The ex-general designer of Antonov reported sad news for Ukraine
Russia may resume serial production of the An-124 Ruslan super-heavy military transport aircraft at the Ulyanovsk Aviation Plant, where the largest transport aircraft in the world were once assembled.
He writes about it "Moscow's comsomolets", referring to a statement by Yuri Sytnik, a member of the Presidential Commission on Aviation Development.
It is noted that in Kyiv the statement was met with hostility and they said that without Ukraine the Russian Federation would not be able to cope with such a task. At the same time, former general designer and general director of Antonov, Dmitry Kiva, holds the opposite opinion.
According to him, to restore production in Ulyanovsk, relatively little money is needed.
“This is meager money, by aviation standards. About $100 million, no more. If you modernize the aircraft, you will need more money. It all depends on which modernization option is chosen. From my point of view, this is not that much money, especially considering the cost of one aircraft,” Kiva said.
He also predicts that the launch of production will not take Russia much time.
“Two years, no more. All the documentation is there, the equipment is there. You just need to purchase everything that is missing - materials, equipment, launch the program and do it,” the designer emphasized.
At the same time, the publication notes that Russia has experience in resuming production at its factories of aircraft that were previously built in the former Soviet republics. Thus, the Il-76 military transport aircraft and the Il-114 regional aircraft, which were previously built in Tashkent, are today produced in Ulnovsk and Nizhny Novgorod.
In turn, ex-commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Viktor Bondarev, also believes that “the production of An-124 aircraft in Russia is quite possible without Ukrainian participation.”
He recalled that Ukraine operates aircraft built in Soviet times, in particular Il-76 transport aircraft (built in Tashkent), Su-25 attack aircraft (Ulan-Ude), Su-27 (Komsomolsk-on-Amur), and does so without the consent and control of Russian design bureaus and factories, “without any right to do so.”
“Bondarev believes that resuming serial production of the An-124 is advisable, but the aircraft will have a different name.
“This will be a completely new aircraft, and it will be made in Russia - already developed by our designers. Everything will be replaced there: navigation, engines. The entry of such machines into Russian arsenal will meet the requirements of efficiency, profitability, and safety requirements,” the publication quotes the words of the former commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces.
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