aircrafts age exceeds 20
years and cabins have been worn
out considerably when the planes
hauled tourists to the most popu-
lar destinations (Egypt, Tunisia,
Turkey). At least two years ago,
the company began to ponder
approaches to the renovation of
its aircraft fleet. In addition to the
expected deal on leasing Russias
first Boeing 717s, which did not
happen, news arrived in summer
2011 that VIM-Avia was interested
in the Tu-204SM. The carrier and
Tupolev JSC made a bilateral agree-
ment on cooperation under the
Tu-204SM programme. The carrier
is said to have been eager at the
time to acquire 10 Russian-built
airliners. The Tu-204SMs recent
certification by the IAC Aircraft
Registry has made VIM-Avia get-
ting the Russian aircraft more fea-
sible. According to the airline, it
will begin to decommission its
Boeing 757s in 2014. In addition to
the Tu-204SM agreement, howev-
er, MAKS 2013 saw VIM-Avia and
Ilyushin Finance Co. sign a letter of
intent on leasing of five advanced
Canadian Bombardier CS300s. The
carrier also has plans to procure
short-haul Boeing 737s or Airbus
A319 on the used aircraft market.
At present, the Red Wings air-
line, which has recently got a new
owner but retained is development
strategy seems to be a more prob-
able commercial operator of the
Tu-204SM, as it uses eight Tupolev
Tu-204-100s now. Businessman
Sergei Kuznetsov has bought the
carrier. He has made a statement
that its aircraft fleet would grow by
means of Russian-built aircraft. On
30 August, Red Wings and Ilyushin
Finance Co. signed at MAKS 2013
a number of important agreements
on the leasing of 30 Russian-made
planes. The key agreement of those
signed was the one on the leasing
of 10 Tu-204SMs in 201415. The
delivery shall commence next year.
We are to hand three aircraft over.
Following that, 45 aircraft per
annum shall be delivered to the
air companies, Ilyushin Finance
Co. Director General Alexander
Rubtsov said during the air show.
At the moment, there is only one
production-standard Tu-204SM
(c/n 64152) in the final assem-
Alexey Mikheyev
bly shop of the Aviastar plant.
Its airframe had been completed
more than two years back, but the
work on it has been dragging its
feet since then. The fuselages of
two more aircraft (64153, 64154)
have been mated and other
components of their airframes
have virtually been completed.
Hopefully, the Tu-204SMs long-
awaited certification earlier this
year and the agreements signed
during MAKS 2013 will speed up
their assembly.
The GTLK State Transport
Leasing Company may partner
with Ilyushin Finance Co. in the
Tu-204SM deliveries to Red Wings
and VIM-Avia. The two leasing
companies came to agreement on
that at the air show in Zhukovsky.
However, it is worth repeating that
the documents signed by both
carriers are preliminary and their
transformation into firm orders
shall depend on the suppliers and
manufacturers ability to ensure
acceptable competitive financial
terms of the deals and guarantee
quality aftersales maintenance.
As is known, the Tu-204SM is
a heavily upgraded version of the
production-standard Tu-204-100
medium-haul airliner. It is pow-
ered by more efficient PS-90A2
engines from the Perm Engine
Company and fitted with a cut-
ting-edge avionics suite from the
Radioelectronic Technologies hold-
ing company. The modern avionics
suite has allowed, among other
things, a flying crew reduction
down to two pilots. The IAC Aircraft
Registry issued the Tu-204SM with
its type certificate supplement on
31 May 2013.
www.take-off.ru

Cuba receives its third An-158
The third brand-new Russian-
Ukrainian Antonov An-158 region-
al passenger jet arrived in the
Cuban capital city of Havana from
Kiev on 12 October 2013. The air-
craft was handed by the Ilyushin
Finance Co. leasing company over
to the customer, Cuban air carrier
Cubana de Aviacion, on 28 August
2013 at the MAKS 2013 air show
in Zhukovsky, Moscow Region,
where it could be seen at the static
display area.
The An-158 was delivered under
the contract for three aircraft of the
type, which was signed by Ilyushin
Finance Co. and the Cuban custom-
er in July 2012. The first two planes
were ferried to Cuba between April
and July this year.
As is known, the Republic of
Cuba and Ilyushin Finance Co. made
an agreement for three An-158 with
three more options in August 2011
during the MAKS 2011 air show. By
the time, Ilyushin Finance Co. and
the Antonov state company had
signed a contract for the construc-
tion of 20 An-158s. The aircraft are
leased to the Cuban carrier for 14
years, with Panamanian company
South American Aircraft Leasing
(SAAL) acting as the lessor and
Ilyushin Finance Co. arranging the
deal and the funding of the airliners
construction by Antonov (a number
of their assemblies are supplied by
Russias VASO Voronezh Aircraft
Joint Stock Company).
Ilyushin Finance Co. and SAAL
signed the contract in July 2012.
Under the contract, SAAL is to
take delivery of three An-158s
with 12 more An-158 and An-148
options for Latin American carri-
Alexey Mikheyev
www.take-off.ru
ers. According to Ilyushin Finance
Co. Director General Alexander
Rubtsov, the delivery is under way
in line with the Russian govern-
ments resolution No. 141 issued
in February 2013 and setting the
procedure for the provision of guar-
antees for governmental loans.
At the customers request, the
airliners have the 97-seat economy
class cabin, with the cabin interior
manufactured by Russian company
Rusaviainter.
The first of the Cuban An-158s
(c/n 201-01, Cuban reg. CU-T1710),
the lead production-standard air-
craft of the type, conducted its
maiden flight in Kiev on 20 March
2013 and was handed over to the
customer on 18 April following a
brief test programme and paint-
ing. It came to Havana on 22 April,
having performed a long flight with
stopovers at Keflavik in Iceland and
Halifax in Canada.
commercial aviation | news
By the early summer, the
An-158s had performed on domes-
tic services by Cubana de Aviacion,
flying from Havana to Santiago
de Cuba and Guantanamo. Cuban
pilots are very satisfied and pas-
sengers too. The fuel consumption
is quite acceptable for a hundred-
seat aircraft 1.8 t of kerosene
per hour, said Ilyushin Finance
Co. Director General Alexander
Rubtsov. According to him, when
more An-158s arrive, the Cuban
airliners will start flying on foreign
lines in the region; particularly,
flights from Havana to Mexico
and the Dominican Republic are
planned.
The second Cuban An-158 (c/n
201-02, reg. CU-T1711) first flew
in Kiev on 24 June 2013 and was
in Havana as soon as 25 July.
The third aircraft (c/n 201-03, reg.
CU-T1712, temporary Ukrainian
reg. UR-EXC for the duration of
Vasily Koba
its trials and display at the MAKS
2013 air show) completed the first
flight in Kiev on 20 August 2013
and headed for Cuba from Kiev on
11 October.
The third An-158s delivery
to the Cuban carrier brought the
total number of the aircraft sup-
plied by Russian leasing company
Ilyushin Finance Co. to Cuba up to
10. Previously, the leasing com-
pany had delivered four Tupolev
Tu-204-100E/CE medium-haul
passenger and cargo aircraft and
three Ilyushin Il-96-300 long-haul
airliners. In addition, the delivery
of the third An-158 to Cuba marks
Ilyushin Finance Co.s jubilee deliv-
ery: the aircraft is the 50th com-
mercial plane the company sup-
plied to its customers.
In parallel with the delivery
of the third An-158 to Cubana,
another firm order for three more
An-158s was placed. The planes
are slated for delivery in 2014.
To bankroll the deal, a trilater-
al agreement on financing the
201415 An-148/158 deliveries to
Cuba was signed at the MAKS
2013 air show. The agreement
was made by Ilyushin Finance
Co., Vnesheconombank and
Roseximbank. It provides for
arranging the funding of the sale
of up to four An-148 and An-158
planes to Ilyushin Finance Co. for
their subsequent leasing to Cuban
company Aviaimport S.A.
take-off november 2013 5
 commercial aviation | news
New MC-21 orders
Marina Lystseva
A whole number of new contacts
and letters of intent for delivery of the
advanced MC-21 short/medium-haul
airliner being developed by UACs
subsidiary Irkut were signed during
the MAKS 2013 air show.
On the first day of the air show,
Irkut Corp. and Ilyushin Finance Co.
leasing company made a firm con-
tract for delivery of 22 MC-21-300s,
with the delivery to begin in 2019.
The contract signing ceremony was
attended by Russian Premier Dmitry
Medvedev. The deal has firmed up
the 22 options under the contract
on Ilyushin Finance Co.s acquisition
of 50 aircraft of the type, signed in
August 2011. The acquired aircraft
will be provided to Russian and for-
eign customers.
At the same time, Irkut and
VEB-Leasing clinched a deal for 30
MC-21s worth a total of $2.5 billion
in list prices. The planes will be deliv-
ered during 2018 throughout 2022.
Previously, the companies had made
a leasing agreement for the acquisi-
tion and leasing of manufacturing
equipment to Irkut under the MC-21
aircraft family development and pro-
ductionising programme.
In addition, the UTair carrier and
VEB-Leasing signed a memorandum
on the leasing of 10 MC-21-300s,
with the aircraft slated for delivery in
201820. The Transaero air company
6 take-off november 2013
and VEB-Leasing signed a memoran-
dum of intent covering the delivery of
six MC-21s in 202021.
Several contracts more were
signed on the second day of
MAKS 2013. Firstly, Irkut and
Irkutsk-based IrAero carrier made a
contract for 10 planes of the MC-21
family, with their total catalogue
price accounting for about $720 mil-
lion. The carrier is to take delivery of
its aircraft between 2019 and 2022.
Secondly, Ilyushin Finance Co.
and Transaero signed a memoran-
dum of intent on operational leasing
of six MC-21-300s with the delivery
slated to commence in 2019. The
aircraft to be delivered will be taken
from the 50 aircraft Ilyushin Finance
Co. has ordered from Irkut.
Finally, Irkut and Bombardier
Aerospace signed a letter of intent
on cooperating in aftersales sup-
port of MC-21 aircraft operators.
The document makes provision for
cooperation in aftersales support of
Irkut-built MC-21 airliners outside
Russia with the use of the customer
support infrastructure of Bombardier
and the customer support network of
its partners. The scope of coopera-
tion may include flying and ground
crew training, supply of spares, war-
ranty administering, airframe main-
tenance, and instruction manual
development assistance.
The third day of the air show saw
Irkut and the Sberbank Leasing close
corporation sign an agreement on the
delivery of 20 MC-21 airliners worth
a total of $1.7 billion in list prices and
planned for delivery from 2019 to 2015.
On the fourth day of the show, 30
August, Ilyushin Finance Co. and the
Red Wing airline signed an agree-
ment for leasing 10 MC-21-300s
starting from 2019.
Thus, by the end of MAKS 2013,
the MC-21 firm orders had totalled
175 aircraft. 50 of them had been
ordered by the Aviakapital-Service
leasing company (a subsidiary of the
Rostec corporation) for Aeroflot and
35 more, powered by PD-14 turbofan
engines, for governmental custom-
ers. 50 planes more were ordered
by Ilyushin Finance Co.; of them, six
could be leased to Transaero and 10
to Red Wings. 30 airliners more are
bought by VEB-Leasing; 10 of them
could be leased to UTair and six to
Transaero. In addition, Irkut now has
a single-source contract with IrAero
for 10 planes plus an agreement with
Sberbank Leasing for 20 aircraft, with
the latter agreement to beef the order-
book up to 195 airliners.
According to Irkut President
Oleg Demchenko, the design of the
180-seat MC-21-300 baseline model
has been finalized, contracts with all
Russian and foreign suppliers have
been made, the manufacturing plants
have been furnished with the working
design documentation and manufac-
ture of the parts of the first four flight
and static test prototypes has kicked
off. At the same time, a large-scale
test programme is under way to test
experimental aircraft assemblies and
compartments, including composite
wing box prototypes, and the mod-
ernisation is in progress of the manu-
facturing facilities of the companies
taking part in the programme.
Oleg Demchenko confirmed the
earlier-announced timeframe of the
development of the advanced air-
liner. The maiden flight of its proto-
type is slated for mid-2015, and its
certification in line with the Russian
and foreign air safety standards is
planned for 2017, when the deliver-
ies are to start.
Andrey Fomin
Andrey Fomin
www.take-off.ru
 advertisement
PD-14
Prospective engine
for short/medium-haul airliners

United Engine Corporation

Bldg. 141, 29 Vereyskaya str., Moscow, 121357, Russia
e-mail: info@uk-odk.ru web: www.uk-odk.ru
commercial aviation | programme
SUPERJET
FINDS MORE
CUSTOMERS
Brand-new Russian-built Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft launched scheduled
services for Mexican air carrier Interjet on 18 September 2013, thus starting the
SSJ100s operation by the first customer in the Western hemisphere. In addition
to Russia and Mexico, Superjets also are in use in Indonesia and Laos. The
number of the airliners buyers and operators is increasing steadily.
The developer, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company, has used the recent MAKS
2013 air show with success to maximise the number of its planes demonstrated,
with the planes having been built for different customers. One could see
the Superjets of Indonesias Sky Aviation, Laoss Lao Aviation and Russias
Gazprom Avia and Rosoboronexport at the air show in Zhukovsky. Day in and
day out, they would fly one after another as if in the kaleidoscope, with some
of them heading for their new owners right from the air show. An important
result produced by MAKS 2013 was several lucrative deals clinched for delivery
of Superjets to the current and new customers. During the show, a total of 27
airliners of the type were sold in line with firm orders and 25 more under letters
of intent, while a joint market promotion memorandum on 50 aircraft more was
signed. The total value of the deals exceeded $3.5 billion in catalogue prices.
8 take-off november 2013
Andrey FOMIN
Superjets launching operations in the West
Mexican airline Interjet is the second-
largest carrier in Mexico and the first SSJ100
regional airliner operator on the North
American continent. The first of the Interjet-
ordered aircraft of the type (MSN 95023,
Mexican reg. XA-JLG) was ferried to its
operators base airport on 23 July 2013. The
ferry flight from the airport of Venice, where
the airliner was tailored to the customers
requirements at SuperJet International facil-
ity, was conducted by the operators crew.
The ailiner departed Venices Marco Polo
international airport on 20 August and made
stopovers in Iceland, Canada and the United
States, having spent almost 15 hours in
flight. The second aircraft (MSN 95024, reg.
XA-IJR) followed in its footsteps on 24
August 2013.
Soon after Superjets coming to Mexico,
they were subjected to a tough intensive tech-
nical flight regimen, during which Mexican
flying and ground crews were trained in flying
and maintaining the aircraft that were new
to them.
www.take-off.ru

SuperJet International
Having completed the preparations and
training that had taken almost two months,
XA-JLG departed Mexico Citys airport
with passengers aboard and headed for the
Mexican city of Torreon at 07.37 local time
on 18 September. XA-IJR departed on its
first commercial operation several miniutes
later, at 07.50, and headed for Aguascalientes.
The two aircraft landed successfully at their
destinations after about 1 h 10 min to take off
for their next services after merely 2530 min
on the ground.
Owing to the quick turnaround at the air-
ports on the very first day of their commercial
operation, the Superjets had conducted eight
revenue sorties each, logging almost 20 h of
flying time. In doing so, they covered the
whole initial-stage destination network by
carrying passengers to the cities of Torreon,
Aguascalinetes, Mazatlan, Minatitlan,
Campeche and Zacatecas.
www.take-off.ru
commercial aviation | programme
Passanger cabin interior for Interjets SSJ100
was designed by Pininfarina and is being
manufactured and installed in Italy
The operation of the two airliners remained
just as intensive on the subsequent days. After
the first month of scheduled services, the two
Mexican SSJ100s had flown 204 flights each
by 18 October 2013, with XA-JLG having
logged 304 flight hours and XA-IJR 272 flight
hours. Thus, the average monthly flight time
per plane accounted for about 290 h in the
first month of operation, with each of the
two airliners flying an average of almost seven
services a day and remaining airborne 9 to 10
hours.
The Superjets operate 5001,000-km
routes so far. The longest flight from
Mexico City to Campeche measures a lit-
tle more than 900 km long as the crow flies.
All services are domestic so far, but Interjet
is planning to use its new regional airliners
on international lines as well. Although the
carrier is headquartered in Toluca, most of
the flights are performed via Benito Juares
SuperJet International
The first Interjets SSJ100 in Mexico
Roberto Acevedo
airport in the capital, one of the two most
heavily used Latin American airports, the
other one being the airport of Brazils Sao
Paolo. In 2012, Mexico Citys airport ser-
viced almost 30 million passengers. The
airport sits in mountainous terrain, with its
runways being at 2,230 m above sea level. The
rarefied air makes takeoff and landing longer
and more complicated. Hence, the two run-
ways measure 3.9 km long. The SSJ100 is
certificated to operate from airfields situated
at up to 2,600 m above sea level and is quite
fit for operations under conditions like that.
In addition to the airport in the capital city,
Interjets destination network established for
the Russian-made regional airliners initial
operation includes several high-elevation
airports. For instance, General Leobardo
Ruiz international airport in Zacatecas sits at
2,177 m above sea level, Torreons Francisco
Sarabia international airport at 1,124 m and
take-off november 2013 9
 commercial aviation | programme
Marina Lystseva
Jesus Teran Peredo international airport in
Aguascalientes at 1,863 m above sea level.
Meanwhile, more airliners of the type are
being groomed for delivery to Interjet. The
third aircraft (MSN 95028, XA-JLV) has
been customised by SuperJet International
in Venice since 20 June following its maiden
flight on 24 March of this year. It was fer-
ried to Mexico on 56 November 2013.
The fourth aircraft (MSN 95036) first flew
in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on 20 June 2013
came to the facility in Venice on 15 October.
The aircraft MSN 95034 and MSN 95038 are
being prepared in Zhukovsky for handover to
SuperJet International. Their maiden flights
took place in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on 28
August and 6 October 2013 respectively. The
seventh of Interjets aircraft (MSN 95040)
first flew on 2 November 2013, while five
more (MSN 95042, 95045, 95046, 95048 and
95050) were in various stages of final assem-
bly at the SCAC facility in Komsomolsk-on-
Amur. Thus, there are ten aircraft gearing
up for delivery in addition to the first two
Superjets being operated in Mexico. As is
known, under the firm order awarded in
January 2011, Interjet is to take delivery of
20 Sukhoi Superjet 100-95Bs in the 93-seat
single-class confiuration with the seat pitch
extended to 34 inches. The contract also
makes provision for 10 options.
10 take-off november 2013
New deliveries
The second of the 12 SSJ100 air-
craft ordered by the Sky Aviation airline
(MSN 95027, reg. PK-ECM) departed
Zhukovsky for Indonesia on 20 August 2013.
The third aircraft earmarked for the car-
rier (MSN 95031, reg. PK-ECN), which
was flight-tested on 3 June 2013, has been
tailored to the customers requirements and
is in Zhukovsky now.
The second SSJ100 intended for Laotian
carrier Lao Aviation (MSN 95039, reg.
RDPL-34196) and subjected to maiden flight
on 20 May 2013, took part in the flight dem-
onstration programme in the early days of the
MAKS 2013 air show. It left Zhukovsky on the
second day of the air show, 28 August, for the
handover to the customer.
Another aircraft was handed over to the
SSJ100s Russian launch customer, Aeroflot,
on the same day. The aircraft MSN 95029
Moskovia airlines started scheduled operations
with two SSJ100-95B jets in August 2013
Sergey Sergeyev
(reg. RA-89015) had been flight-tested on
2 July 2013, becoming the 12th Superjet
delivered to the flag carrier and the second
aircraft of the type in full configuration.
It replaced Aeroflots second SSJ100-95B
light configuration airliner (MSN 95010,
reg. RA-89002) that was returned to the
manufacturer under the contract (it could be
seen in the skies over Zhukovsky during the
MAKS 2013 air show too).
On third day of the air show, 29 August, the
first SSJ100-95LR extended-range airliner
(MSN 95033, reg. RA-89018) was delivered
to the Gazprom Avia air carrier in a ceremo-
ny. The extended-range version had received
its supplemental type certificate from IAC
Aircraft Registry a week before the air show.
Mention also should be made that anoth-
er Russian carrier, Moskovia, started using
Superjets on its lines in August. The first flight
of its SSJ100 (MSN 95021, reg. RA-89021)
www.take-off.ru

The first SSJ100-95LR for Gazprom Avia
carrier arriving in Zhukovsky, 28 August 2103
Victor Drushlyakov
Sergey Sergeyev
from Moscows Domodedovo to Tivat in
Montenegro took place on 11 August 2013,
and the second of Moskovias SSJ100s (MSN
95008, reg. RA-89001) conducted its first
revenue service from Domodedovo to Yerevan
on 23 August. The latter became Aeroflots
first Superjet in June 2011 and was returned to
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft this spring in exchange
for a new full-configuration airliner.
First SSJ100LR for Gazprom Avia
The first production-standard Sukhoi
Superjet 100-95LR extended-range aircraft
designed for the Gazprom Avia airline came
to Zhukovsky from Ulyanovsk on 28 August
2013. The carrier became the launch cus-
tomer for the SSJ100 extended-range ver-
sion. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company and
Gazprom Avia had signed the contract for
10 airliners of the type two years ago, in
August 2011.
www.take-off.ru
commercial aviation | programme
The first SSJ100-95LR aircraft designed for
certification tests (MSN 95032, reg. 97006)
has been built early this year and completed
its first flight in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on
12 February 2013 to be ferried to Zhukovsky,
Moscow Region, for continued trials just
three days later. The new versions certifica-
tion took half a year, and the IAC Aircraft
Registry issued the RRJ-95LR-100 (SSJ100-
95LR) with Supplementary Type Certificate
CT322-RRJ-95/D16 on 20 August 2013.
The SSJ100-95LR is a derivative of the
SSJ100-95B baseline model capable of seating
the same number of passengers (98) on servic-
es out to 4,580 km (3,050 km by the baseline
model). Its range was extended by increasing
its maximum takeoff weight from 45,880 kg to
49,450 kg with minor design modifications. In
particular, the wing and wing centre section
structure was reinforced, with the approach to
be applied to the baseline model as well. Thus,
The second SSJ100 for Sky Aviation
was delivered on 20 August 2013
Lao Centrals second Superjet
became ready for delivery this summer
commonised-design aircraft are going to be
made further down the line and be delivered
either as the SSJ100-95B baseline model or as
the SSJ100-95LR extended-range variant at
the customers request. The extended-range
version is powered by SaM146-1S18 engines
featuring a 5% thrust increase and issued with
EASAs certificate early in 2012.
The SSJ100-95LR certification test pro-
gramme comprised stability, controllabil-
ity, high-alpha, ultimate strength, buffeting,
shimmy, powerplant and automatic control
equipment tests. In addition, the takeoff
and landing performance and environmen-
tal noise were tested too. The SSJ100-95LR
(MSN 95032) flew over 60 sorties under the
test programme, having logged a total of 115
flight hours.
The extended-range versions certification
gave the green light to the deliveries of pro-
duction-standard aircraft in this variant.
take-off november 2013 11
Marina Lystseva commercial aviation | programme

The lead SSJ100-95LR (MSN 95033) Anatoly Isaykin, Director General,

designed for Gazprom Avia first flew in Rosoboronexport (left), and Andrey Kalinovsky,
Komsomolsk-on-Amur on 9 August 2013 Director General, SCAC (right), signing
a contract for SSJ100 VIP version delivery
and was ferried to Ulyanovsk several days later in the presence of Russian Prime Minister
for painting and interior installation. At the Dmitry Medvedev at MAKS 2013
customers request, the aircraft has a 90-seat
economy-class layout, with the front two rows
(10 seats) having a pitch of 34 inches and the
rest 16 rows (80 seats) with a pitch of 30 inch-
es. The interior installation and painting in
Ulyanovsk were completed extremely fast,
which enabled the airliner to assume its place
at the static display area and become the focus
of attention of its formal delivery ceremony
as soon as the third day of the MAKS 2013
air show. Mind you, it had been only 20 days
Marina Lystseva

since its first flight in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

Early in September, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft
Company began the final assembly of the
second SSJ100-95LR intended for Gazprom
Avia (MSN 95055) and then the third aircraft
(MSN 95056) for the same customer. The
three airliners are due to be delivered before
year-end, with the first of them, RA-89018,
to start flying scheduled services in November.
Contracts and agreements
One of the early deals clinched on the
MAKS 2013 air shows first day in the pres-
ence of Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev
was the trilateral contract among Sukhoi Civil
Aircraft Company, the UTair air carrier and
VEB-Leasing JSC for six Sukhoi Superjet
100LRs to be delivered to the carrier in 2014.
Under the contract, VEB-Leasing shall buy
from SCAC six SSJ100LRs worth a total of
$217.2 million in list prices for their subse-
quent financial leasing to UTair.
The deal is the first phase of the implemen-
tation of the parties earlier leasing agreement
for 24 aircraft of the type. UTair is going to
operate its Sukhoi Superjet 100s on both
domestic lines in Western Siberia and the
European part of Russia, on the one hand,
and on its European operations, on the other.
The companys flying and ground crews will
be trained in Zhukovsky. Its aircraft are to
be maintained by SCACs maintainers with
support on the part of SuperJet International
and PowerJet.
Other deals involving Sukhoi Superjet 100s
were two firm contracts signed by SCAC and
the Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing company.
The first contract was for five SSJ100-95LRs
in the 103-seat economy-class layout for a
yet undetermined operator. The delivery is

12 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru


The first SSJ100 in VIP version was
derived from the third production
Superjet (MSN 95009)
Marina Lystseva
Marina Lystseva
expected to commence in late 2015. The other
contract stipulates the commencement of the
deliveries of 15 SSJ100-95Bs for Southeast
Asian and Middle East customers starting
from early 2015.
Russian aircraft deliveries are going to
be funded under the governmental pro-
gramme on high-tech industrial product
export financial (guarantee) support. The
government will provide guarantees to banks
extending credits to importers of Russian
products.
www.take-off.ru
commercial aviation | programme
Earlier, during the Le Bourget air show in
June 2013, Ilyushin Finance Co. and Sukhoi
Civil Aircraft Company signed a tentative
agreement for 20 Sukhoi Superjet 100s, which
has now firmed up.
Another first-day contract at MAKS 2013
was on the delivery of a Sukhoi Superjet 100
VIP version for Rosoboronexport JSC (more
details to follow hereinafter).
On the remaining days of the air show,
SCAC signed a few other agreements and
memoranda of intent, e.g. a memorandum of
intent was signed with the Sberbank Leasing
SSJ100 VIP versions cabin interior
and spacious lavatory (top)
close corporation on the promotion of the
Sukhoi Superjet 100 on the Russian and for-
eign markets. Under the plan of the joint leas-
ing company, up to 50 planes can be leased to
Russian and other customers initially.
In addition, SCAC and Lithuanian com-
pany AviaAM Leasing signed a letter of
intent covering the funding and leasing of five
SSJ100s.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company crowned
its participation in the business segment of
MAKS 2013 with the signature of an agree-
ment with a major Russian lessor, Sberbank
Leasing, on the acquisition of 20 SSJ100 air-
liners for leasing them subsequently.
In fine, SCAC landed orders for 27 SSJ100s
and signed letters of intent for 25 options
in the course of the MAKS 2013. Given the
50 aircraft planned for by the memorandum
of intent signed with Sberbank Leasing, the
value of the documents signed may exceed
$3.5 billion at list prices.
Besides, MAKS 2013 saw a number of
meetings and negotiations with potential
Russian and foreign customers for Superjets,
during which interest was displayed in SSJ100
acquisition and cooperation expansion agree-
ments with current partners were made.
First VIP SSJ100
On the first day of the MAKS 2013 air
show, 27 August 2013, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft
Company and Rosoboronexport JSC made a
contract on a Sukhoi Superjet 100 in the VIP
version.
This is the first VIP derivative of the SSJ100
platform. The comfort comparable to that
offered by much larger business aircraft is pro-
vided by the optimal fuselage cross-section.
The SSJ100 VIPs cabin is designed to seat
19 passengers and divided into three func-
tional areas a service section, a business sec-
tion and a separate office. The cabin interior
was developed and manufactured by Russian
companies
The plane is to be delivered before year-
end. It is to be used in support of the military
technical cooperation between the Russian
Federation and other states.
The first SSJ100 VIP designed for
Rosoboronexport is a derivative of the third
production-standard Sukhoi Superjet 100
(MSN 95009). Initially, it was supposed
to become the second aircraft in the fleet
of Armenian carrier Armavia, but its con-
struction was suspended as far back as 2011
due to financial circumstances of the cus-
tomer and has resumed in 2013 when a new
application was found for it. The aircraft
MSN 95009 conducted its maiden flight in
Komsomolsk-on-Amur on 29 June 2013,
after which it flew to Ulyanovsk on 5 July
for customisation and then to 20 July to
Zhukovsky where it was painted in its cur-
rent livery sporting the customers logo on
the sides.
The RusJet airline is said to be the operator
of the aircraft, with the latter to be includ-
ed into the carriers air operator certificate.
Until the procedure has not been complete,
the SSJ100 VIP airline holds temporary reg.
97009. In this form, the aircraft was demon-
strated on the first day of the MAKS 2013 air
show. The first SSJ100 VIP is due to start fly-
ing revenue operations next year.
take-off november 2013 13
commercial aviation | interview

haul airliners would fit them best. A good

case in point is the choice of the 93-seat
SSJ100-95B by Mexican carrier Interjet. The
very first month of the operation of Superjets
highlighted their very high efficiency.
IFC is Russias launch customer for the
Canadian CSeries that has kicked off its trials,
with plans providing for supplying it to foreign
air carriers in the first place. What do you think
is the planes competitive edge? Why did IFC
choose it?
Comparing the CSeries with the Airbus
A319 that has a similar seating capacity being
a shrink version of the A320 baseline model,
one can easily notice that the European
airliner is far heavier than the Canadian is.
The operational empty weight of the CSeries
is as many as 12 t less! Along with lower fuel
consumption, this has extended its range
considerably. This is what can be achieved by
skilful optimisation of a particular model with
the 110150-seat capacity. Other strengths of
the CSeries are its cutting-edge technologies
and avionics and excellent environmental
friendliness that will remain the best one in

IFC ENTERING the world in the near future.

The heavily upgraded Brazilian Embraer
E190 and E195 in the E2 advanced versions
can put up competition to the CSeries on

GLOBAL MARKET
Russian leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co. (IFC), which is going to mark its
the 120125-sweat aircraft market. However,
the Brazilians have said they are not going to
stretch their aircraft and are just improving the
current designs to refine their fuel efficiency.
In other words, Embraer planes remain in
15th year on the aviation market, is known as a supplier of up-to-date Russian
the regional airliner category, the traditional
and Ukrainian-built airliners and freighters. IFCs customers operating the Il-96,
Tu-204/214, An-148/158 and An-124 family aircraft now include Russian and some market segment of Brazilian aircraft. There
foreign carriers. In August this year, IFC supplied a customer with its 50th aircraft will be some competition with the CS100,
another An-158 intended for Cubana de Aviacion. probably. However, it is not expected to have
As part of its efforts to step up its commercial aircraft leasing business, IFC an impact on us, because we have ordered
has made a number of major contracts for advanced aircraft this year, having only the larger version, the CS300, and will
become, inter alia, an early customer for advanced Bombardier CSeries airliner receive our aircraft three to four years before
(32 CS300s have been ordered with 10 options). This is the first order a Russian the Embraer E2 models hit the market.
leasing company has placed for foreign-made airliners. In addition, IFCs With the commencement of the flight tests
orderbook holds orders for 20 cutting-edge Russian-made SSJ100 regional of the CSeries, carriers have become keener
jets, 50 prospective MC-21 short/medium-haul airliners, 20 An-158 regional on it. I guess aviation professionals keep an
jets, Bombardier Q400 regional turboprops (Letter of Intent for 50 units has eye on the Airbus A350 and Bombardier
been made), etc. IFC plans to lease a sizeable number of the aircraft to foreign
CSeries. The maiden flights of commercial
carriers, thus having consolidated its positions on the international aircraft
planes built from scratch do not happen
leasing market. Stewart R. Cordner, foreign sales and marketing director, IFC, is
in charge of this line of business. He agreed to take Take-offs questions as to very often, which turns them into world-
how IFC was going to promote aircraft on the global market. class events. Monitoring the news of flight
tests, airline specialists take a great interest in
Mr. Cordner, to which regions of the world CSeries are facing good prospects in Latin advanced aircraft, which makes it easier for us
do you give priority? Where are you going to America and certain Asian nations. The thing to deal with them.
export IFC-owned planes? is that there is a large gap between regional We had talked to potential customers prior
Certainly, many Asian countries, no doubt, aircraft and narrowbodies from Airbus to the first flight of the CS100 prototype and
are of interest to IFC. Latin America may well and Boeing. It is the niche the advanced afterwards and we noticed a keener interest in
become very promising too, though Boeing aircraft models offered by IFC that should the CSeries. During talks, potential customers
and Airbus aircraft dominate it so far. fill in nicely. We urge airlines to take a cold try to clarify points more often, and this
Meanwhile, Boeing and Airbus are often hard look at them. Thorough analysis of signifies that the subject is of true interest to
too big for them to be operated efficiently on the actual passenger traffic on the route them. Carriers are most interested in the fuel
the current services. Therefore, we believe networks of numerous air companies has consumption data produced in the trials, and
the advanced Russian-built Sukhoi Superjet shown that aircraft with the dimensions in Bombardier regularly provides IFC, one of
100 regional aircraft and the latest Canadian between regional and narrowbody medium- its first customers for the CSeries, with rather

14 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru


detailed information on the trials. We are
pleased with the way the things are. At the
same time, no matter how much we want to
get our planes as soon as possible, we should
arm ourselves with patience.
When is IFC going to start taking delivery
of its CSeries? Are you not concerned about
the teething troubles inherent in any radically
innovative aircraft, the teething troubles your
customers are to encounter?
We would have never ordered early-
series aircraft, especially from a foreign
manufacturer. We are not the launch
customer for the CSeries: there are several
carriers, including Lufthansa Group, Malmo
and airBaltic, that had ordered their planes
directly from the manufacturer and will
receive them first. IFCs turn will come some
time by late 2015.
Lufthansa was first to sign up for the
CSeries and has been proactive in its
development. We know they can bring planes
to the right condition. Then there is Malmo.
The companys owner runs operations himself,
goes into detail and controls the expenditure
of every cent. I think he will do his best so that
his aircraft fleet of 10 is like clockwork. Big
carriers, such as Lufthansa, stake on large-
scale operation, while small airlines, e.g.
airBaltic, had to know operational economic
issues inside out. With customers like that, we
feel confident. I hope the latest CSeries will
have been debugged and cured of all teething
troubles possible by the time our turn comes.
IFC also is among the first leasing
companies that have ordered the CSeries, and
the fact will give us extra competitiveness on
the market. Few will have been able to lease
such aircraft prior to 2020. Talking with an
air carrier, we tell them that they will get their
aircraft four years earlier, if they cooperate
with us, and that they will get a profit of $2
million to $5 million per annum from each of
their planes during that period.
www.take-off.ru
commercial aviation | interview
The great marketing job done by
Bombardier worldwide over the past several
years since the launch of the programme has
been very useful to us too. Therefore, many
potential customers already know what they
can expect from the aircraft we offer them.
You are promoting on the global market not
only the CSeries but also advanced Russian
planes. IFC has recently ordered such aircraft
from UACs subsidiaries Sukhoi Civil
Aircraft Company, the Irkut corporation and
Antonov as well
The air carriers I deal with have been asking
ever more often about the Sukhoi Superjet 100.
This is due, probably, to the aircraft having been
certificated by several foreign states, particularly,
Indonesia that ranks fourth in terms of population
in the world and grows fast in economic terms.
The MC-21 ranks second as far as inquiries
by airlines are concerned. There has been a
spike in the interest in it in the wake of several
recent air shows, where its manufacturer said the
advanced aircrafts operational costs would be
lower than those of the Airbus airliners, including
the promising aircraft of the A320neo family. Also
we advise our foreign customers to take a closer
look at the An-148/158 as well. Personally, I like
the plane very much.
At times, a potential customer first
considers a CSeries proposal, and thorough
comparative analysis reveals that the cat wont
jump. Then, we suggest the potential customer
should assess the Superjet. Actually, we at IFC
are interested in working with air carriers,
including swapping information and expertise
gained in the course of implementation of
aviation programmes.
Such an exchange sometimes leads to a
better understanding of the targets and
objectives of a carrier and enables us to come
up with a better solution together. For instance,
a solution may include the Superjet for the
three to five years, followed by the larger CS300
or MC-21. A leasing companys wide range
of products enables it to offer carriers the
aircraft fleet management programmes tailored
to meet their needs. This is very important to
us, because such programmes make a carrier
a long-term customer of ours and enable us to
cooperate with it for 10 years or longer.
Mr. Cordner, what does the Dubai show
mean to you? Why did you decide to participate
in it proactively?
The Dubai Airshow is considered to be the
major Middle East air show and rightly so, and
we regard the region as a very promising one
as far as the aircraft we offer are concerned.
IFCs international department personnel
have started preparations for the event a long
time ago. We would not have ordered a chalet
of our own at the show in Dubai, unless we
saw a sales market here, we would not have
spent money, unless we hoped to recoup it.
The Middle East is a growing market, with
solvent demand bolstered by politics and an
excess of petrodollars. In addition, there are
many Soviet- and Russian-built aircraft here,
transports in the first place, which excellently
endure the harsh local basing conditions at
austere dusty sand-covered airfields at high
ambient temperature. In possession of a
wide range of products made up of the latest
Russian, Ukrainian and Canadian aircraft,
the Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing company has
opened new vistas on this market.
IFCs future aircraft fleet as per contracts and
agreements with manufacturers
Manufacturer Type Quantity
Bombardier CS300 32
Bombardier Q400 50*
UAC (Irkut) MC-21-300 50
UAC (SCAC) SSJ100-95 (B, LR) 20
UAC (VASO) An-148 34**
UAC (Aviastar) Tu-204SM 20*
Antonov An-158 20***
* LoI, MoU
** 9 have been delivered.
*** 3 have been delivered.
take-off november 2013 15
 industry | news
Il-76MD-90A commences its official tests
Built last year by the Aviastar-SP
close corporation in Ulyanovsk, the
first flying prototype of the upgraded
Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A airlifter started
flying under the official test pro-
gramme in July 2013.
Joint aircrews from the Defence
Industry Chkalov State Flight Test
Centre and Ilyushin JSC have been
testing the Il-76MD-90A. Phase I of
the official test programme com-
prises comprehensive testing of the
aircraft and its systems and equip-
ment the flight navigation suite,
automatic flight control system, radio
communications gear, etc. Phase I is
slated for completion in November.
Based on the outcome of the trials,
the customer will issue a preliminary
acceptance report clearing the full-
rate production of the airlifter.
The first flying prototype of the
Il-96MD-90A (c/n 01-02) conduct-
ed its maiden flight in Ulyanovsk
on 22 September 2012 and then
was ferried to Zhukovsky on 30
January 2013 for more tests. The
19-sortie developmental testing
phase took place there between
18 March and 21 May this year,
following which the plane was sub-
jected to improvements and prepa-
ration for its flight trials.
The features setting the upgraded
Il-76MD-90A apart from the II-76MD
earlier produced by Tashkent-based
TAPC corporation are its more
powerful and efficient PS-90A-76
engines from the engine maker
in the city of Perm (the engines
had been tested on Il-76MF and
Il-76MD-90 prototypes by then) and
a substantial reshuffle of its avionics
Marina Lystseva
16 take-off november 2013
suite, including the introduction of
the glass flight deck. A number of
considerable design improvements
were introduced too. With the wing
section and wing shape remaining
unchanged, a new structural layout
was introduced: the wing panels
became one-piece, they are made
of long riveted stringer panels (pre-
viously, the stringers were milled
together with the panels), and the
number of spars dropped from three
to two, ensuring a sizeable structural
weight reduction and a manufactur-
ability increase.
Owing to the advanced wing and
reinforced landing gear, the maxi-
mum takeoff weight grew from
190 t to 210 t and the maximum
payload from 47 t to 60 t com-
pared to the production-standard
Il-76MD previously built by TAPC.
Owing to a 12% fuel efficiency
increase of the PS-90A-76 engine,
the range of the aircraft hauling
52 t of cargo was extended from
4,000 km to 5,000 km. The higher
thrust also afforded a takeoff/land-
ing performance improvement,
with the length of the maximum
takeoff weight run dropping from
1,750 m to 1,600 m. To facilitate
the planes performance, its TA-6A
auxiliary power unit was replaced
with the more up-to-date TA-12A.
The Kupol-II analogue flight navi-
gation suite was ousted by the digi-
tal Kupol-III-76M(A), and the digi-
tal SUA-76 automatic flight control
system capable of ICAO Category II
landing approach and RNP and
RVSM navigation replaced the ana-
logue SAU-1T-2B. The traditional
steam-gauge instruments on the
flight deck were succeeded by the
KSEIS integrated electronic display
and warning system, including eight
colour multifunction liquid-crystal
displays. An advanced satellite navi-
gation system was furnished too.
Now, Aviastar-SP is manufactur-
ing the first three production-stand-
ard Il-76MD-90As (c/n 01-03, 01-04,
01-05). Under the order the govern-
ment placed on 4 October 2012, 39
production-standard Il-76MD-90A
airlifters are to be delivered to the
Russian Defence Ministry before
2020. The first two of them are to be
delivered in 2014.
On 10 July 2013, the United Engine
Corp. and United Aircraft Corp.
Victor Druslyakov
clinched a deal for 156 PS-90A-76
engines worth in excess of 30 billion
rubles (approx $950 million) to fit
the 39 Il-76MD-90As ordered by the
military. The Perm Engine Plant will
make and deliver the engines. The
first PS-90A-76s to be manufac-
tured to equip production-standard
Il-76MD-90As are planned for ship-
ment before year-end.
Another order is due to be awarded
by the government in the near future,
this one for deriving a 30-ship batch
of advanced tanker planes derived
from the Il-76MD-90A and delivering
them to the Russian Air Force. The
tanker plan derivative will be desig-
nated as Il-78M-90A. The construc-
tion of the first flying prototype of
the aircraft has begun in Ulyanovsk.
It is due to be complete before year-
end 2014. The Il-78M-90As official
trials are scheduled for 2015. Their
completion will pave the way for the
types deliveries. In addition, plans
provide for manufacture of Il-76MD-
90A airframes designed for subse-
quent conversion to special-purpose
planes, in particular, new-generation
airborne early warning and control
aircraft.
Defence Ministry plans also stipu-
late an upgrade of the in-service
Il-76MD airlifter and Il-78M tanker
plane fleets under the Il-76MDM and
Il-78M2 programmes respectively,
with the programmes providing for
the aircraft fleets avionics upgrade
but no re-engining.
www.take-off.ru
 industry | news

Trials of Russian Defence Ministrys first An-148

Another production-standard
Antonov An-148 (side number
61718, c/n 41-05) made its first flight
from the airfield of the VASO produc-
tion plant (a subsidiary of UAC JSC)
in Voronezh on 12 September 2013.
The plane is the standard-issue
An-148-100E passenger variant with

75 seats in economy class. It is the
first in the series of aircraft under
the contract made by UAC and the
Defence Ministry in May this year for
15 An-148s worth about 18 billion
rubles (about 1.2 billion rubles or
around $37.5 million apiece) and to
be delivered during 201317.
The new aircrafts six-sortie facto-
ry test programme had been fulfilled
by late September. In October, the
plane has been painted and submit-
ted for the next stage of the trials,
comprising six acceptance sorties,
after which it will be delivered. The
delivery may be due in November.
VASO is intent on completing the
assembly and flight-testing the sec-
ond An-148 for the Defence Ministry
before year-end. The May 2013 con-
tract stipulates the delivery of one
An-148-100E in 2013, four in 2014
and 2015 each and three in 2016
and 2017 each. The efficient and
sturdy An-148 is gradually to replace
the Defence Ministrys Tu-134 jet
fleet, which full-rate production was
discontinued as far back as 1984.
The test-flown An-148 (61718)
became the fourth aircraft
of the type, built by VASO this
year. In 2013, an An-148-100EA
(RA-61720) VIP aircraft designed
for the Rossiya special flight
detachment and two An-148-100EM
(RA-61715 and RA-61717) con-
vertible passenger/medevac planes
have been flight-tested and deliv-
ered earlier this year. Now, the
plant is completing the construc-
Alexey Filatov
tion of an An-148-100EA VIP plane
for the Federal Security Services
air arm at the same time with
finalizing the assembly of the sec-
ond An-148-100E for the Defence
Ministry.
Late in September, a VASO
spokesman said that the An-148
orderbook comprised 16 firm
orders, with a contract for two
more An-148-100Es for the Angara
airline being due soon.

Another Il-96 is airborne

4 September 2013 saw the first Il-96-300s (RA-96014, RA-96017, Longer-term plans provide for to the ones operated by Rossiya
flight of the new Ilyushin Il-96 RA-96018, RA-96019) and four VASO to continue to make about special aircraft detachment. The
widebody aircraft (RA-96021, c/n special VIP planes (RA-96012, one Il-96 a year in various ver- remaining aircraft, including three
02021) in Voronezh. It is the sec- RA-96016, RA-96020, RA-96021) for sions for governmental agencies at Il-96-400T freighters delivered to
ond aircraft of the Il-96-300PU(M1) top national officials. least until 201820. This will enable the Polyot carrier have been moth-
variant, made for the Presidential According to the governmental pro- the manufacturer to preserve its balled. Also mothballed at the plant
Administrative and General Services curement website (zakupki.gov.ru), widebody production capability in is the flight-tested fourth Il-96-400T
Department under the contract the Presidential Administrative and the face of the current uncertainty that will be converted to a special-
signed in May 2010. The first presi- General Services Department and of further deliveries of new Il-96 ized aircraft further down the line.
dential aircraft manufactured under UAC made on 25 April 2013 another passenger and transport aircraft to Late September this year
the contract, RA-96020, was made contract for two more Il-96s to be commercial customers. marked 25 years of the prototype
by VASO last year and delivered to delivered to Rossiya prior to year- At present, six Il-96-300 long- Il-96-300s maiden flight that took
the Rossiya special aircraft detach- end 2015. One of them will be an haul airliners are operated by place on 28 September 1988. In all,
ment in December 2012. Il-96-300 Salon and the other will Aeroflot, three aircraft have been two prototypes and 25 production
The new plane was completed and be in the presidential variant the delivered to Cuba and one is in pro- Il-96 aircraft in various versions
brought to the in-house flight test sta- Il-96-300PU(M1). totype testing by Ilyushin in addition have been built to date.
tion for ground tests in late May. On
the next day following the aircrafts
maiden flight, it was flown to the
Spektr-Avia company in Ulyanovsk
for its livery. It had been painted
by 24 September, when RA-96021
came back to Voronezh and, on the
same day, left for Ilyushins flight test
and development base in Zhukovsky,
Moscow Region.
The plane is expected to launch
operations before the end of the year
Nikolay Krasnov

and become the eighth Il-96 in service

with Rossiya special aircraft detach-
ment that will operate four passenger

www.take-off.ru take-off november 2013 17

 industry | news
Mi-38 to enter full-rate production in two years
As many as two prototypes of the
future Mil Mi-38 medium helicopter
were displayed at the MAKS 2013
air show in August. Both sported a
new Russian Helicopters corporate
paintjob. One of them, the second
flying prototype designated as OP-2
and powered by Canadian engines
Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127TS,
flew as part of the shows flight dem-
onstration programme and the other,
the recently-made OP-3 powered by
Russian-made Klimov TV7-117Vs,
was unveiled at a static display. The
Canadian powerplant-equipped Mi-38
version is dubbed Mi-38-1 now and
the variant fitted with Russian-built
powerplant is known as Mi-38-2.
Only the Mi-38-1 (OP-2) has
been used in the flight tests so far.
Alexey Mikheyev
Russian Helicopters displays RACHEL
Probably, a most interest-
ing advanced programme of the
Russian Helicopters holding compa-
ny is the Future Medium Helicopter
programme known also as RACHEL
(Russian Advanced Commercial
Helicopter), with the helicopter
expected to hit the market later in
the decade and succeed to the most
popular Mil Mi-8 and Mi-17 with the
passage of time. The demonstration
model of the RACHEL was shown
at the air shows in Farnborough
last year and Le Bourget in June
2013 and at MAKS 2013 in August
as well.
The RACHEL advanced multi-
purpose commercial helicopter is
being designed in the 1012-tonne
class, i.e. it is similar enough to
the Mi-8/17 that are bestsellers on
the market these days. RACHEL
baseline model is a multipurpose
helicopter with a convertible cabin
allowing efficient carriage of 2124
passengers or 34 t of cargo,
including doing so on offshore
18 take-off november 2013
The very first prototype, OP-1, was
converted to the Mi-38-2 variant
with TV7-117V turboshafts, but the
need of debugging the engines and
main gearbox put off its flight tri-
operations. It will be furnished with
a sophisticated avionics suite and
a new-generation rotor system
that, coupled with refined airframe
aerodynamics, will ensure efficient
cruising flight at 360380 km/h
roughly a 50% increase in speed
compared with todays helicopters.
According to Russian Helicopters
managers, the companys scientific
and technical capabilities enable it
to develop a faster helicopter, but
this would call for much higher
R&D spending, while the resultant
machine would be in a different
price niche. We want a machine
for a wide range of users, the
holding companys managers say
to substantiate their choice of the
RACHEL concept, which emphasiz-
es, in the first place, the economic
efficiency of the future helicopter
with a moderate speed increase of
25%, nonetheless.
The design of the future machine
is to be finalised prior to year-end
2013. By the time, the designers
als to the summer of last year and
then to 2013. Nonetheless, a stan-
dard set of TV7-117V engines has
been supplied to equip the Mi-38s
third flying prototype built by Kazan
Helicopters this spring. The engines
were mounted on the helicopter that
is to start flying its test sorties this
autumn.
Meanwhile, Kazan Helicopters is
manufacturing the Mi-38s fourth
flying prototype (OP-4) intended to
serve the baseline model for full-rate
will have taken two important deci-
sions on its powerplant. One is
on the direction, in which engines
power output will be forwards
or rearwards. The other is who is
going to be the developer. Two
options are on the table. Either the
RACHELs powerplant is going to
be developed by the Klimov com-
pany (possibly, in cooperation with
Turbomeca), or two helicopter ver-
sions one powered by Turbomeca
engines and the other by Klimov
ones will be offered to customers.
Now, a flying testbed is being
developed from the Mi-35 helicop-
Yevgeny Yerokhin
production. It is to be assembled
in January 2014. The OP-4 stan-
dard helicopter will differ from the
OP-3 prototype in a shockproof fuel
system from Aerazur and larger
windows, Russian Helicopters told
Take-off. The fourth prototype of
the Mi-38 will be the last of the pro-
totypes, which tests are expected to
produce the final data relevant to the
launch of the helicopters commer-
cial operation. The Mi-38 is slated to
enter full-rate production in 2015.
ters structural elements under the
RACHEL programme. The testbed
is to have a modified airframe, an
advanced rotor system, VK-2500PS
engines, etc. As soon as next year,
it is supposed to start test flights
designed to prove the feasibility
of attaining a flight speed of 360
380 km/h through the use of the
solutions selected.
The first RACHEL prototypes are
planned for construction in 2016
17, while the completion of the
new helicopters certification and
commencement of its deliveries are
expected in 201820.
Yevgeny Yerokhin
www.take-off.ru

Debut of Mi-171A2
Another debut at the recent MAKS
2013 air show was made by the first
example of the heavily upgraded Mil
Mi-171A2 medium transport helicop-
ter at the static display of the Russian
Helicopters holding company.
The Mi-171 (Mi-8AMT) upgrade
programme was given the green
light by the holding companys
management in March 2011. The
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Certification of hydromechanical control system-equipped Ansat
As many as four versions of the
Ansat helicopter were shown at the
static display during the recent MAKS
2013 air show. The Ansat powered
by Canadian PW207K engines and
furnished with the advanced KSU-A
fly-by-wire control system has been
in full-rate production by Kazan
Helicopters since 2004. The first six
production-standard machines have
been exported to South Korea. Having
passed its official tests in 2008, the
Ansat-U trainer, fitted with the twin
controls and wheeled landing gear and
developed for the Russian Air Force,
entered full-scale production in 2009.
To date, the Defence Ministry has
taken delivery of as many as 18
production-standard Ansat-Us fielded
with the Syzran affiliate of the Air
Force Academy that specialises in
helicopter pilot training for the Air
Force. Under the contract effective
until 2018, the deliveries proceed at a
rate of six units a year. Another batch
is due for delivery in November.
Two Ansat-Us were shown at static
displays by the Russian Air Force
and Russian Helicopters, where a
VIP variant was demonstrated too. At
the display area near Oboronproms
www.take-off.ru
Mi-171A1, built by the Ulan-Ude
Aviation Plant and certificated by the
IAC Aircraft Registry and Brazilian
aviation authorities, was used for the
upgrade. The programme is aimed at
a hefty increase in the performance
and a reduction in the maintenance
and flight hour costs. The Mi-171A2
is supposed to serve the baseline
production-standard model of the
pavilion sat the fifth Ansat prototype
(PT-05) sporting a zebra-like black-
and-white paintjob and a medical
module of the medevac version.
In 200710, Kazan Helicopters
heavily modified the baseline FBW
control system-equipped model
to meet the then-latest certification
requirements. Its efforts resulted in the
Ansat-K variant certificated in March
2010 by the IAC Aircraft Registry for
limited operation, such as cargo haul-
age and aviation works, but not pas-
senger flights. An aircraft of the type
was delivered to the Tatarstan Police
Air detachment in 2011.
Since helicopters equipped with
the fly-by-wire control system have
not been certificated anywhere in the
world yet, there are no basic stan-
dards to such sophisticated system
in the world. Therefore, to speed up
the machines hitting the global mar-
ket, a decision was taken to adjust
the Ansat programme with respect
to the current requirements to the
traditional helicopter hydromechani-
cal control system. The hydrome-
chanical control system introduc-
tion did not increase the machines
takeoff weight, no did it altered its
most widespread helicopter family
in the future.
The upgraded machine features
sophisticated Klimov VK-2500PS-03
engines (emergency power rating
2,400 hp for 30 min and 2,700 hp
for 2.5 min), the Safir 5K/G auxiliary
power unit, composite-blade rotor sys-
tem, beefed-up powertrain, X-shaped
tail rotor and up-to-date KBO-17
avionics suite from Radioelectronic
Technologies holding.
The Mi-171A2s maximal takeoff
and landing weight totals 13,000 kg
(with cargo slung underbelly
13,500 kg). The machine hauls
4,000 kg of cargo inside the cabin
and 5,000 kg of cargo on the under-
belly sling. The Mi-171A2s pas-
senger variant can be fitted with 26
standard or 18 crashworthy seats.
The Mi-171A2 will feature a maxi-
mum speed increase from 250 km/h
to 280 km/h. Its cruising speed will
performance. Not to depend on the
timeline of the certification of the
KSU-A-fitted Ansat, we decided to
offer a helicopter equipped with the
traditional hydromechanical control
system on the world market, says
Kazan Helicopters Director General
Vadim Ligai.
The certification of the hydro-
mechanical control system-fitted
Ansat, which involved two proto-
types (PT-07 and PT-08) kicked off
in 2011 and resulted in success this
summer. The IAC Aircraft Registry
issued the Ansats hydromechani-
cal control system-equipped version
with Type Certificate Supplement
take-off november 2013
industry | news
grow from 230 km/h to 260 km/h and
its range on its main fuel tanks will
be extended from 715 km to 850 km.
The upgraded rotorcraft will have a
much-improved yawing stability and
an increased allowable crosswind
speed allowing the machine to hover.
The helicopter can operate within
the -50/+50C ambient temperature
bracket in any clime.
The operation of the machine will
change much. Plans provide for a
considerable extension of the assigned
life and time between overhauls of the
helicopter and its systems, with the
switch to on-condition maintenance
further down the road.
The flight tests of the first Mi-171A2
(OP-1) are planned for this autumn,
while the completion of its certifica-
tion tests and the issuance of its type
certificate are slated for late 2014, with
the full-rate production and deliveries
scheduled for 2015.
CT236-Ansat/D03 on 22 August
2013. The certificate was presented
to the developers representatives in
a ceremony during MAKS-2013.
According to expert estimates, the
upgraded Ansat features a consider-
able competitive edge over its rivals
in the class, for the machine is reliable
and easy to operate, can be used in
various climes within a wide tem-
perature bracket and does not have
to be sheltered in a hangar. The latest
Ansat variant has been unveiled by the
Russian Helicopters holding company
at key markets, including CIS member
Andrey Fomin
states and Southeast Asian, African
and Latin American countries.
Alexey Mikheyev
19
 industry | news
Rysachok for commuter airlines and for the military
Alexey Mikheyev
As many as two examples of the
advanced Rysachok light twin-tur-
boprop plane took part in the recent
MAKS 2013 air show. The aircraft was
developed by the Technoavia scientific
and design company in Moscow and
manufactured by the TsSKB-Progress
company in Samara under the con-
tract made with the Russian Transport
Ministry in June 2007 for the develop-
ment of an advanced trainer for civil
aviation flight schools. Afterwards, the
ministry decided not to acquire the
Rysachok and to cancel the contract,
Yevgeny Yerokhin
An-140T ramp-equipped version of regional airliner
During the MAKS 2013 air
show, one could for the first time
see the Antonov state companys
ramp-fitted version of the An-140
turboprop regional passenger
aircraft offered by Antonov and
Andrey Fomin
20 take-off november 2013
but the developer and manufacturer
carried on with the trials and construc-
tion of planes of the type at their own
expense to promote the type on com-
muter lines and to other interested par-
ties, including the Russian Emergencies
Ministry and Defence Ministry.
The Rysachoks first flying prototype
(c/n 00-01) made its maiden flight from
the Bezymyanka airfield in Samara on
3 December 2010. The debugging and
factory test phase was completed in
Samara six months later, and, based on
the results produced in the preliminary
Samara-based Aviakor plant to
the Russian Defence Ministry as a
light airlifter to replace the An-26,
which service life is about to
expire and which production was
discontinued in 1984.
trials, the aircraft then was handed over
to the developer the Moscow-based
Technoavia company for certification
flight tests in the Gromov LII Flight
Research Institute. The ferry flight of the
first Rysachok (side number 777) from
Samara to LIIs airfield in Zhukovsky
took place on 3 June 2011.
In June 2011, TsSKB-Progress
assembled the second flying proto-
type (c/n 00-03). Following its early
test flights in Samara and its being
painted at the Spektr-Avia company in
Ulyanovsk, the aircraft (side number
778) came to LIIs airfield on 23 July
2011. Both were displayed at the
MAKS 2011 air show.
The Rysachoks certification tests
commenced at LII in spring this year.
The head of Technoavia, Chief Designer
Vyacheslav Kondratyev had said in the
run-up to MAKS 2013 that the tests
were to be completed in 2014. TsSKB-
Progress has started the construction
The ramp-fitted An-140T freight-
er differs from the An-26 in carry-
ing capacity that has grown from
5,500 kg to 6,000 kg, range that has
doubled (1,860 km with a 5-tonne
cargo) and a 3050% increase in
fuel efficiency. Its 10.2-m-long
cargo hold has a cross-section of
2.28x1.78 m (the An-26 has that of
2.3x1.735 m) and can carry stan-
dard combat gear, 36 paratroops,
50 infantrymen or 24 casualties
on stretchers in addition to a wide
range of standard general cargo
(four LD-1, six LD-2 or five LD-3
containers, etc.).
According to experts with the
Russian Machines corporation,
of a low-rate initial production batch
of five production-standard Rysachoks.
The Rysachoks second flying pro-
totype (778) flew in the demonstration
programme of this years air show,
while the third prototype (c/n 00-03,
side number 779) sporting a camou-
flage pattern and even the Russian
Air Force insignia was shown at static
display. The military nature of the pro-
totype was emphasized by two B8-S7
rocket pods housing seven 80-mm
rockets each, which were attached to
the fuselage weapons stores.
In addition to the three flying pro-
totypes, the plant in Samara has built
a static test prototype (c/n 00-02)
that has undergone its structural
tests at TsAGI since summer 2010;
an aircraft for endurance tests
(c/n 00-04) has been built too.
Powered by two M-61F turboprops
each rated at 750 hp, the Rysachoks
baseline model carries 10 passengers
or 1,570 kg of cargo, or 15 para-
troops or six casualties on stretchers
and a medic. The aircraft also can
be used in the patrol, search-and-
rescue, aerial photography and other
roles. Technoavia let it be known at
MAKS 2013 that it had been developing
a stretched version of the Rysachok
designed for seating 16 passengers on
commuter services. The construction
of a prototype of the version has begun.
The LRIP planes will be equipped with
advanced Czech-made H80 engines.
which subsidiary the Aviakor air-
craft plant is, 160170 An-140-100
aircraft in the passenger or convert-
ible versions and 8090 planes in
the An-140T ramp-equipped trans-
port version and in special variants
may be needed in Russia and other
CIS countries until 2020.
Nonetheless, the future of the
An-140T is hazy. The Russian
Defence Ministry is known to have
mulled over two aircraft offered as
the future light airlifter and opted
for resuming the development of
the Ilyushin Il-112V, which produc-
tion is planned to be launched by
Voronezh-based VASO, a subsidiary
of the United Aircraft Corp.
www.take-off.ru

Q400 to be made in Russia in the end?
Marina Lystseva
During the MAKS 2013 air show,
the Rostec state corporation and
Canadian company Bombardier
signed a letter of intent on setting up
a joint venture in Russia to manufac-
ture 78-seat Bombardier Q400 tur-
boprop regional planes. According to
expert estimates, the planes market
capacity in Russia and other CIS
nations will exceed 250 until 2030.
Austrian diamonds of Russian cut
A key line of the recent MAKS
2013 air show was the display
by foreign companies of their
products intended for the Russian
small aircraft market. Over the
past couple of years, the Russian
government has attended to the
development of commuter air-
lines and started paying closer
attention to general aviation. With
no competitive offers from the
domestic aircraft industry, foreign
aircraft are going to dominate the
Russian market of small commer-
cial aircraft. A solution to learn-
ing the ropes in advanced small
plane construction is seen by the
Yevgeny Yerokhin
www.take-off.ru
Rostec plans to launch the assembly
as soon as 18 months.
The implementation of the pro-
gramme in cooperation with our
potential partner, Bombardier, would
facilitate the renovation of the air-
craft fleets of Russian air carriers,
enhancement of Russian aircraft
safety, introduction of more flexible
regional traffic pricing and a reduc-
government in localising products
of major foreign manufacturers.
A number of foreign companies
have voiced their proposals. The
programme pursued by the Rostec
government-owned corporation
and Austrian company Diamond
Aircraft Industries (DAI) faces
good prospects of gaining a slice
of the market, with the programme
picking up pace real quick.
The Ural Works of Civil Aviation
(a subsidiary of Rostec, UWCA)
and DAI signed an agreement on
co-production and co-develop-
ment of a family of light multi-
purpose planes for four, nine and
tion in the price of Russian planes,
said Alexei Fyodorov, managing
director for aviation programmes,
Rostec. We are discussing the feasi-
bility of setting up a joint venture that
will embody the future of Russian
turboprop regional aviation.
Rostec and Bombardiers joint ven-
ture will be a 50:50 enterprise. The
state corporation will build a manufac-
turing plant in the Ulyanovsk Airport
Special Economic Zone in 2014. Its
investment in the program will total
about $100 million. Bombardier will
provide all relevant nonmaterial assets,
such as production technology, design
documentation, intellection property
rights and knowhow.
The letter of intent stipulates
phased implementation of joint
efforts. It planned that at the initial
stage the production will be fully
handled by Bombardier in Canada,
and the plant in Ulyanovsk will only
customize planes to the require-
ments of its customers. Aircraft
19 seats at the Le Bourget air
show in June 2013.
The agreement provides for
phased cooperative work ranging
from UWCAs learning to assemble
the current DAI four-seaters the
single-engine DA40 and the twin-
engine DA42 to development
and productionising of advanced
larger models a nine-seater and
a 19-seater. At the final phase, all
components of the light planes
and their diesel engines ranging in
power from 190 hp to 600 hp are
to be made by UWCA in Russia.
The first plane is expected to start
flying commercial operations as
soon as late 2016. According to the
parties, the capacity of the Russian
market of such aircraft is at least
200 units.
Details on the models slated
for development were offered at
MAKS 2013. We want to pro-
mote on the market the planes
with composite airframes, powered
by diesel engines burning avgas.
These solutions will ensure a
2.5-times fuel consumption drop,
take-off november 2013
industry | news
assembly localization in Russia is
slated for 2015 and airframe com-
ponent localisation for 2016. The
maximal planned Q400 assembly
capacity of the plant in Ulyanovsk
will stand at 24 aircraft a year.
In addition to the document signed,
Rostec and Bombardier struck an
agreement on the tentative order of
50 Q400s, with the agreement signed
by Rostecs subsidiary Aviakapital-
Service. As arranged by the parties,
the agreement will firm up into a
full-fledged contract once the joint
venture has been established.
Another procurement agreement
for 50 Q400s was signed by the
Ilyushin Finance Co. leasing com-
pany. Under the agreement, Ilyushin
Finance Co. is going to buy 50 planes
from the Russian-Canadian joint
venture to be set up. The overall
value of the firm order, which could
be signed in case the agreement is
implemented, will be $1.695 billion
in catalogue prices.
said Rostec Director for Aviation
Programmes Alexei Fyodorov.
The nine-seat LMS-9 powered
by a pair of E-8 diesel engines
rated at 440 hp each will have
a maximum takeoff weight of
3,500 kg, while the takeoff weight
of the 19-seat LMS-19 powered by
a pair of 700-hp engines will equal
6,400 kg. The maximum cruising
speed of both models will account
for 440 km/h, and the flight altitude
will stand at 8,200 m. The LMS-9
burning 85 kg of fuel per hour will
be able to fly fully-loaded out to
1,500 km, while the LMS-19 with a
140-kg/h fuel consumption out to
1,335 km. The price of the planes
is estimated to be $2.5 million and
$3.75 million respectively.
The light four-seat DA40 and
DA42 aircraft are known in Russia
well enough now. They received
their type certificates from the
IAC Aircraft Registry in October
2008. For instance, the Russian
Transport Ministry buys them for
use as trainers for civil aviation
future pilots.
21
industry | news

Sukhoi supersonic bizjet

The visitors of the recent MAKS
2013 air show never failed to pay
attention to the unusual outlines of a
supersonic bizjet model exhibited at
the Sukhoi stand in UACs pavilion.
At present, the programme is being
pursued by a team led by Vladimir
Titov, chief of the design depart-
ment of a subsidiary of the Sukhoi
company the Advanced Sukhoi
Civil Technologies close corporation.
As is known, the Sukhoi design
bureau launched research into super-
sonic bizjets as far back as 25-plus
years in an attempt at diversifying its
range of products against the back-
drop of a drop in Defence Department
orders expected even then. The
design bureau and US company
Gulfstream Aerospace pooled their
supersonic bizjet development efforts
in 1989, which led to the emergence
of the Gulfstream-VI-Su and, later, the
S-21G. Gulfstream Aerospace pulled
out of the programme in 1992, while
Sukhoi carried on with the research
however, they failed to find inter-
national partners or investors for
their programmes. Moreover, it
dawned on them that none of the
then designs was able to produce
acceptable sonic boom and takeoff/
landing noise level characteristics.
This made the designers seek
innovative aerodynamic configura-
tions for their supersonic bizjet. At the
turn of the century, Sukhoi and TsAGI
came up with an advanced tri-plane
airframe configuration featuring a
long spindle-shaped fuselage with
the circular cross-section, trapezoid
wing, large leading-edge root exten-
sions (LERXs), horizontal tail and
canards with a small canard-to-wing
area ratio. The supersonic bizjet with
the 52-tonne takeoff weight had two
engines mounted under wing. The
sophisticated aerodynamic configura-
tion slashed the maximal shock wave
overpressure and sonic boom volume
down to 74 dBA.
Further painstaking consistent

paid for by Russian investors, nev-
ertheless. In all, about 60 supersonic
bizjet aerodynamic configuration vari-
ants (tailless, canards, tri-plane) pow-
ered by various numbers of engines
(two, three or four) were consid-
ered, with the dimensions and take-
off weight growing steadily from
Andrey Fomin
modifications to the planes base-
line configuration have resulted in
a radical revamp of its exterior. In
particular, to maximize the time
separation between the fuselage
sonic boom and wing sonic boom,
the wing was shifted rearwards and
given the swept configuration, lead-

35 t of the Gulfstream-VI-Su to 52 t
of the latest versions of the S-21.
Supersonic bizjet models were tested
in TsAGIs and SibNIAs wind tun-
nels. Later on, the supersonic bizjet
programme, renamed SSBJ (Sukhoi
Supersonic Business Jet), was hand-
ed by the Sukhoi design bureau over
to the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company
and then to Advanced Sukhoi Civil
Technologies.
Virtually at the time with the
kickoff of the S-21 programme, the
development of the 50-seat 90-tonne
S-51 supersonic passenger aircraft
began, albeit at a far slower pace.
It was reported in the late 90 that
the Sukhoi design bureau and TsAGI
were pursuing a joint programme
on developing the 70-tonne MSDS
intercontinental supersonic busi-
ness jet designed to carry eight to
ten passengers in business class
or 30 in economy class. Despite
the pins taken by the designers,
ing edge kink, span-wise V-shape
and complex twist. A large part
of the fuselage nose section was
shaped like a cone, and the fuselage
itself, measuring about 45 m, was
given curved sides, which allowed
the N-shaped sonic boom shock-
wave of the 52-tonne aircraft to be
transformed into a multiple pressure
surge shockwave, thus reducing the
design overpressure in both pres-
sure surges and the cruising sonic
boom volume down to 6567 dBA.
Two variants of mounting the super-
sonic bizjets engines are on the
table. One provides for the engines
to be housed by under-wing engines
nacelles and the other for mounting
them as a pack in the tail section
to reduce drag and environmental
noise. The Rolls-Royce RR260 and
RR557 turbofans, which are still on
the drawing board, and variants of
Russian engines have been mulled
over as the powerplant for the bizjet.
From 2005 to 2009, Sukhoi
Civil Aircraft Company, teamed
up with TsAGI and TsIAM, offered
its supersonic bizjet design for
use under the European Unions
HISAC (Environmentally Friendly
High Speed Aircraft) programme
on comprehensive research into
supersonic bizjet problems and
development feasibility. It is the
configuration from SCAC, TsAGI
and TsIAM that was selected for
further research under the pro-
gramme.
The supersonic bizjet model dis-
played at the MAKS 2013 air show
is merely part of the supersonic
passenger aircraft family being con-
sidered by Advanced Sukhoi Civil
Technologies now. The family com-
prises at this point of an 810-seat
Andrey Fomin
supersonic bizjet, a 24-seat super-
sonic business taxi and superson-
ic airliners for 50 and 100 seats.
However, their future is hinged on
three basic factors (the same goes
for the rest of supersonic bizjet
and supersonic passenger aircraft
programmes). The first one is the
emergence of acceptable supersonic
bizjet sonic boom volume interna-
tional standards that neither FAA,
not ICAO is prepared to consider
until a supersonic demonstrator of
sonic boom reduction technology is
developed. The second factor is the
devising of supersonic bizjet certifi-
cation airworthiness standards. The
third one, naturally, is funding, for
the efforts are to be to the tune of
hundreds of millions dollars or even
billions of dollars

22 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru


Debut of PD-14
The focus of the United Engine
Corporations exposition in
Oboronproms pavilion during the
MAKS 2013 air show in August
was the advanced PD-14 engine
the first one of the future family of
engines in the 918-tonne class,
being developed by the Perm-
based engine maker in conjunc-
tion with other UEC subsidiaries
to fit the MC-21 short/medium-
haul airliner, future MTA medium
transport aircraft and other appli-
cations. Previously, only PD-14
scale models and mock-ups had
been displayed at shows, a full-
scale engine demonstrator was
unveiled to aviation experts and
enthusiasts this time around.
Its first start-up took place in
June 2012, and the first phase of
indoors test bench trials had been
completed by August last year,
with the engine demonstrators
basic operating modes tested.
A year ago, in September 2012,
the PD-14 engine demonstrator
(No. 100-01) passed its outdoors
test bench trials phase, during
which its acoustic characteristics
were gauged. The second engine
demonstrator passed the tests of
its basic thermodynamic param-
Yevgeny Yerokhin
www.take-off.ru
eters in February 2013, and the
third phase of the trials, which
included, inter alia, the engines
operation in takeoff mode, was
conducted in July.
Aviadvigatel JSC Deputy Director
General Igor Maximov, dual-hatted
as chief designer of the PD-14
engine family, said at MAKS 2013
that the engine demonstrator had
logged 78 hours in 134 cycles by
August 2013 and the demonstra-
tion core engines had accumulated
over 115 hours in 173 cycles.
The most important component
of the PD-14s competitive edge
is the engines up-to-date con-
trol systems being developed and
made by STAR JSC in the city of
Perm.
Aviadvigatel JSC as prime con-
tractor for the PD-14 develop-
ment set rather tough require-
ments to the characteristics of
the future automatic control sys-
tem. Particularly, the engines
time between overhauls and time
before failure were to be extended
by far. The weight of the control
systems units was to be slashed
drastically halved compared
to in-service examples. Overall,
the flight control system was to
be on a par with the best foreign
designs equipped with the FADEC
and lacking any hydromechanical
backup.
The design of the PD-14s auto-
matic control system began to
clarify in 2011, and the early sets
of units were manufactured a year
later. The automatic control system
of the PD-14 engine consists of
the RED-14 electronic controller,
BN-14 pump unit and DT-14 fuel
metering unit.
The key component of the
PD-14s control system is the
RED-14 electronic controller per-
forming integrated all-mode control
of the engine, enforcing the param-
eter limits, conducting engine diag-
nostics and protection, and swap-
ping the data with other systems
of the aircraft and its engine. The
share of advanced Russian-made
parts and electronic components in
the controller has been maximized.
The RED-14s time before first over-
haul will be 40,000 h.
The BN-14 pump unit compris-
ing a booster pump and a gear type
pump is being developed with the
use of high-strength wear-resist-
ant materials. The BN-14 supplies
fuel to the engine, automatics
industry | news
and mechanical equipment. Its
time before first overhaul will be
20,000 h. The DT-14 fuel meter-
ing unit handles the metering of
fuel to the engine on a signal from
the electronic controller and con-
trols the compressors mechanical
equipment and the heat exchang-
ers. The DT-14s time between
overhauls is set at 40,000 h. For
the first time in Russian aggre-
gate industry, Category B interna-
tional fire resistance requirements
(the ability to enable the engines
aggregates to operate for 5 min in
the face of the engine fire) have
been applied to hydromechanical
aggregates.
Basic components of the PD-14s
control system were unveiled at
MAKS 2013. This year, a RED-14
electronic controller certification
request is to be submitted to the
IAC Aircraft Registry. The control-
ler is to pass the whole set of
certification trials during 201415
and to enter full-rate production in
2016 or in 2017.
The PD-14s chief designer Igor
Maximov said at MAKS 2013 that
the PD-14 (No. 100-03) proto-
type is to be prepared for tests
this autumn. The prototype will
be used for testing STARs latest
control system and proving its
performance capability. Another
PD-14 prototype, No. 100-04, is
slated for assembly in December.
Its configuration will feature the
maximized resemblance to that
of future production-standard
engines of the type. The prototype
will be employed for checking the
operation of all systems and units
of the advanced powerplant.
The flight tests of a prototype
PD-14 on the Il-76LL flying test-
bed are to kick off in less than a
year in September 2014, with
the first flight of the MC-21 aircraft
powered by PD-14 engines being
planned for November 2015 now.
It is expected that the PD-14 will
wrap up its certification tests and
get its type certificate from the IAC
Aircraft Registry in December 2015
and then get its EASA certificate in
September 2017, as its developer
has planned.
take-off november 2013 23
industry | programme

Andrey FOMIN
Photos by Alexey Mikheyev

KA-62 KICKS OFF ITS TRIALS

The first flying prototype of the cutting-edge Kamov Ka-62 multipurpose medium The Ka-62 features a single-rotor
helicopter was in the limelight of the recent MAKS 2013 air show in late August. configuration uncharacteristic of the aircraft
The latest machine from the Russian Helicopters holding company has a takeoff developed by the Kamov company. It is
weight of 6.5 t and is designed to seat up to 15 passengers or haul 2,000 kg of equipped with a multi-bladed shrouded
cargo (2,500 kg under-slung). In addition, provision was made for the Ka-62 to be tail rotor. The use of the single-rotor
used in the search-and-rescue (SAR), medevac, patrol, trainer and other roles.
configuration is due to the need of high
The Arsenyev-based Progress aircraft production plant has completed the
speed a cruising speed of 290 km/h and a
assembly of the first Ka-62 flying prototype in the summer of this year. On the eve
of MAKS 2013, the machine had been airlifted to Kamovs facility in the Moscow maximum speed of 308 km/h. The machine
Region, where it has been groomed for its flight tests. The Ka-62 is slated for her relies heavily on polymer composites totaling
maiden flight in November this year, with the deliveries to commence in 2015. in excess of 50% of the structural materials
used in it.
The Ka-62 advanced multirole medium engine and transmission, which were never The Ka-62 has been the Russian Helicopters
helicopter development programme remains brought up to snuff, remained its weakness. As a holding companys first programme
high on the Russian Helicopters holding result, the Russian Defence Ministry decided to implemented through extensive international
companys priority list in the 67-tonne takeoff pull the plug on funding the Ka-60 programme cooperation with EU partners that supplied
weight class. From the outset, the Ka-62 was in summer 2010. Nonetheless, the ministry individual units and assemblies. For instance,
conceived as a commercial variant of the remains keen on helicopters in the class. It has the Ka-62 is powered by advanced Ardiden
Armys Ka-60 multirole helicopter, which first taken a decision to acquire a militarised version 3G engines from French company Turbomeca
prototype first flew as far back as December of the advanced commercial Ka-62 being and fitted with a powertrain from Austrian
1998. The second example was made in the derived from the Ka-60 in compliance with company Zoerkler Gears GmbH & Co. as
Ka-60U trainer version in 2007. The helicopter the most stringent international commercial well as a fuel system from Frances Zodiac
was repeatedly improved. However, its RD-600V helicopter certification standards. Aerospace.

24 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru

 industry | programme

While resembling the tested military Ka-60,

the commercial Ka-62 features a number of
substantial modifications. Firstly, its powerplant,
rotor system and powertrain have been modified.
The main rotor has got five blades, and the
introduction of Turbomeca Ardiden 3G engines
with the 1,780-hp takeoff power (1,940 hp
at emergency power rating) has resulted in a
modified shape of the engine nacelles. Austrias
Zoerkler has been selected to develop and
supply the powertrain, including the main and
tail gearboxes. Secondly, the transparency of
the passenger cabin has increased considerably,
with every side windows being dual-hatted as
an emergency exits for safe exit in case of an
emergency and roll-over. For the same purpose,
comfortable passenger seats have been set three
abreast. Thirdly, the landing gear has been
designed semi-retractable into the fairings on
the sides of the airframe and under the tailboom.
Russian company Transas has been
developing an avionics suite to fit the Ka-62.
The aircraft has the glass cockpit, with the
pilot occupying the right seat.
A long-term deal for 308 Ardiden 3G
engines was struck by Russian Helicopters

www.take-off.ru take-off november 2013 25

industry | programme
Basic characteristics of the Ka-62 helicopter
Main rotor diameter, m 13.8
Helicopter length without the main rotor, m 13.5
Helicopter length with the main rotor turning, m 15.7
Full height, m 4.87
Maximal takeoff weight, kg 6,500
Maximal load weigh, kg:
- internal 2,100
- under-slung 2,500
Maximal speed, km/h 308
Cruising speed, km/h 290
Service ceiling, m 5,700
Static ceiling, m 3,300
Range, km:
- on the basic fuel load 770
- ferry 1,145
Endurance, h 4.2
Engines Ardiden 3G
Power, hp:
- takeoff 2x1,780
- at emergency power rating 2x1,940
Cabin dimensions, m 4.1x1.75x1.3
Crew 12
Passengers 1215

and Turbomeca in April 2011, and the parties
signed an agreement on 19 May of the same
year for production of the first batch totaling 40
engines of the type. The helicopter developer
had taken delivery of the first two of them by
the summer this year and used them to equip
the so-called iron bird a Ka-62 example
designed for ground tests of the powerplant,
powertrain, rotor system and other systems.
This summer, two engines to fit the first flying
prototype were delivered from France and the
first several powertrain sets were supplied by
Austrias Zoerkler.
The preparations of the first flying Ka-62
prototype for flight tests began right after
the aircraft had taken part in MAKS 2013.
The machine is slated for its maiden flight
in November. Two more flying prototypes
are supposed to be built before year-end. As
of late summer, the second flying prototype
was sitting in an assembly jig in the town of
Arsenyev, and the third one was in aggregate
assembly. The fourth prototype is to join them
under the test programme in 2014. Aspiring
plans of Russian Helicopters provide for the
completion of the Ka-62 certification tests
by the end of next year so that deliveries can
begin early in 2015.
As is known, the launch customer for the
Ka-62 is Brazilian company Atlas Taxi Aereo
that placed an order with Russian Helicopters
for seven units with seven options on 14
December 2012. The contract was signed
within the framework of Brazilian President
Dilma Vana Rouseffs visit to Russia. Under
the contract, the first two Ka-62s are to be
delivered as soon as the first quarter of 2015.
Four helicopters more are to be shipped
to Brazil before year-end 2015, with the
seventh, and the last, Ka-62 to follow suit
in the first quarter of 2016. The Ka-62s are
intended for use in Brazil as part of offshore
operations in support of Brazils national oil
company Petrobras.
On 27 August, the first day of MAKS 2013,
Russian Helicopters clinched another deal
for advanced helicopters, when Colombian
company Vertical de Aviacion ordered five
Kamov Ka-62s and five Mil Mi-171A1s. The
Ka-62s are to be operated in support of
the Colombian oil industry. Their delivery is
planned to commence in 2016.
Time will tell whether the manufacturer
can stick to the tough schedule and what
slice of the market will be grabbed by
the Ka-62. So far, it is the fact that the
eye-catching Ka-62 full-scale mockup,
which made its debut at the HeliRussia
in May 2012 and was later shown at the
Farnborough air show and this summers
Le Bourget air show, has attracted keen
attention of onlookers and potential
customers. No doubt, the display of the
first Ka-62 flying prototype at MAKS 2013
has only stoked the interest in the latest
programme of Russian Helicopters.

26 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru

advertisement
industry | news
Second wind of Yak-40
Implementing the Soviet-built
aircraft re-engining concept, the
Siberian Aviation Research Institute
named after S.A. Chaplygin (SibNIA)
exhibited its Yak-40 (side number
87216) flying testbed at the stat-
ic display area of the MAKS 2013
in August. The upgrade package
devised by the institute for the com-
muter passenger plane provides for
replacing its obsolete gas guzzlers
AI-25 turbofans of the 1,500-kgf
thrust with 1,700-kgf Honeywell
TFE731 turbofans powering the
BAe 125, Cessna Citation III and
IV, Dassault Falcon 50, Learjet 55,
Lockheed Jetstar, etc.
To date, two US-made engines
have been mounted on the Yak-40
flying testbed and connected to the
organic electrical and hydraulic sys-
tems as well as air conditioning and
anti-icing system. The central engine
of the plane remains organic so far.
The powerplant instrument panel has
been replaced, but the original design
of the engine controls has been pre-
served.
The Yak-40s first flight follow-
ing the replacement of one of its
AI-25s with a TFE731 took place on
8 December 2012 and after fitting
with a second US-made engine on
20 May 2013. By late November,
we are going to replace the cen-
tral engine as well, SibNIA Director
Vladimir Barsuk told Take-off. The
fuel consumption rate achieved has
inspired us: it is about 840 kg/h at
an altitude of 7,500 m and at a speed
of 540 km/h and about 780 kg/h at
a speed of 500 km/h. The fuel burn
drop equaling virtually 30% is a cause
for confidence.
The test results have shown a
twofold reduction in the takeoff run
compared with that of the production-
standard Yak-40, a 1.5-fold drop in
the time and fuel consumption during
climb, a twofold fuel consumption
reduction during landing approach
and a reduction in the landing roll
by 1.251.5 times. The flying test-
beds developmental tests are to be
completed in late 2013, after which
the institute is ready to launch the
upgrade of the in-service Yak-40s,
which production was terminated as
far back as 1981.
28 take-off november 2013
The ouster of the AI-25 by the SibNIA unveiled its An-2 and Yak- 10 years. According to Russias
TFE731 will make the airliner compli- 40 re-engining programmes, it was Federal Air Transport Agency,
ant with the ICAO Chapter 4 noise noted that upgrading the planes and 37 Yakovlev Yak-40s in August 2013
standard and ICAO 2008 emission restoring their airworthiness was were entered into the register of
standard and ensure a 2530% aver- the most efficient way to beef up the Russian air carriers certificated for
age fuel consumption reduction and aircraft fleets of commuter airlines commercial operations.
a range extension of 1.52 times. quickly. Modification of 100200 The lack of the type certificate
According to a SibNIA booklet, the Yak-40s would make up for the could limit the commercial operation
Western engines introduction will passenger carriage capacity short- of re-engined Yak-40s considerably.
allow a maximal payload increase age and alleviate the problem for The talks with the Yakovlev design
from 2,300 kg to 3,200 kg, a fuel the coming five to seven years, bureau are at the design docu-
burn reduction from 1,150 kg/h to thus allowing the development of mentation elaboration stage. SibNIA
620 kg/h, a cruising speed increase an advanced replacement for the believes that the Certification
from 510 km/h to 590 km/h, a cruis- Yak-40. According to SibNIA, air and airworthiness maintenance of
ing altitude hike from 7 km to 9 km carriers in various countries operate attested aircraft lacking type certifi-
and a maximum range extension from some 300 Yak-40s, of which around cates federal aviation regulations
2,200 km to 5,100 km. 100 are used in Russia. Most of should be worked out. The new
Several companies have shown these planes could be re-engined regulations might be published in
interest in Yak-40 re-engining. with their service life extension for late 2013.
Besides, the seven aircraft of the
type in SibNIAs aircraft fleet can be
upgraded in this manner. If TFE731s
are leased, the Yak-40 re-engining
per-unit price stands at $500,000. If
second-hand engines are bought on
the market, the price will grow up
to $1.2 million. If they are bought
and their time between overhauls is
extended, they will cost up to $2.5 mil-
lion per engine set. The re-engining
expenses will pay off within a year
and a half after the re-engining, says
Vladimir Barsuk. Owing to an up-to-
date powerplant, the planes range on
a fuel load of 6 t extends to 4,500 km;
thus, the Yak-40 will be able to fly
from Novosibirsk to Moscow. This
brings it on a new level of commercial
operations. Compared to the legacy
Yak-40, the re-engined version will
see its flight hour cost dropping by
Artyom Korenyako
$560820 depending on the upgrade
variant selected.
As is known, during the Gidro-
aviasalon 2012 air show where
Andrey Fomin
www.take-off.ru
 industry | news

Kaleidoscope of re-engined An-2s in Zhukovsky

type certificate. The FAR is due in
late 2013.
In this respect, the famous
biplanes re-engined variant
offered by the Antonov state com-
pany and the Motor Sich joint
stock company could have much
more easier way to its potential
customers. Antonovs re-engined
An-2 is designated An-2-100
and powered by the MS-14 tur-
boprop made in Zaporozhnye
(the IAC Aircraft Registry issued
the engine with Type Certificate
Andrey Fomin

ST343-AMD on 28 August 2013).

Ukraine holds the proprietary
rights for the An-2. Therefore,
the re-engined An-2-100 sport-
Owing to the continued revival seats, a folding seat, luggage racks An-2s TPE331 engines in Russia, ed its usual national registration
of local air services in Russia, and even a dry closet. transitional gradually from line UR-EXB during its demonstration
the display ground of the recent SibNIA Director Vladimir Barsuk maintenance to overhaul. In May flights during MAKS 2013. The
MAKS 2013 air show featured told Take-off that the development 2013, US instructors trained the first An-2-100, equipped with the
small planes more than ever. The tests of the An-2MS were to be first group of Russian personnel in 1,500-hp MS-14 engine with the
display of as many as five An-2 wrapped up in 2013. According flight operation and maintenance AV-17 three-blade reversible pro-
planes in different versions was a to Mr. Barsuk, 12 planes can be of the TPE331-12 engine. peller, conducted its maiden flight
head-turner. re-engined this year, and 10 more Rusaviaprom and SibNIA are in Kiev on 10 July this year.
Three aircraft registered by aircraft will have flown in early ready to re-engine 250 An-2MS The tests are to be completed
the Federal Aviation Agency as 2014. But it is natural that the planes a year. However, their planes before year-end 2013, after which
sole aircraft examples and given aircraft need engines. At MAKS being registered as sole aircraft mass conversion of the An-2 to
the designation TVS-2MS (also 2013, Honeywell Aerospace and examples have limited their com- An-2-100 standard is expected to
known as An-2MS) were exhib- SibNIA signed an agreement for mercial operation considerably begin. Production facilities for the
ited by SibNIA and Rusaviaprom over 300 TPE331-12UAN engines so far. Vladimir Barsuk is hopeful biplanes re-engining are planned
JSC, both offering to upgrade the and discussed approaches to that the Novosibirsk-devised pro- to be set up even in Cuba, with
An-2 by replacing its ASh-62IR upgrade the An-2 cockpit with the gramme will be fully cleared by an agreement to this effect signed
piston engine with the 1,100-hp use of Honeywell equipment and the Federal Air Regulations that are by Antonov, Motor Sich and the
Honeywell TPE331 turboprop with the feasibility of TPE331-12UAN being drafted and that will enable Cuban Aviation Corporation in Kiev
the Hartzell five-bladed propeller. production in Siberia. SibNIA SibNIA to provide operational and on 3 September 2013. About 140
One needs money to implement a will become the key coordinator modification support for the aircraft An-2s were delivered to the Island
programme in the first place. Our of the technical support for the without the latter having to have a of Freedom in the past.
company is designed to fulfil the
programme. Soon, we will launch
the full-rate production of the re-
engined An-2 that is very needed
in Russia, Rusaviaprom Director
General Pyotr Kozhevnikov told
Take-off.
The static display ground of
the air show showcased two TVS-
2MS aircraft (reg. RA-2098G and
RA-2099G), and the flight demon-
stration programme included the
flying of RA-1573G, the first re-
engined plane that took off for the
first time in Novosibirsk two years
ago, on 5 September 2011, with
side number 17754. The An-2s
Alexey Mikheyev

good upgradeability was empha-

sised by the second aircraft, which
cabin houses nine ergonomic

www.take-off.ru take-off november 2013 29

 industry | news
New Mi-26T kicks off commercial service
Alexey Mikheyev
Another Mil Mi-26T superheavy-
lift helicopter has been delivered
to a Russian commercial operator
after a long lull. Lately, machines
of the type have been made only
An-70 waiting for decision by Russian Defence Ministry
Antonov An-70 airlifter prototype,
which has been undergoing tests in
Kiev since last autumn after a two-
year upgrade, participated at MAKS
2013 air show for the first time.
Antonov commenced the upgrade
of the An-70s avionics suite and
powerplant in line with the speci-
fications requirement approved by
the Russian and Ukrainian defence
ministries in August 2010. The last,
625th, flight of the only An-70 pro-
totype (UR-NTK, c/n 01-02) prior to
the upgrade had taken place on 28
July 2010.
The An-70 upgrade led to the
replacement of the SV-27 propfans
of the D-27 engines with more
sophisticated ones, with the pitch
between the front and rear props
increased by 300 mm. This result-
ed in noise reduction and prop-
fan performance improvement. In
addition, a modified engine FADEC
and propfan control system was
introduced as well as the TA-12-60
auxiliary power unit was ousted
by the TA-18-200-70 one from the
Aerosila scientific and production
in Stupino (Moscow region), which
features an expanded operating
conditions bracket.
30 take-off november 2013
for export and, since 2011, for
the Russian Defence Ministry.
The delivery of the new helicop-
ter (RA-06255) has been made
to the Rostov-based Rostvertol-
The avionics suite underwent
heavy upgrade owing to its transition
to advanced electronic componen-
try and the need of accomplishing
new missions in line with the cus-
tomers requirements specified more
accurately. In the cockpit, TV-type
CRT displays were replaced with six
colour multifunction liquid-crystal
displays. The ball of the electro-
optical system designed for night
landing on unpaved airfields and
round-the-clock airdrop operations
appeared under the nose section.
The An-70 first flight after two-
years upgrade programme took
place in Kiev on 27 September 2012.
Avia carrier already operating three
Mi-26Ts.
The helicopter (c/n 31-03) was
assembled late last year, with its flight
tests commencing in January 2013. It
had been painted by the summer and
was entered into Rostvetol-Avias air
operator certificate in July.
The helicopter departed
Rostvertol JSCs factory airfield in
the direction of Sochi for its first
haulage of underslung cargo in
mountainous terrain. With the job
done, he new Mi-26T was ferried to
Zhukovsky, where it was displayed
as part of MAKS 2013.
By early this year, the Rostvertol-
Avia air carrier had had three
Mi-26Ts (RA-06259, RA-06293,
RA-06299) made in 1990, 2003 and
2006 respectively, which it flies on
unique transport services. Now, it
comprises four units of the type.
Its preliminary test programme
designed for 20 sorties was com-
pleted with success in December
2012, and the aircraft entered the
final phase of its official trials, which
provides for 75 test sorties, accord-
ing to Antonov Designer General
Dmitry Kiva.
The An-70 was planned for
production by a pool of Russian
and Ukrainian companies. The
final assembly site for the An-70s
intended for the Russian Air Force
Military Transport Command
expecting about 60 aircraft of the
type has been changed repeatedly in
recent years. However, the reshuf-
While Rostvertols Mi-26 output
rate stood at one or two machines
a year and at times none at all in
the previous decade, the company
has turned the tide. The scales have
been tipped by a lucrative contract
made in 2010 by the manufacturer
and the Russian Defence Ministry
that had not acquired new Mi-26s
since the early 90s. The first four
latest Mi-26s were delivered to the
Air Force during October through
December 2011, with six more
machines delivered last year. The
ten new Mi-26s are in service with
the Air Force units in Khabarovsk,
Uprun and Rostov. Another Mi-26
built for the Russian military took to
the air in Rostov in April this year.
It has been painted and issued side
number 53. In July, with Rostvertol
launched the flight tests of another
Defence Ministry-ordered Mi-26.
fle of the leaders of the Russian
Defence Ministry, which took place
in November 2012, caused a revi-
sion of the plans. The new Russian
defence minister Sergei Shoigu said
that a decision on the An-70 pro-
curement could be put on the back
burner until the completion of the
aircrafts test programme. A deci-
sion on series acquisition of An-70
aircraft and, hence, on their produc-
tion in Russia is expected to be
made later based on the outcome of
the An-70s official test programme
and talks with Ukraine about the
intellectual property matters per-
taining to the programme.
Vasily Koba
www.take-off.ru
 industry | news

Mi-28UB commences tests

The flight tests of a prototype
of the Mil Mi-28UB combat trainer
helicopter began at the airfield of
Rostvertol JSC in July 2013. Unlike
the production standard Mi-28N, it
features the double controls one
set at the rear station, where pilot
is seated, and the other at the
front station previously occupied
by the navigator/gunner and now
by the pilot/gunner or instructor
pilot. The twin controls enable the
Mi-28UB to be used for efficient
training with the machine retain-
ing all combat capabilities of the
baseline Mi-28N model.
The need for a twin controls
variant of the Mi-28N have been
obvious for quite a while as
soon as the production-standard
Night Hunter started fielding com-
bat units. One would think that
there are two crewmembers but
there are no controls for the front-
seater to control the helicopter.
No matter how simple the prob-

lem was (one had only fit the
controls to the front combat sta-
tion), the development and con-
struction of the Mi-28UB proved
to be time-consuming enough. A
decision was taken that the work
would be done at the manufactur-
ing plant, with support to be pro-
vided by the developer (Rostvertol
and the Mil helicopter plant made
the contract to this effect as far
back as April 2009). The Mi-28UB
became Rostvertols first aircraft
productionised with the use of
digital modeling, rather than tra-
ditional techniques. This called for
the plant to modify its produc-
tionising technologies consider-
ably, buy advanced manufacturing
equipment (including cutting-edge
computers) and learn to use it.
However, the plant has gained a
wealth of experience that will be
used in productionising advanced
helicopter models: molding lofts
and master plates are sinking into
oblivion, with all things digital
being the wave of the future.
A decision was made to derive
the Mi-28UBs prototype, OP-1,
from a low-rate initial production
(LRIP) Mi-28N the machine with
c/n 02-01 made by Rostvertol in
2007 and given side number 37. It
had been brought to the plant last
year where its nose section was
replaced with a new one devel-
oped using the afore-said digital
models. In addition to introducing
a full backup set of controls in
the front part of the cockpit, other
modifications were made, e.g. the
cockpit became wider a bit, its
canopy transparency and entrance
door were altered, the area of
the side cockpit transparency was
increased to improve visibility and
the crash-absorbent seats were
redesigned.
Following a series of test sor-
ties, the Mi-28UB OP-1 was shown
to Russian Air Force Commander-
in-Chief Lt.-Gen. Victor Bondarev.
The demonstration flight took
place in Rostov on 9 August 2013.
The service chief liked the new
machine: speaking of his impres-
sions of what he had seen, the gen-
eral said the Mi-28UB would speed
up pilot training by two to three
times and promised that RusAF
would acquire 4060 aircraft of
the type prior to 2020 four
to six machines per unit operat-
ing Mi-28N helicopters. For his
part, Rostvertol Director General
Boris Slyusar assured the Mi-28UB
would enter full-rate production as
soon as next year, all the more so
that the helicopter is the point of
interest of not only the Russian
military, but potential foreign cus-
tomers as well the ones eyeing
the Mi-28NE now.
Now, Rostvertol is ramping
up the output of the production-
standard makes. According to the
companys annual report, it built
48 helicopters in 2012, including
14 Mi-28Ns for RusAF. In addition
to the Army Aviation Combat and
Conversion Training Centre (CCTC)
in the town of Torzhok, Mi-28Ns
had been operated by the military
units stationed in Budyonnovsk,
Korenovsk and Rostov-on-Don in
the Southern Military District by
early this year. Recently, the type
has cropped up in the Western
Military District as well. In an inter-
view to the Red Star daily in the
spring of this year, Maj.-Gen. Igor
Makushev, commander of the Air
Rostvertol
Force and Air Defence Force units
in the Western Military District,
said that a new Army Aviation
air base has been activated at
the Ostrov airfield in the Pskov
Region in 2013. It will be an abso-
lutely new air base fielded with new
Ka-52, Mi-35, Mi-28, Mi-26 and
Mi-8MTV-5 helicopters, Maj.-Gen.
Makushev said. The base will be
manned by best-trained personnel.
The pilots have been at CCTC in
Torzhok already. The unit will be
stood up within the first six months
of the year.
On 9 August 2013, a Western
Military District spokesman
announced that the first pair of
Mi-28N helicopters flew to their
base at a military airfield of the
Western Military District in the
Pskov Region on that day. The
Western Military Districts Air
Force personnel have completed
the Mi-28N pairs flight tests and
accepted the combat helicopters,
the spokesman said. Thus, the
Mi-28N became the first helicop-
ter type to base at the new Army
Aviation base at Ostrov.

www.take-off.ru take-off november 2013 31

industry | company
Vyacheslav BOGUSLAYEV,
President, MOTOR SICH JSC
MOTOR SICH JSC is a
company specialized in designing,
manufacture and aftersales
servicing of the gas turbine engines
for civil and military aviation,
industrial gas turbine drives, as well
as gas turbine power generating
sets and gas pumping units with
these drives. Great experience
enables our company to act on
the world markets flexibly and
efficiently. Quality and reliability
of the aero engines manufactured
by our company is substantiated
by many years of operation in the
aircraft and helicopters all over
the world.
MOTOR SICH JSC is one of the
main participants on the market of
the helicopter gas turbine engines.
More than 80% of the Mil and Kamov
helicopters including the most heavy
lifting helicopter Mi-26 all over the
world are flying in the sky owing to
the power of engines manufactured
in Zaporozhye. Our strategy of
development consists in consolidation
of our positions on this market by
designing radically new engines.
Considering change in conjecture
of the world helicopter market, our
company is working on development
of family of the turboshaft engines of
new generation, such as MS-500V,
in the class of takeoff power of
600 to 1000 hp designed to power
helicopters of various purposes with
takeoff weight of 3.5 to 6 tons.
According to assumptions of the
experts, the segment of market of
the helicopters of this class due to
their versatility will be one of the
most promising in the coming years.
The basic engine of the family is the
32 take-off november 2013
MOTOR SICH
PROGRAMMES
IN HELICOPTER INDUSTRY
S-500V-01 engine having takeoff
power of 810 hp. On the basis of
this engine, we developed versions
having takeoff power from 630 hp
(S-500V engine) up to 950 hp
(S-500V-02 engine).
The D-136 engine developed on
the basis of gas generator of the
Mi-8MSB
D-36 turbofan engine is the largest
helicopter engine manufactured by
MOTOR SICH JSC.
Designers of Ivchenko-Progress SE
developed a project of upgrading of the
D-136 engine, which will be fulfilled in
cooperation with MOTOR SICH JSC.
New D-136-2 engine provides for
takeoff power of 11,500 hp, which
is maintained up to ambient air
temperature of 50. In addition,
emergency power rating of 14,500 hp
is introduced. The D-136-2 engine
is designed to power the i-262
upgraded helicopter.
In order to improve performance
of the i-28, i-8V, i-17
(i-171), and -52 helicopters
and their efficiency when operating
in high mountain areas of the hot
climate countries, MOTOR SICH JSC
commercial
in September 2007 finished the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, and in
work on development of the April 2013 the Ministry of Defense of
V3-117V-SB1V turboshaft the Russian Federation successfully
engine. This engine meets up-to-date completed joint flight testing.
requirements and has type certificates For application of new helicopters
issued by the Aviation Register of of this class in the projects, new
Interstate Aviation Committee and versions of the engine, namely
V3-117V-SB1V series 1
engine with the FADEC system and
V3-117V-SB1V series 2 engine
with new electronic governor are
under development. The use of new
automatic control systems will result
in further improvement of performance
of the engines and helicopters.
The V3-117V-SB1V series
4 and 4E engines (with pneumatic
and electrical starting systems) are
versions of the V3-117V-SB1V
V3-117V-SB1V
series 4
State Aviation Administration of engine and are designed for re-engining
Ukraine
Uk i iin 2007
2007. off the
h earlier
li manufactured
f Mi-8T
d Mi 8T
In 2009 the V3-117V-SB1V type helicopters in order to improve
engine was put into service by the their performance, especially when
Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. operating them under hot climate
In 2012 the V3-117V-SB1V conditions and in high-level lift-off
engines passed successfully sites. The engines maintain the power
preliminary flight testing as part at higher ambient air temperatures,
of the i-8V-5-1 helicopter at airfield height and flight altitude
www.take-off.ru

compared to the TV2-117 engines
powering the Mi-8T helicopters now.
The engines inherited the best
design decisions aimed at provision
of better parameters and service
lives, which were developed on
the V3-117V-SB1V engine.
This has made it possible to
establish total service life for the
V3-117V-SB1V series 4 and 4E
engines as high as 15,000 hours/
cycles and to introduce emergency
power condition of 2.5 and
60-minutes power with one engine
inoperative, which is not available in
the TV2-117 engine.
In 2011 the Aviation Register of the
Interstate Aviation Committee issued
supplement to the type Certificate for
the V3-117V-SB1V series 4 and
4E engines.
At present, MOTOR SICH JSC is
extensively working in the field of
helicopter industry. Our company
established design bureau and
helicopters production aimed at
designing, updating, overhaul and
re-engining of the helicopters.
At the 13th International Dubai
Airshow 2013, MOTOR SICH JSC
will demonstrate a number of new
developments of our company,
including upgraded Mi-8MSB
helicopter powered by the
V3-117V-SB1V series 4E
engines and full scale mockup of the
MSB-2 upgraded helicopter powered
by the I-450 engines.
In August 2013 the i-8SB
helicopter powered by the
V3-117V-SB1V series 4E
engines of new generation at the
Kirovskoye airfield in Feodosiya
established 11 world records,
including the absolute record in
class -1 (helicopters) according
to the FAI classification level
flight maximum altitude of 9,150 m
reached on 14 August 2013, and of
operating altitude ceiling of 5,440 m
with cargo of 5,000 kg reached on
20 August 2013.
The i-8SB helicopter may
be represented in several versions:
transport, passenger, rescue, medical,
fire-fighting, agricultural, military.
The maximum weight of the cargo
airshipped in the cargo compartment
of the i-8SB helicopter is 4,000 kg
and 3,000 kg if carried on the external
load sling system.
At Customers request, the i-8SB
helicopter may be furnished with
www.take-off.ru
radio equipment for communication,
navigation, landing and air traffic
control with due regard to the ICAO
requirements for international flights,
as well as with the extended set of
equipment, which provides for
possibility of day-and-night efficient use
of the helicopter under visual flight rules
weather conditions and instrument
flight rules weather conditions, in
mountainous area and flat terrain, in
hot climate at all permissible altitudes
and flight speeds.
MSB-2
Since 2012 MOTOR SICH JSC
mastered overhaul of the Mi-2
helicopter of standard configuration.
nfiguration.
In case of necessity, duringg overhaul,
the avionics may be upgraded ed and the
cabin may be re-equipped.
Since low reliability ity and
insufficient power is the main
drawback of the Mi-2 helicopters,
elicopters,
the MOTOR SICH JSC nowadays wadays is
developing and implementing nting the
program of overhaul and upgrading
of the Mi-2 helicopters to a MSB-2
helicopter powered by the AI AI-450M
450M
up-to-date engines having higher
power, lower fuel consumption
and FADEC control system;
replacement of avionics in order
to bring it to compliance with the
ICAO requirements; improvement
in the ergonomical characteristics
of the helicopter cabin. The above
upgrading of the helicopter will
improve its performance. It is
expected that the MSB-2 helicopter
compared with the Mi-2 helicopter
will provide for the following:
- Decrease in hourly fuel
consumption more than by 30%;
- Increase in hover and service
ceilings;
- Increase in efficiency of use
of the helicopter under hot climate
conditions and in mountainous areas.
commercial
Thus, MOTOR SICH JSC step
by step proceeds with pathway
in mastering of the helicopter
manufacturing industry. Nowadays,
we are working on development of
the home-produced helicopter having
take-off weight of 5 to 6 tons and
are looking for the entities ready for
cooperation in this subject.
In addition, MOTOR SICH JSC
is performing technical support
of our products during the overall
service life and is interacting with
AI-450
our representative offices all over the
world.
Technical Center in UAE (Sharjah) is
one of our representative offices. The
main
i fields
fi ld off workk off the
th Technical
T h i l
Center are maintenance and overhaul
of the aero engines manufactured by
MOTOR SICH JSC, which are operated
as part of the aircraft and helicopter
in the countries of Middle East and
Northern Africa.
Technical Center in UAE promotes:
- Co-operation with Aviation
administration of UAE and countries
of region in matters of assurance of
airworthiness of the aero engines;
- Provision of maintenance
support pertaining to maintenance
of the products manufactured by
MOTOR SICH JSC;
- Establishment of maintenance
of the products manufactured by
MOTOR SICH JSC;
- Carrying out of light overhaul and
overhaul of the D-36, D-18, V3-117,
industry | company
I-20, I-24, I-9V and I-9 engines
of all versions;
- Delivery of spare parts, assemblies,
modules and engines manufactured by
MOTOR SICH JSC;
- Extension of service life on
the basis of Service Bulletins and
decisions issued by the designer and
supplier;
- Advanced training of technical
specialists of the Customer;
- Training.
It is planned to carry out repair and
uupgrading of the helicopters in the
nnearest future.
In addition, under the guidance
oof MOTOR SICH JSC, scientific and
technical conferences of Association
te
oof Aero Engines Manufacturers
with participation of the leading
w
manufacturers of the aero engine
m
manufacturing industry of Ukraine and
m
Russia take place regularly in Sharjah.
R
Nowadays, activity of MOTOR
SICH JSC to the full extent meets
requirements of the market economy
criteria. Business strategy of our
company iis ttargeted
t d on iincrease iin
volume of manufacture and marketing
of products, mastering the series
production of new advanced products,
development of markets of sales,
attainment of the maximum profits
from all kinds of activity.
MOTOR SICH JSC
15, Motorostroiteley av.,
Zaporozhye, 69068, Ukraine.
Phone: +38 (061) 720-48-14
Fax: +38 (061) 720-50-05
E-mail: eo.vtf@motorsich.com
www.motorsich.com
take-off november 2013 33
 military aviation | news

The fifth T-50 is in the air!

The fifth flying prototype of the
Sukhois prospective fifth-genera-
tion fighter (PAK FA, T-50) made
its maiden flight in Komsomolsk-
on-Amur at the KnAAZ aircraft
plant of the Sukhoi company on
27 October 2013. The plane was
piloted by the 1st class test pilot
Roman Kondratyev. The fighter air-
craft spent 50 minutes in the air
and landed safely on the factory
airfield runway. The test flight was
a success and in full accordance
with the flight plan. The stability of
the aircraft and the powerplant were
tested during the flight. The aircraft
performed well in all phases of the
planned flight program. The pilot
confirmed reliability of all systems
and equipment.
Upon completing the test flights

programme in Komsomolsk-on-
Amur the aircraft will be ferried to
Zhukovsky near Moscow where the
first four T-50 flying prototypes are
now being under flight tests. Two
more planes are involved in ground
tests also one as a complex ground
stand and the other for static tests.
As many as three T-50 proto-
types took part in the recent MAKS
2013 air show. Over the past two
Sukhoi
years since the previous air show
in Zhukovsky, the PAK FA pro-
gramme has made good progress:
two more prototypes joined the
flight tests (T-50-3 in late 2011
and T-50-4 in late 2012). Using
these two prototypes, the design-
ers have begun to test the AESA
radar and several other sophisti-
cated avionics systems, conducted
mid-air refuelling experiments,
expanded the fighters flight enve-
lope and been gradually learning
the rope in ever more advanced
Alexey Mikheyev
flight operating modes. This spring
T-50 was flown by the first military
pilot, with the PAK FA prototypes
due to start the official trials at the
Defence Ministrys testing facility
in Akhtubinsk.
Three T-50s flew as part of the
flight programme of MAKS 2013,
flown as a troika by Sukhoi test
pilots Sergei Bogdan, Roman
Kondratyev and Sergei Chernov. In
addition, Sukhois chief test pilot
Hero of Russia Sergei Bogdan per-
formed solo aerobatics on a T-50.
A number of advanced avionics
systems designed for the PAK FA
were unveiled at the stands of the
air show. For instance, Tikhomirov-
NIIP displayed an X-band side-
looking AESA in UACs pavilion
(the company unveiled the PAK

FA-intended forward-looking
X-band AESA at the previous air
show). In the pavilion of the Rostec
corporation, the stand of the Urals
Optical and Mechanical Plant (a
subsidiary of the Shvabe holding)
featured a number of subsystems of
the integrated optronic suite being
developed for the PAK FA.
By early November, more than
350 flights were carried out under
the flight test programme on five
Sukhoi

T-50 prototypes.

34 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru


More Su-34s for RusAF
Alexey Boyarin
Another four new Sukhoi Su-34
multirole tactical bombers were
flown to the Russian Air Force base
in Voronezh from the Sukhoi com-
panys Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant in
late October 2013. The delivery took
place under the 2013 governmental
defence procurement programme
providing for the delivery of 14
Irkut carries on with Yak-130 deliveries to Russian Air Force
Irkut corporation continues to ful-
fil a big-ticket contract for delivery of
55 Yakovlev Yak-130 combat trainers
to training centres of the Russian
Air Force. The first 15 aircraft under
the contract were brought from
the Irkutsk Aviation Plant to the
Borisoglebsk training AFB during
October through December last year.
Irkut delivered five more three-ship
Yak-130 batches to the flying school
in Borisoglebsk in May through
October 2013.
Thus, since early this year, Irkut
has supplied the Defence Ministry
with 15 aircraft of the type, and
the Borisoglebsk training AFB is
operating 40 Yak-130s used for
training by cadets future pilots
Andrey Fomin
www.take-off.ru
Su-34s to RusAF. The three preced-
ing aircraft came to Voronezh on
9 July this year, and another bomb-
er, built under this years production
plan, was accepted by the customer
this spring: the Su-34 (side num-
ber 34) flew from Novosibirsk to
Akhtubinsk on 6 May at the height
of the celebration dedicated to the
of tactical aircraft of the Russian
Air Force. In all, plans for this
year provide for the construction
and delivery of 18 Yak-130s (the
next three aircraft are going to be
military aviation | news
commissioning of a new runway at
the Defence Ministry Chkalov State
Flight Test Centre.
The first several Su-34s arrived
to the Baltimor airfield in December
2011. Six aircraft were ferried there
right from the manufacturer plant
in Novosibirsk and four more from
Lipetsk, where they had been deliv-
fielded with Kuschevskaya train-
ing AFB).
One of the latest Yak-130 deliv-
ered to the Borisoglebsk training
AFB by Irkut in July this year could
be seen at the Russian Air Force
display area at the recent MAKS
2013 air show. A prototype Yak-130
sporting an unusual red-and-white
paintjob took part in the demonstra-
tion flights at the air show too. In
the future, the colour pattern might
be used on the Yak-130s of the Air
Forces new aerobatic team, which
establishments feasibility has been
repeatedly mentioned by the service
chief.
take-off november 2013
ered a year before and had been
used, inter alia, for the conversion
of Voronezh-based pilots to the
type. In late December last year,
five more Su-34s were brought to
Voronezh from the manufacturing
plant, followed by five more in late
January 2013. Thus, the Voronezh-
based pilots operate as many as
27 Su-34 bombers that are ousting
the Su-24Ms from the units aircraft
fleet. 24 Su-34 aircraft in Baltimor
have been used to activate two air
squadrons, and three more aircraft
are likely to be handed over to other
unit in the future.
This year, Sukhoi is going to fulfill
the 2008 contract for 32 Su-34s and
start fulfilling another government-
placed order for 92 aircraft of the
type more to be delivered to the
Russian Air Force in 201420, with
the order being unprecedented in
terms of volume.
Sergey Lysenko
The bright red-and-white colour
pattern is a tribute to the traditions of
the Yakovlev design bureau that has
painted its light sports and trainer
aircraft like that since the AIR-2
one of the early Yakovlev planes
developed in 1928.
Besides the Russian Air Force,
the Yak-130 new-generation combat
trainer is in service with the Algerian
Air Force (Irkut delivered 16 aircraft
of the type to Algeria in 2011). In
addition, the Republic of Belarus has
placed an order for the type, and
talks have been under way with a
number of other CIS countries and
nations from farther abroad as well.
35
 military aviation | news

Su-30SMs fielding to start in autumn

The advanced Sukhoi Su-30SM
supermanoeuvrable multirole twin-
seat fighter in production by the Irkut
corporation for the Russian Defence
Ministry made its debut at the recent
MAKS 2013 air show. Two aircraft of
the type (side numbers 55 and 56)
built by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant
this summer took part in the show at
the Russian Air Forces static display
area and as part of the flight pro-
gramme. Irkuts test pilots headed by
Vyacheslav Averyanov flew breath-
taking supermanoeuvrable aerobat-
ics on the Su-30SM in Zhukovsky.
The first contract for 30 Su-30SM
aircraft to be supplied during
201215 was made by the Defence
Ministry and Irkut in March last
year. Later on, the Defence Ministry

ordered 30 more fighters of the type
from Irkut in December 2012.
The Su-30SM supermanoeuvra-
ble multirole two-seat fighter is a
derivative of the Su-30MKI fight-
ers family the Irkutsk Aviation Plant
has been building for export since
2000. The tailoring of the aircraft by
the Sukhoi design bureau to meet
the requirements of the Russian Air
Force covered the radar, navigation,
radio communication and identifi-
cation friend-or-foe (IFF) systems,
ejection seat and a number of aux-
iliary systems. The Su-30SM carries
the Tikhomirov-NIIP Bars-R phased-
array radar being able to track 15
aerial targets and attack 4 of them.
The full-rate production of the Bars is
run by the Ryazan State Instrument-
Making Plant, a subsidiary of the
Alexey Mikheyev
Radioelectronic Technologies hold-
ing. The fighters weapons suite has
been modified too.
The first two Su-30SMs designed
for the Russian Air Force (side num-
bers 01 and 02) were made and
flight-tested in Irkutsk in September
2012 and delivered in November of
the same year, after which they were
subjected to their official trials in the
State Flight Test Centre in the town
of Akhtubinsk. Another aircraft (side
number 54) joined them this spring.
On 28 June 2013, a preliminary
report on the results of the Su-30SM
official tests was released in the
Chkalov State Flight Test Centre in
Akhtubinsk, paving the way for the
warplane to combat units of the
Russian Air Force.
On 17 August, in the run-up to the
Day of the Air Fleet, Russian Air Force
Commander-in-Chief Lt.-Gen. Victor
Bondarev said that the delivery of the
first large batch of 12 production-
standard Su-30SM fighters was due
this autumn. The service chief added
the aircraft would be fielded with
Domna AFB vic. the city of Chita.
With MAKS 2013 being over, the
two Su-30SMs (side numbers 55 and
56) returned to Irkutsk to be handed
over to the Defence Ministry on 13
September. On the next day, both
Marina Lystseva
flew to the Lipetsk-based State Air
Personnel Training and Operational
Evaluation Centre where conversion
training is being given to the combat
unit personnel earmarked for start-
ing Su-30SM operations in the near
future. In late September another
production Su-30SM (side number
57) joined them in Lipetsk. Six more
production-standard fighters of the
type were assembled and flown in
Irkutsk. Their deliveries to RusAF
started in November.
During MAKS 2013, Irkut arranged
Su-30SM familiarisation flights for
pilots of the Air Forces Russian
Knights aerobatic team, with the
flights including supermanoeuvrable
advanced aerobatics. The Russian
Knights gave raving reports of the
aircraft. As is known, the conversion
of the Kubinka AFB-based legend-
ary aerobatic team to the advanced
Su-30SM and Su-35 fighters is
being pondered. In addition, Maj.-
Gen. Alexander Kharchevsky, chief
of the State Air Personnel Training
and Operational Evaluation Centre,
flew a familiarisation sortie on the
Su-30SM in Zhukovsky. I have
always dreamt of something unu-
sual, but the sortie on the Su-30SM

has surpassed all expectations,

Maj.-Gen. Kharchevsky admitted
after his landing.

36 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru

 military aviation | news

RusAF looks forward to Su-35S

In the coming years, RusAF shall
take delivery of 48 cutting-edge
Sukhoi Su-35S fighters built by
the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft
Plant, a subsidiary of Sukhoi com-
pany. The first several production-
standard aircraft of the type were
handed over to the Russian Defence
Ministry for the official trials two
years ago, and 2012 saw a pre-
liminary report signed based on their

first phase. The preliminary report
gave the green light to the types full-
scale production and fielding with
combat units. To date, the Defence
Ministry has accepted as many as
10 production-standard Su-35S jets,
with the first several fighters of the
type expected to be fielded with a
combat unit in the Russian Far East
by the end of this year.
The contract for the construction
and delivery of 48 Su-35S fighters to
the Russian Air Force prior to 2015
was signed in August 2009.
According to Sukhoi, the Su-35s
key features setting it far apart from
other aircraft of the Su-27 fam-
ily are a drastically sophisticated
avionics suite based on the digital
information and control system and
the cutting-edge Tikhomirov-NIIP
Irbis phased array radar featuring a
unique aerial target acquisition range
and an enhanced simultaneous
multiple-target tracking and engage-
ment capability. The Irbis radar has
been productionised by the Ryazan
State Instrument-Making Plant, a
Alexey Mikheyev
subsidiary of the Radioelectronic
Technologies holding.
The negotiations on the Su-35s
first export delivery are due for
completion in the near future. The
contract for a Su-35 batch for the
Peoples Republic of China may be
signed next year.

MiG-35 awaiting order by Russian Air Force

At the recent MAKS 2013 air show,
the MiG corporation has demonstrated
several versions of its famous MiG-29
fighter, which have been offered
both to foreign customers and to the
Russian Defence Ministry. The air-
craft demonstrated include the MiG-35

multirole fighter that was unveiled in
its current incarnation at MAKS 2013,
with the Russian Air Force planning
to acquire it. The fighter represents
a new family of commonised ver-
sions of the legendary MiG jet. The
first members of the family were the
MiG-29K/KUB multirole carrierborne
fighters that are being supplied to
the Indian Navy and manufactured
for the Russian Navys air arm (the
first production-standard MiG-29KUB
intended for the Russian naval aviation
made its maiden flight on 15 October
2013). The heavily upgraded MiG-35
multirole combat aircraft is to succeed
the in-service MiG-29 and MiG-29SMT
fighters on the global warplane market
in the near future.
To meet the requirements of a num-
ber of its customers, MiG corporation
also developed a somewhat simpli-
fied (hence, less expensive) MiG-35
derivative. Its single-seat version was
dubbed MiG-29M and its two-seat
variant was designated as MiG-29M2.
The MiG-29M and MiG-29M2 are
identical to the MiG-35 in terms of air-
frame design, but their avionics suite
was altered. For instance, they carry
the upgraded Zhuk-ME slotted array
radar similar to the one equipping the
production-standard MiG-29K/KUB
and MiG-29SMT fighters.
A MiG-29M2 and a MiG-29M
prototypes were manufactured by
the MiG corporations Production
Complex in the town of Lukhovitsy
two years ago. The former, the two-
seat MiG-29M2 (side number 747),
first flew on 24 December 2011, and
the MiG-29M single-seater was flight-
tested a little more than a months
later, on 3 February 2012. The planes
were used in support of the test
programme and for familiarisation
flights conducted by pilots of poten-
tial customers. At present, the type is
in full-rate production at Lukhovitsy.
The long-awaited order of a batch
of MiG-35S fighters by the Russian
Air Force had been pushed back
to the front burner by this sum-
mer. The afore-mentioned aircraft
(side numbers 741 and 747) were
recently groomed as MiG-35S
standard model and could be seen
at MAKS 2013 as static displays
and in demonstration flights (dur-
ing the air show, MiGs test pilot
Stanislav Gorbunov flew a MiG-35,
while MiGs chief test pilot Mikhail
Belyayev performed supermanoeu-
vrable aerobatics on the experi-
mental MiG-29M OVT (side number
Yevgeny Yerokhin
156) equipped with thrust vector
control engines).
It was expected that the Russian
Defence Ministry could order the
MiG-35S during the air show. For
instance, MiGs Director General
Sergei Korotkov said in late May 2013
that the Defence Ministry was going
to order a 24-ship MiG-35S batch in
summer 2013, while the Russian Air
Forces need in the fighter in the near
future was estimated at 37 units. Not
long before the kickoff of MAKS 2013,
however, the word leaked out that the
MiG-35S order would be put on the
back burner until 2016 at the Finance
Ministrys suggestion. Later, it was
announced, however, that the delay
would not be that long and the contract
could be signed as soon as 2014.

www.take-off.ru take-off november 2013 37

military aviation | report

MIG-29K
BACK ON DECK
REPORT FROM VIKRAMADITYA
Mid-September 2013 saw the successful completion of all kinds of tests of the Project 11430 Vikramaditya aircraft
carrier the former Russian Navy Northern Fleets Admiral Gorshkov through-deck cruiser upgraded by Sevmash JSC
for the Indian Navy. The final phase of the trials took place in the Barents Sea and was aimed at completing the testing of
the ships aircraft operations equipment, i.e. the hardware relevant to aircraft basing and operation. Naturally, the focus
of the trials was the flights of MiG-29K/KUB multirole fighters, the major calibre of the ship. The tests were arranged by
Sevmash JSC and RSK MiG Corp. assisted by the Northern Fleet command element, Defence Ministry State Flight Test
Centre and Kamov JSC. According to the news release by MiG Corp. with respect to the MiG-29K/KUB fighter trials on
board the Vikramaditya during August and September 2013, in the course of the sorties, MiG Corp. aircrews tested the
aircraft operations equipment of the aircraft carrier. The test programme included, among other things, a series of night
sorties from the carrier, takeoffs and deck landings in pairs at minimal time intervals and flights with the full payload.
In all, the deck flight trials phase during August and September 2013 witnessed two planes a MiG-29K and a
MiG-29KUB logged 57 sorties, including 47 deck landings. 12 takeoffs and deck landings were performed at night,
which had not been done by Russian carrierborne aviators since 1999. In addition, tests of the Kamov Ka-27PL and
Ka-31R helicopters and their compatibility with the carriers aircraft operations equipment were conducted at the same
time. Overall, 30 helicopter sorties were flown from the deck, let alone the SAR support provided to the fighter trials by
the Northern Fleets Ka-27PS aircrews.
Take-offs correspondents covered those flights in August and September 2013.

38 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru


Vladimir Karnozov
MiG-29K with a combat load
of two Kh-35E ASMs, two R-73E AAMs
and underbelly drop tank just landed
at Vikramaditya, 21 August 2013
Vladimir KARNOZOV
As is known, the bulk of the MiG-29K/KUB
tests onboard the Vikramaditya aircraft
carrier was conducted a year ago, during
the ships first 108-day sea trials. The MiG-
29K and MiG-29KUB flew upwards of
100 sorties, in excess of 40 takeoffs/deck
landings and numerous touch-and-gos
from the carrier from July to September
2012. At the time, the planes were flown by
MiG Corp.s test pilots Mikhail Belyayev,
Nikolay Diorditsa and Andrey Shishov
and Defence Ministry State Flight Test
Centre test pilots Col. Oleg Mutovin and
Maj. Dmitry Demenev. Last years flights
fulfilled the aircrafts test programme in
terms of takeoff and landing with varying
weights, various payloads (air-to-air and
antiship missiles, smart and dumb bombs,
drop tanks), takeoff from various launch
positions (including the short 125-m run),
deck landing during limit ship motions,
www.take-off.ru
maximal enduring flights and tanker plane
operations with the use of drop tanks and
detachable refueling units.
Prior to last years sea trials of the ship,
Defence Ministry State Flight Test Centre
personnel had begun to test its aircraft
operations equipment, e.g. aircraft pre-
flight preparation gear, hangar mechanisms,
elevators, etc. The tests carried on in
the course of the flight trials, with the
arrestors and flight and combat operations
support gear tested. At the same time, State
Flight Test Centre helicopter test pilots
assessed the feasibility of landing on the
ships various pads at varying wind force
and illumination. In the final analysis, the
MiG-29K/KUB night flight programme
remained unfulfilled then due to the need
for the aircraft carrier to return to the
shipyard for repair of her propulsion plants
boiler thermal insulation coating.
military aviation | report
Alexey Mikheyev
Vikramaditya at the final stage of sea trials
at Barents sea, 9 September 2013
The ship had been repaired and prepared
in Severodvinsk for the final phase of her
running tests before summer this year and
she put out to sea again on 3 July 2013. By
the end of the month, the Vikramaditya
complement led by their commanding officer
Capt. 1st Rank Igor Ryabko and the head of
the sea segment of the trials, Capt. 1st Rank
Alexander Shevchenko, had completed the
test phase in the White Sea, with the carrier
having produced, inter alia, a maximal
speed of 29.2 kt, and had been prepared for
the final series of flights by carrier-borne
aircraft. For this purpose, MiG Corp. had
two prototypes a MiG-29K (side number
941) singleseater and a MiG-29KUB (side
number 204) twinseater ferried to the
Arctic in early August.
The Barents Sea flights kicked off on
5 August 2013 with State Flight Test Centre
aircrews flying the Ka-27PS helicopter and
take-off november 2013 39
 military aviation | report
a Su-33 fighter to test the carriers radars
and other electronic gear as well as Luna
optical landing system. On the next day, 6
August, MiG-29K/KUBs started their flight
operations. MiG Corp. chief pilot Mikhail
Belyayev landed his MiG-29K (side number
941) on the carrier the first deck landing
of 2013. Soon, he was followed to the deck
by the MiG-29KUB (side number 204)
twinseater flown by MiG Corp. test pilots
Andrey Shishov and Sergey Rybnikov.
The subsequent two weeks had been
dedicated to test flights under the acceptance
Vladimir Karnozov
One of the first MiG-29K landings
on Vikramaditya in twilight, 23 August 2013
Vladimir Karnozov
40 take-off november 2013
programme. The feature of the sorties was
that the planes had been based on deck
throughout the test phase, with Indian
personnel being shown all stages of their
pre-flight preparation. The deck operations
were supervised by the carriers future
captain, Commodore Suraj Berry, chief of air
operations Capt. Janak Bevli and Commodore
Surendra Ahuja, a test pilot with the Indian
inspector team. Interestingly, Capt. Janak
Bevli has a wealth of experience in flying
the Sea Harrier (over 400 deck landings),
while Cdre. Ahuja was the first Indian pilot
Alexey Mikheyev
in 2007 to have completed training course
on flying the T-45 Goshawk off US aircraft
carriers. Having converted to the MiG-29,
Ahuja had an opportunity to try his hand on
the prototype MiG-29K (side number 311)
as far back as 2001, when the Indian Navy
was faced with a choice of how to develop its
carrierborne aviation further.
The Vikramaditya carrier departed the
roadstead of the seaport of Severomorsk on
the morning of 21 August 2013 to have spent
three days at a Northern Fleet training area.
At 14.35, the MiG-29K, hauling a standard
www.take-off.ru
Alexey Mikheyev military aviation | report

Take-off in the darkness of polar night,

10 pm, 10 September 2013
Alexey Mikheyev

payload determined by the customer, took off

MiGs landing on the Vikramadityas arrestor,
10 September 2013
from her deck with Honoured Test Pilot of
Russia Andrey Shishov. The Indian personnel
on board were demonstrated an intercept
a low-level high-speed target with the use
of the carriers automated guidance system,
with the target simulated by a Su-33 flown
by Maj. Dmitry Demenev, a State Flight
Test Centre test pilot. With the intercept
performed, Andrey Shishov snagged the first
arresting gear cable, the one closest to the
stern, with the hook of his jet at the request
of the Indians.
Not long before Shishovs takeoff, the
Royal Norwegian Air Force P-3C Orion
maritime patrol plane with 333 Sqn in
Andoya passed parallel to the aircraft carrier
as close as 200 m away at an altitude below
300 m. Soon afterwards, a MiG-31 scrambled
from an air base at the Kola Peninsula showed
up at an altitude of about 2,000 m, and the
Orion turned away and beat feet. During
the carriers being in neutral waters, she
had been shadowed virtually nonstop by the
Norwegian research ship Marjata mounting
huge antennas of radio electronic systems.
At 14.27 on the next day, Hero of Russia
Col. Oleg Mutovin, a test pilot with the
Russian Defence Ministrys State Flight Test
Centre, took off from the carrier on the
MiG-29K (side number 941). The sortie
was designed to gauge the feasibility of deck
landing in case of the failure of the Luna
optical landing system. Having performed
several patterns and a touch-and-go with
the Lunas lights being off, the pilot landed,
having snagged the middle the second
arrestor gear cable. Merely 3 minutes later,

www.take-off.ru take-off november 2013 41

Alexey Mikheyev military aviation | report

he took off again with a 125-m-long run

Kamov Ka-31R carrierborne AEW helicopter
took part in Vikramadityas trials in September
Alexey Mikheyev
and performed another successful landing
4 minutes later after having completed a
smaller patter flight. Thus, the feasibility of
multiple takeoffs and landings was proven.
During her trials, the Vikramaditya also
operated in conjunction with the Russian
Navy Northern Fleets Admiral Levchenko
large ASW ship and Ka-27 and Ka-31
helicopters on 22 August to test her radio
electronic gear and other systems. With
another phase of the trials complete, the
Vikramaditya returned to the roadstead
of Severomorsk. Following a brief shore
leave for the complement and the arrival of
an additional group of Indian servicemen
aboard, the ship put out to sea again. The
final phase of the Barents Sea tests, including
night flights of the carrier-based MiG fighters
and Kamov helicopters, took place in late
August and early September.
After sundown on 26 August 2013, the

MiG-29KUB with Sergey Rybnikov and

Ka-27 and Ka-31 helicopters being moved down
into the Vikramadityas hangar, 10 September
Alexey Mikheyev
Andrey Shishov at the controls took off from
the aircraft carrier. Following three training
final approaches, the pilots landed on deck at
dusk, having snagged the third arresting gear
wire. Mention should be made that there was
10-point overcast with patches of rain that
night, and it was dark enough, therefore.
Having taxied to the ramp, Russian and
Indian colleagues congratulated Sergey
Rybnikov on his first deck landing at dusk.
Due to nighttime deck landing being
extremely difficult a thing to do, the learning
of the skill was gradual and included the
assessment of the effectiveness of the landing
lighting facilities. In the course of the flights,
the optical and TV deck landing equipment
were calibrated and Indian personnel were
trained in operating it. A key part also was
played by the visual landing signal officer, who
was Lt.-Col. Nikolay Deriglazov, a seasoned
naval aviator with about 200 landings on the
Admiral Kuznetsov under his belt.
Sergey Rybnikov conducted a pure night
landing on 2 September 2013, with Oleg

Mutovin and Andrey Shishov following suit

Ka-27PS carrierborne SAR helicopter became
a permanent participant of all flight tests on board the carrier
on 3 September. The deck landing programme
was completed on 12 September 2013 with the
nighttime departure of the MiG-29K (side
number 941) to the Severomorsk-3 naval
air station, while the carrier performed a
refueling at sea and headed for Severodvinsk
for her pre-delivery preparations, with her
delivery planned for 15 November this year.
On the return leg, the aircraft carrier was
travelling at a maximal speed of 29-plus knots
at the request of the Indians, thus having
proven her top-notch speed performance yet
again. The ship is expected to head for the
Indian shores right after her acceptance by the
Indians in November.

42 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru


The success of the MiG-29K/KUB
nighttime deck landings crowned the
carriers cruise in September. An important
gate of the aircraft carrier and carrierborne
fighter test programme, which also, probably,
was the most difficult gate, was cleared.
According to Sevmash JSCs spokesperson,
47 deck landings, including 12 nighttime
ones, were performed as part of the trials in
2013. Rear Adm. Hari Kumar, head of the
Chairman of Indian Delivery Acceptance
Team, told a Severodvinsk TV channel in
an interview: The ship has proven herself
completely and displayed full operability
round the clock.
Special mention is due to Kamov
JSCs helicopter test pilots A. Smirnov,
A. Cherednichenko and N. Naumov as well
as navigators A. Oschepkov and V. Yurtayev,
who tested the feasibility of their machines
operation from the Vikramaditya. Sevmash
JSC Deputy Director General Sergey
Novosyolov emphasized the selfless work of
the crew of the Ka-27PS SAR helicopter
pilot Maj. Maxim Bessonov (a State Flight
Test Centre test pilot who performed over
400 landings on the Vikramaditya during
her trials) and navigators Col. Vladislav
Tomilin and Maj. Denis Ostretsov. Along
with supporting the tests of the ships aircraft
operations equipment, they would haul
various kinds of cargo at any time and in any
www.take-off.ru
weather and hovered near the flight deck for
hours in support of the MiG-29K/KUBs
flights.
MiG Corp. Director General Sergey
Korotkov spoke highly of the team that
ensured round-the-clock flights of the
fighters in the Barents Sea: The flights
from the aircraft carrier crown an important
phase of the Project 11430 aircraft carriers
life cycle and that of the whole of the
MiG-29K/KUB programme that MiG Corp.
is running in the interest of the Indian Navy.
The technical team on board the carrier was
led by Alexander Chumakov. Sergey Shalnev
and Igor Malikov, representing MiG Corp.s
management, were on board the ship too and
facilitated prompt resolution of problems.
The MiG-29K/KUBs deck landings and
takeoffs enable the Indian personnel to
observe the whole set of works pertinent to
maintaining the planes and preparing them
and their crews for flight operations.
Next in line is for the Indian naval
aviators to learn to fly the MiG-29K/KUB
from the Vikramaditya. The training will
begin once the ship has arrived in India.
MiG Corps ground crews and test pilot will
take part in it.
As is known, the Indian Navy has
activated its first 16-ship-strong air squadron
of MiG-29K/KUB multirole carrierborne
fighters (12 MiG-29K single-seat aircraft
MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB fighters at the maintenance
station on the deck of Vikramaditya, 10 September 2013
military aviation | report
and four two-seat MiG-29KUB combat
trainers) delivered by MiG Corp. during
200911 under the 2004 contract. The unit,
INAS 303 Black Panthers, was stood up in a
ceremony at Hansa in the state of Goa on the
west coast on 11 May 2013.
The 29 options for MiG-29K/KUB
fighters for the Indian Navy, stipulated by the
2004 deal, firmed up in March 2010. MiG
Corp. launched the assembly of the aircraft
under the second contract in 2011, with
the first four fighters delivered in December
2012. The deliveries shall continue in 2013
throughout 2015. Two more IN air squadrons
based at the same Hansa air base are supposed
to follow in INAS 303 footsteps, converting
to the MiG-29K/KUB.
Before year-end, the MiG-29K/KUB are
to start fielding the Russian Navy air arm as
well. The Russian Defence Ministry placed
a contract for 24 aircraft of the type in
February 2012. Russian Navy commander
Adm. Victor Chirkov said in 2013: Two
MiG-29Ks and two MiG-29KUBs are
slated for delivery this year, eight MiG-29Ks
and two MiG-29KUBs next year and
10 MiG-29Ks in 2015. The first several
carrierborne MiGs designed for Russian
naval aviators are being groomed for tests
now. The first MiG-29KUB for the Russian
Naval Aviation made its maiden flight on 15
October 2013.
Alexey Mikheyev
take-off november 2013 43
 cosmonautics | review

Russias New-Generation Fututre New-generation spacecraft

Spacecraft (PTK NP) full-scale mockup The exposition of the famous Sergey
Korolyov-established company, the Energia
Igor Afanasyev

rocket and space corporation, was crowned

by a full-scale mock-up of the re-entry
vehicle of the New-Generation Future
Spacecraft (PTK NP in Russian). The
mock-up displayed in Zhukovsky two years
ago looked far more basic. This one featured
a high degree of detail elaboration of the
exterior, offering a better idea of both the
exterior and interior layout of the re-entry
vehicle.
The PTK NP is designed for lunar expe-
ditions, orbiter transport/technical support
and research. As conceived, the launch
weight of the spacecraft on lunar missions
is to account for about 20 t and on expedi-
tions to low-Earth orbit (LEO) for around
14 t. The spacecraft measures about 6 m in
length and 14 m across with its solar panels
extended.
The PTK NP is made of advanced alu-
minium alloys featuring a 1.21.5-time
increase in strength and is coated in ther-
mal protection materials, which density is
thrice as low as that of the in-service Soyuz
TMA spacecraft. The PTK NP boasts a
large-scale use of carbon-filled plastics and
three-layer structures. Its control system has
been upgraded considerably, too, and fitted
with laser rendezvous and docking aids and
other advanced hardware as well.
The re-entry vehicle, which measures 4 m
high without the landing supports extended
and has a maximum diameter of 4.5 m,
will be reusable. Energia presumes that the
construction of five re-entry vehicles will
be enough for the programme to be imple-
mented. The engine bay will be disposable
and made from scratch for every mission,
Igor AFANASYEV, therefore.
Dmitry VORONTSOV The drastic difference between the re-
entry vehicle variant displayed at MAKS
2013 and its preceding version is the formers

SPACE NOVELTIES combined parachute/jet landing capability

instead of the all-jet landing option. The
parachute/jet landing capability has a lower
landing accuracy but is simpler, cheaper and
more reliable.

OF MAKS 2013 In addition to the mock-up itself,

Energias stand displayed full-scale units
of the future spacecraft, e.g. a hull panel, a
hatch and a waste collection system (space
The MAKS 2013 international air and space show held in August this year toilet). The cockpit management system
offered no stunning sensation on the space scale. However, along with is based on up-to-date electronic com-
numerous familiar designs on display, Russian rocket and space industry ponentry and was represented by liquid-
players, which exhibits were traditionally part of the united exposition of crystal displays and controls that were more
the Federal Space Agency, unveiled a number of interesting sophisticated advanced than those of the Soyuz space-
designs. Of course, everybody is keen on what cosmonauts are going to fly craft. In the baseline configuration, the
into orbit in and what Russian launch vehicles are going to succeed to the spacecraft will be capable of carrying four
venerable Soyuz and Proton. Some of the questions were answered during crewmembers, including two pilots, seated
the recent MAKS 2013 show. in advanced Cheget seats. The latter are far

44 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru

Marina Lystseva
Marina Lystseva
more ergonomic than the Kazbek seats now
in use. If six cosmonauts have to be brought
into LEO, the cabin can be furnished with
six old-type seats.
According to Vladimir Pirozhkov, presi-
dent, ASTRAROSSA industrial design and
innovation centre, who contributed to the
development of the cabins interior, the
PTK NP test programme includes five
launches, of which three are unmanned
and two are manned. The first three test
launches are planned to rely on Proton
launch vehicles blasting off from Baikonur,
and the subsequent two may involve
advanced Angara LVs at the Vostochny
space centre under the manned test pro-
gramme, Pirozhkov said.
The PTK NP programme has been given
a green light by the Scientific and Technical
Council of the Federal Space Agency, says
Energia General Designer Vitaly Lopota.
Now, the engineering documentation is
www.take-off.ru
PTK NP spacecraft interior:
new crew seats
and control panel
to be completed and the hardware is to
be manufactured, including mock-ups for
experimental development and a produc-
tion-standard prototype for flight trials.
The first unmanned launch is slated for
2017 or early 2018, while the first manned
flight is to take place by 2020. A name for
the spacecraft has not been selected yet.
Anybody can suggest a name, with the best
one to be selected.
Angara and MRKS
At this years MAKS air show, the
Khrunichev space centre exhibited large-
scale mock-ups of launch vehicles of
the Angara family and Phase I Reusable
Space Rocket System (Russian acronym
MRKS-1). The purpose of the latter, a
two-stage system, is cost-effective orbiting
of cargo, manned and unmanned spacecraft
weighing 2535 t and, further down the
road, up to 70 t.
cosmonautics | review
Advanced Orlan
At MAKS 2013, the Zvezda scientific and
production company unveiled its cutting-edge
Orlan-MKS spacesuit designed for spacewalks.
According to Chief Designer Sergey
Pozdnyakov, the advanced spacesuit features
an automatic temperature control system and
polyurethane parts instead of rubber ones.
Polyurethane allows a 50%-plus extension of
the Orlan-MKSs service life. While in-service
Russian spacesuits are fit for 15 spacewalks at
the most, the advanced Orlan-MKS will endure
20 spacewalks or more.
Another novelty is that the Orlan-MKSs
control panel is equipped with a sophisticated
quality display that is larger and brighter and
offering a better information display capability.
A detailed diagram of a cosmonauts position
on the outside of the International Space Station
will be shown on the display automatically.
The advanced spacesuit has entered
production. Starting from February 2014,
Orlan-MKSs shall be flown in to the ISS by
Progress cargo spacecraft a spacesuit per
spacecraft. Gradually, the old spacesuits are
going to be replaced with new ones. The
Orlan-MKS, which could serve as the basis
for deriving a spacesuit for lunar expeditions,
fits cosmonauts 165190 mm tall. Its ready-
for-use mass equals 110 kg, and its self-
contained operation capability accounts for
7 h. Its temperature control system ensures
an average heat removal of 300 kcal/h and a
maximal one of 600 kcal/h.
Igor Afanasyev
take-off november 2013 45
 cosmonautics | review

MRKS-1 mock-ups displayed featured

different numbers of first-stage re-entry
booster fitted with the folding wing (Baikal
version) and several disposable second-stage
boosters. A final re-entry booster configu-
ration has not been decided on yet, with
the Baikals alternative being the re-entry
booster equipped with the trapezoid wing.
In any case, both design variants have been
tested at subsonic speed in TsAGIs T-103
wind tunnel. Mock-ups of their scaled flight
demonstrators, designed for flight tests
and aerodynamic characteristics research,
including simulated Mach and Reynolds
number flight conditions for the re-entry
boosters of the future MRKS-1, were dis-
played at the stand of the Gromov Flight
Research Institute.
A straight-wing scaled flight demonstrator
was exhibited as MLD-PK and the one fitted
with the trapezoid wing as MLD-TK. Both
demonstrators have a launch weight of 2,500 kg
and are to be launched for trials with the use
of the future Angara 1.2 launch vehicle. The
MLD-PK measures 7,246 m in length, 4.386
m in wingspan and 1.8 m in height, while the
MLD-TK trapezoid-wing version measure-
ments are 4.771 m, 2.688 m and 1.395 m
respectively. Both are to be tested within the
571-km altitude bracket, at Mach 0.97.5
and at angles of attack ranging from 0 to 55.
In spring 2013, MRKS-1 models under-
went airflow visualization and heat-flux
distribution tests in the UT-1M shock tun-
nel at Mach 6 and in the T-117 hypersonic
tunnel at Mach 7.5. Quite a few valuable
results were produced. A number of design
characteristics were proven, but unexpected
high heat flexes on the straight centre-wing
section also were detected. They could lead
to design modifications. In addition, it
turned out that the rocket packs layout did
not provide longitudinal stability. The next
phase of the MRKS-1 model aerodynamic
Igor Afanasyev

tests shall take place in the T-116 hyper-

sonic and T-128 transonic wind tunnels of
TsAGI.
MRKS-1 reusable space rocket system mockups featuring different numbers As for the Angara family, the experimental
of Baikal first-stage re-entry boosters ground tests of rocket packs has been virtu-
ally complete, and the first flying Angara-
A1.2PP prototype has been made and
brought to Plesetsk space launch centre. The
first launch under the flight development
test programme is due in May 2014, while
on 27 August this year, the KBKhA design
bureau in Voronezh completed its tests of
the advanced RD-0124A engine designed for
Angaras URM-2 versatile rocket module.
Andrey Fomin

Andrey Fomin

The test firing took place under the interde-

partmental test programme. In all, three test
firings of the RD-0124A had been conducted
Mockups of scaled flight demonstrators for the MRKS-1s first-stage re-entry boosters: from 16 July to 27 August 2013, all of them
MLD-PK with folding straight wing (left) and MLD-TK with fixed trapezoid wing (right) being successful.

46 take-off november 2013 www.take-off.ru


Soyuz-5 and others
The interesting novelties showcased at
MAKS 2013 included the Soyuz-5 launch
vehicle. The Samara-based TsSKB-Progress
company is developing the future LV under
the Magistral research programme to replace
all in-service descendants of the famous
Korolevs R-7. According to TsSKB-
Progress Director General Alexander Kirilin,
two variants of the future launch vehicles are
in development now. The baseline model,
designated as Soyuz-5.1, is to have a lift
capacity of up to 8.5 t and a two-stage mono-
block layout. Its first stage may be fitted with
the RD-0164 rocket motor and its second
stage with the RD-0124M. Both engines
being designed by KBKhA in Voronezh are
to burn the LOX-LNG mixture. The Soyuz-
5.2 emerges through fitting the aforesaid
baseline model with two strap-on boosters,
each housing an RD-0164 engine. The pay-
load capacity of the rocket is to account for
about 25 t. The third member of the family is
the 16-tonne-capable Soyuz-5 sporting two
strap-on boosters too, but lacking the third
stage. Should the design be given the nod and
the programme be provided with adequate
financing, the first Soyuz-5 may blast off in
202022.
On the face of it, the programme is a
dead-ringer for the Angara space rocket
Andrey Fomin
Angara prospective launch vehicles family
developed by Khrunichev space center
www.take-off.ru
system development programme enjoying
governmental backing. The question is, why
develop the Soyuz-5? The question was
answered by TsSKB-Progress representa-
tives in the course of the air show. The thing
is the venerable workhorse of the Soviet and
Russian space programme, the Soyuz, has
grown obsolescent hopelessly in terms of
performance. Suffice it to say that its coni-
cal strap-on boosters lack a single structural
ring identical to another one. Clearly, the
prime cost of the rocket designed almost 60
years ago shall keep on growing continu-
ously at the present time. The Soyuz-5.1bs
burning five fuel components LOX, kero-
sene, cryogenic nitrogen, hydrogen dioxide
and helium makes the operation of even
the latest variant of the LV quite complicat-
ed. To cap it all, hundreds of personnel have
to be present at the launching facility to
perform manual operations during the pre-
flight preparations. Clearly, the rocket shall
lose its competitive edge sooner or later.
For this reason, TsSKB-Progress decid-
ed to preempt the above and launched
the development of a launch vehicle that
would be more sophisticated in techno-
logical terms, but simpler and comprising
fewer components. The Soyuz-5, which
is being designed under the one rocket
engine per stage concept, is supposed to be
Igor Afanasyev
cosmonautics | review
less expensive than its venerable predeces-
sor. However, it is too early to discuss the
cost, because the programme has just been
kicked off. The launch vehicles design has
not been set in stone yet, and its future is
hazy. In any case, the initiative taken by
TsSKB-Progress is laudable, inter alia, from
the point of view of preserving the techno-
logical capabilities generated as part of the
designing of the Rus-M rocket system in
200911.
The Samara-based companys stand
also displayed scale mock-ups of the
Soyuz-2.1v, Soyuz-2.1b and Soyuz-FG
launch vehicles. The maiden flight of
the Soyuz-2.1v light rocket is slated for
November or December this year. Its first
stage is known to have been equipped with
the NK-33 engine and RD-0110r control
thruster. Another set of tests of the former
has been complete in Samara. The tests
were focused on proving the NK-33s qual-
ity characteristics, given the technological
solutions introduced into the newly-made
combustor units the collector and rubber
parts of the combustors assemblies. By the
way, specialists of the Aerojet Rocketdyne,
the US user of the Samara-made engine,
took part in the test firing. The three suc-
cessful bench tests resulted in a total of
616s logged by the NK-33.
Soyuz-5 launch vehicle being under initiative
development by Samara-based TsKB-Progress
space center
take-off november 2013 47
military aviation | news
558 ARP
OFFERS AIRCRAFT UPGRADE
The main area of activity of the 558th
Aircraft Repair Plant is overhaul and upgrade
of the Mi-8MT (Mi-17) and Mi-24 (Mi-35)
helicopters as well as Su-27, MiG-29, An-2,
L-39, Su-22 and Su-25 aircraft. 558 ARP
performs full cycle of overhaul of airframe
and all component items, including a
package of modifications and additional
preventive measures increasing reliability of
aviation materiel.
Apart from overhaul, the enterprise
successfully mastered upgrade of Su-27
and MiG-29 fighters and Mi-8 helicopters.
The upgraded Su-27BM (Su-27UBM) and
MiG-29BM fighters acquire fundamentally
new features and combat capabilities: the
information-control field of cockpit is
updated by adding the multifunctional color
LCD displays, radar fire-control system
and navigation system are upgraded and
the range of armaments is considerably
increased, being complemented by new air-
to-air missiles and guided means of ground
(naval) targets destruction. In March 2005
the pilots of upgraded MiG-29BM aircraft
established 15 world records!
In 2004 558 ARP mastered upgrade of
Mi-8MT (Mi-17) helicopters. The purpose
of upgrade is creation of round-the-clock
combat transport helicopter. Gyro-stabilized
surveillance-and-sighting system installed
aboard the helicopter ensures twenty-four-
hours survey and sighting with representation
of a thermal image on the displays, wide-
band control over the line of sight and target
ranging with use of a laser range finder with an
accuracy of 5 m at a distance of 10 km. The
system of navigation and electronic indication
is designed for determination of the current
position data of the helicopter (latitude,
48 take-off november 2013
longitude, altitude), velocity vector as well as
the current time by the signals from GLONASS
satellite navigation system and NAVSTAR
GPS in any point of the globe at any moment
irrespective of the weather conditions. The
upgraded Mi-8 helicopters obtain BUR flight
data recording system, which allows recording
the flight data with an increased accuracy
and performing automated data processing.
It saves considerable time for data decoding
and processing, ensures complete data safety
in case of heavy flight accidents; it also allows
connecting additional sensors and annunciators
to receive more reliable information about the
state of systems and equipment during flights for
maintaining airworthiness of helicopter. Night
vision equipment enables to observe external
environment of the helicopter in conditions of
natural night illuminance with maximal vision
range of 24 km necessary for takeoff, hovering,
piloting with visual monitoring of the underlying
terrain, approaches and landings to unequipped
and unlit areas. The upgraded helicopters are
commercial
equipped with gyro-stabilized surveillance-and-
sighting system, modern system of navigation
and electronic indication, set of night vision
equipment, modern system of flight data
recording. New guided weapons are introduced
into the range of helicopter armament.
Upgrade of Mi-24 helicopter includes
installation of gyro-stabilized surveillance-
and-sighting system, new system of navigation
and electronic indication, set of night vision
equipment, enhancement of capabilities of
flight data recording system, increase of firing
accuracy and automation of sighting process
thus increasing combat capacity and efficiency
of the helicopter.
Apart from that, one of the aircraft uprade
directions is installing of onboard equipment
of individual radio-technical protection
Satellite system. Due to it the hitting by missiles
with radar homing heads is ruled out with high
degree of precision and jamming is produced
to all enemys radar homing weapons (fighters,
ground-to-air missiles).
The efficiency of modifications introduced
on the aircraft and helicopters is affirmed by the
experience of flight tests and operation.
558 ARP is a dynamically developing
enterprise which is always open for business
cooperation.
558 Aircraft Repair Plant JSC
Bldg. 7, 50 let VLKSM, Baranovichi,
Brest region, 225320, Republic of Belarus
Tel.: +375 (163) 42-99-54
Fax: +375 (163) 42-91-64
E-mail: box@558arp.by
http://www.558arp.by
www.take-off.ru
 HIGH TECHNOLOGIES.
GETTING REAL
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The Corporation integrates more than 30 leading Russian helicopter and engine manufacturing companies in 12 Russian regions

Russian Helicopters Company, a subsidiary of OBORONPROM Corporation, is the leading Russian designer and manufacturer
ofrotary-wing aircraft equipment

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engines for aircraft, aerospace industry, gas compression stations and power plants

UNITED INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION OBORONPROM I 29/141 Verejskaya st. Moscow 121357 Russia I oboronprom@oboronprom.ru I www.oboronprom.ru