Superjet, Made by Sukhoi of Russia, Faces Industry Skepticism - The New York Times The New York Times Global Business |At 35,000 Feet, a Russian Image Problem Search Continue reading the main story Photo Sukhoi, a Russian company best known for making supersonic fighter jets, has released the Superjet 100, the first wholly new Russian civilian aircraft design since the breakup of the Soviet Union. This one was provided to the Armenian national airline, Armavia. Credit James Hill for The New York Times MOSCOW — Airlines are a cautious lot, slow to trust a new airplane maker with multibillion-dollar orders and passenger lives. It took Embraer, a Brazilian maker of regional jets, two decades to become a major supplier to the industry. So Sukhoi, a Russian company best known for making supersonic fighter jets, did not exactly get off to an auspicious start. When it delivered one of the first of its highly promoted new 100-seat Superjets to Aeroflot in June, a piece of safety equipment immediately broke down, prompting Sukhoi to ground the plane.

Although the plane was fixed and is flying again, the lapse shows just how difficult a path Sukhoi faces to persuade Western airlines to buy airplanes from a Russian state company. Russia ’s aviation industry has long been plagued by safety problems, breakdowns and lethal crashes, rendering it virtually unable to sell planes outside the former Soviet Union, Iran, Cuba and parts of Africa. “Historically, Russian aircraft have an image that will take a long time to address,” Les Weal, an analyst at Ascend, an aviation consultancy in London that advises the insurance industry on safety, said in a telephone interview. Continue reading the main story “Superjet may be excited about their airplane,” he said. “But I’m not sure that will translate into a lot of orders from mainstream airlines. It would take a huge leap of faith for an airline to turn to a newcomer.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story But Sukhoi has high expectations for the Superjet 100, the first wholly new Russian civilian aircraft design since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The list price for the chubby, single-aisle aircraft is $31.7 million, about one-third cheaper than comparable short-hop jets from Embraer or Bombardier of Canada, Sukhoi says. Gone is the grim upholstery and fluorescent lighting of the cramped, even scary, interiors of the Tupolev series of jets that are still operated by domestic Russian carriers. The Superjet’s cabin feels roomy, the overhead luggage bins can hold standard carry-on luggage and the lighting is soft. The high-bypass engines, a novelty for Russian passenger planes, hum rather than scream at take-off. Sukhoi, which is in talks to sell the planes to the American carriers Delta Air Lines and SkyWest as well as to other Western airlines, hopes to sell 800 Superjets over the next 20 years. Besides two planes delivered to Aeroflot, Sukhoi has provided one to the Armenian national airline, Armavia. It has also agreed to provide 15 to Mexico’s second-largest airline, Interjet. Sukhoi has 176 Superjet orders in total.

Rather than emphasize the plane’s Siberian origins, with whatever associations with hardship or disaster that may evoke, Sukhoi has marketed it by pointing to its French and Italian partners, which worked in joint ventures to design the engines and provide the avionics. “Yes, it is a Russian aircraft,” Olga Kayukova, a spokeswoman for Sukhoi’s parent company, United Aircraft Corporation, said in an interview. However, “it is made in cooperation with world-leading suppliers.” Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for Ryanair, the low-cost Irish carrier, said his company would have no qualms about looking at a Russian plane so long as it met European Union safety standards. Most passengers, he said, don’t care what type of airplane they fly. “They know the airline, but not the airplane,” he said. Ryanair has talked to Sukhoi about its new plane, he said, and the budget airline was more concerned that the plane was too small for its routes than about the reputation of Russian airplanes. On the Superjet delivered to Aeroflot, a meter to detect leaks in the pipes that funnel fresh air, called bleed air, into the cabin had malfunctioned.

The company said passengers were never at risk, as the actual air supply was not affected. Photo A Superjet on display at the Paris air show in June. Its manufacturer has had to overcome Russia's reputation in the aviation industry for poor air safety. Credit Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News Sukhoi found a silver lining in the incident by explaining it had grounded the plane from an abundance of caution that in fact illustrated its new safety culture. The Superjet was the first Russian airplane with such a detector, which is standard on Western planes. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The planes also weigh two tons more than initial estimates presented to airlines, hurting fuel economy and making them less attractive. Sukhoi has said such deviations are typical for new aircraft. Russian jets have had a rough spell recently, making the sales pitch even more difficult. In 2006, about 400 people died in Tupolev jet crashes in Russia and Ukraine. This June, a Tu-134 crashed while approaching a provincial airfield, killing most of the 52 people on board. (Tupolevs are made by another division of United Aircraft Corporation.) Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter.

You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy International experts blamed the age of the planes for the accidents, but said cavalier attitudes about safety that pervade Russian industry also contributed. A year ago, for example, the Russian television station NTV reported that 70 engineers at the plant making the Superjet had obtained fake engineering diplomas by bribing a local technical college; Sukhoi said those employees were not directly involved in assembling the planes. Despite the high barrier to entry internationally for new passenger jets, Ms. Kayukova said airlines were eager for alternatives to Embraer and Bombardier for regional jets and even were searching for a third supplier for midrange jets like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. Ryanair this year announced negotiations to buy a planned Chinese competitor to the Boeing 737, called the C919, which is expected to be cheaper. Ms. Kayukova said Russia would surely be able to compete with China on quality because China is not a traditional aerospace power. As if to emphasize this lineage, the Superjet being promoted at an air show in Moscow this month was named the Yuri Gagarin, after the Russian who was the first man in space.

By the late 1990s, Russia’s civilian aerospace industry had fallen on hard times. It had become clear that the nation’s wide-body and midrange jets had no market outside the former Soviet Union and a few one-time client states. The Ilyushin aircraft company, for example, sold only a dozen of its Il-96 flagship long-haul jets, including one with a convertible passenger or V.I.P. cabin that was sometimes used as the presidential jet for Fidel Castro. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Surrendering some pride, the Russian aviation industry took aim instead at Bombardier and Embraer, and formed joint ventures with Western companies to fill technological gaps. Alenia Aeronautica, a division of the Italian engineering giant Finmeccanica, owns about 25 percent of the Superjet program and is helping to market the plane in Western Europe, North and South America, Japan and Australia through a subsidiary based in Venice, SuperJet International. Sukhoi consulted with Boeing on after-sales service, and it installed avionics from the French company Thales. The plane is certified to fly in former Soviet countries and is awaiting certification for the European Union.

Sukhoi has said it will apply to the Federal Aviation Administration for certification only after it has a firm order from a United States customer. “We will be facing the same problem as Japanese car manufacturers faced at the beginning,” Giacomo Perfetto, head of communications for SuperJet International, said in a telephone interview. “When they see the airplane fly, they will change their minds.” A version of this article appears in print on August 30, 2011, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Aloft, a Russian Image Problem. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe The Sukhoi Company Sukhoi's first independent design was the SU-2. The Su-9 was one of a series of supersonic jet fighters. The Sukhoi Su-15 V/STOL fighter in flight. The Sukhoi Company The Sukhoi company has produced some of the most advanced Soviet jet fighters of all time. About half of Russia's current tactical air power is due to Sukhoi's contributions. The history of the Sukhoi company is closely associated with the life of Pavel Sukhoi, one of the greatest Soviet aircraft designers.

Sukhoi, born in 1910, had a very uneven career characterized by two distinct phases. If, in the first part of his career, he was dogged by bad luck, he flourished enormously in his later days. Like many of his contemporaries such as Sergey Korolev, chief designer of the Soviet space program, Sukhoi served his apprenticeship under the famous Andrey Tupolev , the patriarch of the modern Soviet aviation industry. In the 1920s and 1930s, as a senior engineer working for Tupolev at TsAGI (the Central Aero-hydrodynamics Institute), the premiere Soviet aeronautics organization, Sukhoi designed several bombers and fighters. He also worked on a number of Tupolev designs including the ANT-31 (I-14), which was the first Soviet all-metal low-wing monoplane fighter with retractable undercarriage and an enclosed cockpit. His first truly independent design was the ANT-51 (Su-2), a ground-attack aircraft that entered service in 1940.

In September 1939, the Soviet government appointed Sukhoi to head a new organization named the Experimental Design Bureau No. 134 (OKB-134) at a plant in the city of Kharkov in Ukraine. (The Russians called their aeronautics companies "design bureaus.") There, he designed the Su-6 ground-attack aircraft. Although he produced several excellent designs during the 1930s and 1940s, he was never able to achieve success due to a combination of testing accidents, political opposition, and Stalin's personal whims. After the war, Stalin assigned him and several other major Soviet designerssuch as Mikoyan, Lavochkin, and Yakovlev to build the first generation of Soviet jet fighters. Sukhoi used the German Me 262 and modified it to build his own Su-9 fighter. The Soviet Air Force never used the aircraft, partly because Stalin criticized Sukhoi for simply copying an old German aircraft instead of proposing an original Russian design. Ironically, it was at the very same time that Stalin had ordered Tupolev to make an exact copy of the American B-29 Superfortress.

Despite the setback, Sukhoi doggedly continued to pursue more advanced designs including the supersonic Su-17, a prototype for a frontline fighter. Eventually, Stalin grew intolerant of Sukhoi's work and closed down OKB-134 in November 1949; Sukhoi's team ended up as a subdivision of the Tupolev design organization. Sukhoi's secondand far more successfulcareer began after Stalin's death in 1953. Later that year, in October, Stalin's successors put Sukhoi to work at a plant in Moscow where he formed a new organization known as OKB-51. The current Sukhoi company grew from this organization. The design bureau designed and built a series of new supersonic jet fighters including the Su-7 and Su-9 in the 1950s and 1960s. These two aircraft were extensively modified over the years and used in vast numbers by the Soviet Air Force and other Communist countries. Like a number of other aviation designers, Sukhoi embraced the concept of evolutionary development rather than large technological leaps in aircraft design.

For example, Sukhoi improved the original Su-9 delta-winged series into the Su-11 and Su-15 fighter-interceptor series for service with the Soviet Air Defense Forces. He also modified the Su-7B ground-attack aircraft into the Su-17 variable-geometry aircraft by introducing small modifications to the original design. Sukhoi's aircraft symbolized the general trend of Soviet aircraft design that used common components and standardization that allowed Soviet plants to produce large numbers of aircraft very quickly. At the same time, Sukhoi did try to experiment with some radical innovations. One of his most famous creations was the T-4, a highly advanced supersonic (Mach 3) strike/reconnaissance aircraft, proposed as a response to the American B-70 Blackbird. In designing the aircraft, Sukhoi pioneered the use of new compact avionics systems and titanium structures. Although the aircraft flew successfully several times beginning in 1972, the Soviet Air Force never used it due to shifting requirements and its high expense. A full-scale model now remains in an aviation museum outside of Moscow, a sad reminder of a forgotten era.

Besides the T-4, the design bureau also produced the high-performance Su-24 (codenamed "Fencer" by NATO) multi-role aircraft in the 1970s, and the Su-25 ("Frogfoot") close support aircraft in the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, the new Su-34 began replacing the Su-24 while the redesigned Su-39 shturmovik (Russian word for "battleplane" or fighter) has been substituting for older model fighters such as the Su-25. Perhaps the most well known of Sukhoi's fighters has been the Su-27 ("Flanker"), a long-range superiority fighter, famous for its versatility and overall capabilities. Like all Russian aviation companies, Sukhoi has been hard hit by the ruin of the post-Communist economy. Despite the poor conditions, Sukhoi has recently produced the new multi-role, all-weather S-37 interceptorfirst flown in September 1997which is equipped with state-of-the-art electronics, forward-swept wings, and thrust vector control.

With the S-37, Sukhoi is competing with the MiG company to provide Russia's fifth generation advanced fighter aircraft. The Russian military, however, has expressed little interest in the proposal. Sukhoi is also developing, again in competition with the MiG firm, the lightweight Su-54 fighter, an aircraft comparable to the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter. The Sukhoi company is now known simply as OKB Sukhoi and comprises 51 percent part of the AVPK Sukhoi (the Sukhoi Aviation Military-Industrial Complex), a giant conglomerate of design bureaus and production plants designed to bring together research, development, and production of military aircraft. It is currently diversifying into the civilian market by creating sports aircraft, freight vehicles, and passenger aircraft. Through its nearly 50-year history, the design bureau has designed about a hundred different aircraft, 50 types of which were put into series production. Asif Siddiqi Boyd, Alexander. The Soviet Air Force Since 1918. New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1977. Gunston, Bill.

The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft: 1875-1995. London: Osprey Aerospace, 1996. Higham, Robin, John T. Greenwood, and Von Hardesty. Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century. London: Frank Cass, 1998. On-Line References: "Russian Aircraft Resource � History." Educational Organization The Sukhoi Story - YouTube The Sukhoi Story Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 20, 2014 The Sukhoi Story. DD VIDEO 1996. SUKHOI is one of the major Russian military aircraft manufacturers. Founded by Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi in 1939 as a aircraft design bureau, currently is known as SUKHOI corporation. This rare old film shows the history of Su aircraft development from the beginning up to 1996.

Производство: DD VIDEO The best Sukhoi Attack Aircraft - Documentary - YouTube The best Sukhoi Attack Aircraft - Documentary Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 12, 2016 Sukhoi (Russian:. Сухой and transliterated into Spanish, Sukhoi, which, in turn, means "dry" (in Russian), is one of the most famous and important Russian aircraft manufacturers The company was founded by Pavel Sukhoi in 1939 as "Design Bureau number 51 Sukhoi" in Moscow, but is currently known as Sukhoi Corporation PJSC. Currently, the company is undergoing a major process of integration of production and administrative structures, with much of the Russian aviation and space sector, within the PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) 3, with the intention of forming one of the largest aerospace companies worldwide.

All rights reserved Fuerzas Armadas™ 2016 About the video / Community guidelines: This footage is NOT intended to be violent, shocking, sensational, disrespectful or glorify violence in any way. Category Sukhoi Company (JSC) - Airplanes - Military Aircraft - Su-35 Military Aircraft Su-35 Su-35 multi-role fighter On the world fighter market RussiaпїЅs Sukhoi is pinning its hopes, in the near future, on a substantially modernized Su-35 multi-role fighter. The model must be an interim type between todayпїЅs Su-30MK in various configurations and a prospective fifth-generation fighter, whose deliveries may start in the second half of the next decade. The Su-35 is a 4++ generation aircraft employing technologies of the fifth generation. They make it superior to all other 4th generation fighters now under development worldwide. In 2009-2015, thanks to these technologies, the Su-35 will dominate the world market, outperforming other proposed multi-role fighters.

The first experimental Su-35, completed in summer 2007 at Komsomolsk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association (KnAAPO) first appeared at RussiaпїЅs MAKS-2007 air show. A new aircraft with an old name The Su-35 has long been a brand name in the aviation world. Since 1992, an export version of the Su-27 fighter (created under the order of the Russian Air Force) has been demonstrated at international air shows. At the turn of the millennium, Su-35 fighters participated in the tenders of Korean and Brazilian air forces. By the mid-decade of the new century, a general concept emerged of a considerably modified Su-27 fighter, which retained the name of Su-35. What is new in the Su-35? First off, the fighter will get an improved airframe, which will dramatically increase its service life to 6,000 hours, 30 years of operation (the time before the first test and recondition and the between-repairs period has been increased to 1,500 hours, or 10 years of operation).

Aerodynamically it is similar to the Su-27. But unlike the Su-30MKI it will feature no canard fins. All the three channels will have electrically signaled control without mechanical cabling. The use of a new integrated control system (developed by MNPK Avionika Moscow-based Research and Production Association) simultaneously performing functions of several systems пїЅ remote control, automatic control, limiting signals system, air signals system, chassis wheels braking system пїЅ will enhance the fighterпїЅs handling capability and maneuverability. Among the Su-35 design features, worth of note is the absence of an overhead brake flap, a standard characteristic of the Su-27. Its functions are performed by an active rudder. The Su-35 chassis has been reinforced because of the increased takeoff and landing weight of the aircraft. For the same reason, the front bearing has two wheels. The improved radar stealth reduces the reflectance of the Su-35 in the X radio waveband and in the angle range of пїЅ60пїЅ.

The пїЅheartпїЅ of the aircraft Another important difference of the Su-35 from predecessors from the Su-27 family is the use, in its power plant, of new engines with an increased thrust. Those engines, known as 117S, have been developed by NPO Saturn Research and Production Association. In terms of engineering, the engines are substantially modified AL-31F production engines employing fifth-generation technologies. They use a new fan, new high and low pressure turbines, and a new digital control system. A provision is made for using a vectored thrust nozzle. The modernization has increased the engine special mode thrust by 16%, up to 14,500 kgf. In the maximum burner-free mode it reaches 8,800 kgf. Compared to todayпїЅs AL-31F engines, their capabilities will grow substantially, by 2 to 2.7 times. For instance, the between-repair period will grow from 500 to 1,000 hours (the operating period before the first overhaul is 1,500 hours).

The designed period will vary between 1,500 and 4,000 hours. The 117S engines will be co-produced by Ufa-based Motor Building Association and Rybinsk-based NPO Saturn Research and Production Association. The first production 117S engines were delivered to KnAAPO in early 2007 for testing on the first experimental Su-35 aircraft. New onboard systems The distinctive feature of Su-35 is the employment of a new suite of onboard instruments. Its core is the information management system (IMS), which integrates functional, logical, informational and software subsystems into a single complex that ensures the interaction between the crew and equipment. The IMS includes two central digital computers, commutation and information devices and an indication system built on the пїЅall-glass cockpitпїЅ concept. The core of the Su-35 cockpit instrumentation suite are two full-color multi-function liquid crystal displays of MFI type, a multi-function panel with a built-in display processor, a wide angle collimatory display on the windshield and a control and indication panel.

MFI multi-function displays with a built-in processor measure 9 x 12 inches (diagonal 15 inches) and have a resolution of 1400x1050 pixels. They are intended for reception, processing and production, in a multiple window mode, of graphic, numeric, alphabetic and symbolic information. They also present televised information received from onboard TV sensors and impose on it synthesized numeric, alphabetic and symbolic information. Besides, they produce and send video signals in a digital format to the video record unit. The multi-function panel with a built-in display processor presents the required information and issues commands by pushing the buttons on the button array at any time in flight. The airborne collimatory display with a built-in processor monitors the space beyond the cockpit. The information is processed by control signals. The collimator angle of view is 20x30пїЅ. The onboard systems and armament in the new cockpit of Su-35 are controlled by buttons and switches on the aircraft control joystick and engine control levers as well as by a button array on multi-function displays. Thus the HOTAS concept is realized on this type of aircraft.

The displays and some other avionics systems of Su-35 are developed by Instrument Design Bureau of Ramenskoye and affiliated companies of Tekhnokompleks Research and Production Association. пїЅEyes and earsпїЅ The core of the Su-35 armament is a new radar control system with a phased antenna array (Irbis-E). It features unique capabilities in terms of the target detection range. This is a development V V Tikhomirov Research Institute of Instrument Production. In design, this is an X-waveband multi-role radar with a passive phased antenna array (PAA) mounted on a two-step hydraulic drive unit (in azimuth and roll). The antenna device scans by an electronically controlled beam in azimuth and angle of elevation in sectors not smaller than 60пїЅ. The two-step electro-hydraulic drive unit additionally turns the antenna by mechanic means to 60пїЅ in azimuth and 120пїЅ in roll. Thus, in using the electronic control and mechanical additional turn of the antenna, the maximum deflection angle of the beam grows to 120пїЅ.

Irbis-E radar control system detects and tracks up to 30 air targets, retaining continuity of space observation and engaging up to eight targets. The system detects, chooses and tracks up to four ground targets in several map-making modes with various resolution at a range of up to 400 km, without stopping to monitor the airspace. Irbis-E radar detects air targets with an absolute cross section of 3 m2 on a head-on course at a range of up to 400 km. Being an improvement on radars with a PAA, Irbis has much better capabilities: expanded (by more than twice) operating frequency band, increased from 70пїЅ to 120пїЅ target detection and tracking zone in azimuth, substantially (by 2-2.5 times) increased effective range, improved anti-jamming capability, etc. In this aspect, Irbis is comparable to the best foreign counterparts, outperforming most of the US- and Wes-European-made radars with passive and active PAA. The Research Institute has been developing Irbis since 2004. By now, the engineering prototypes of the system have passed the required bench trials.

The first of them has been installed on the Su-30MK2 flying laboratory and is undergoing flight tests. The first flight of the flying laboratory with Irbis onboard occurred in early 2007 at Gromov Flight Test Institute. During the flight, the laboratory proved the superior performance of the new radar in the air-to-surface operating mode. Among other new onboard systems of the Su-35 is modern navigation and radio communication equipment, systems maintaining fighters operation in a formation and a highly efficient electronic countermeasures suite. The component package of the latter and its complementation with specific jamming devices can be determined by the customer. Armament In addition to the armaments onboard the modern Su-30MK, it is planned to additionally arm the Su-35 with new types of air-to-air and air-to-surface guided missiles, including long-range types. The maximum ordnance load of the Su-35 is 8,000 kg. This is placed in 12 weapon stations.

Sukhoi Company (JSC) - News - News 09.04.2012 Aeroflot puts its seventh Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft in operation Moscow, April 9. Aeroflot Russian Airlines puts its seventh Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft (SSJ100) in operation. The first revenue flight of the airliner, named after the famous Aeroflot pilot Georgy Benkunsky, will be performed soon. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 MSN 95016 (registered number RA-89008) was delivered to Aeroflot under contract with the VEB-Leasing JSC on financial lease (leasing). The delivered aircraft is designed to carry 87 passengers in a comfortable two-class layout (12 пїЅ business class and 75 пїЅ in economy class). Aeroflot ordered 30 SSJ100 aircraft in total. пїЅWe are very pleased that our SSJ100 aircraft is becoming an important part of the AeroflotпїЅs fleet.

We will do our best to make sure that the SSJ100 continues to meet the expectations of the airlineпїЅ, noted Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, President of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft. Aeroflot currently operates seven SSJ100 aircraft serving routes from Moscow to 14 Russian cities as well as to Minsk, Donetsk, Budapest, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. Aeroflot operations confirm that the aircraft perfectly match their requirements in terms of high frequency departures on regional routes. Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) is a 100 seat regional jet designed, developed and built by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), in partnership with Alenia Aermacchi. On May 19th 2008 SSJ100 successfully accomplished its first flight. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 cruises at a Maximum Operating Speed of Mach 0.81 and 40,000 feet. It takes off a 1,731 meters runway in the basic range and 2,052 meters in the long range.

The operating range for the basic version is 3,048 km and 4,578 km for the long range version. In February 2011, the SSJ100 obtained the Type Certificate by the Russian Certification Authority IAC AR. On April 19th 2011 first production SSJ100 was delivered to Armavia airlines (Armenia). In February 2012, the SSJ100 obtained the EASA Type Certificate. By April 8, 2012 seven SSJ100s in service with Armavia and Aeroflot accumulated over 6,100 flight hours in more than 3,150 revenue flights. Russia's Once-Mighty Fighter Jet Firm MiG Struggling as Rivals Make Gains Russia's Once-Mighty Fighter Jet Firm MiG Struggling as Rivals Make Gains July 2, 2015 — 21:20 Top 10 Most Beautiful Russian Villages MiG aircraft were Cold War icons, becoming almost synonymous with the Russian air force in the West.

Once one of the world's most famous aircraft designers, Russia's MiG aircraft company has fallen on hard times. Though MiG aircraft continue to populate almost 30 world air forces, the firm has not won a major design competition or aircraft tender in its post-Soviet history. Russia is the world's second-largest arms exporter after the United States, and its aircraft companies made up a substantial $4.4 billion of the country's overall $13 billion in arms exports in 2014, according to data collected by defense industry consultancy IHS. Although MiG has been able to secure a chunk of these exports, its market performance since the fall of the Soviet Union has been outpaced by Russia's other fighter aircraft producer, Sukhoi. In terms of foreign sales alone — a key lifeline for Russia's defense industry — Sukhoi has dominated, exporting 67 more aircraft and raking in almost $7 billion more than MiG since 1991.

In the dogfight for market share with Sukhoi, MiG has been outfoxed — plagued by a failure to win the big contracts it needed, hemmed in by the limited scope of its main offerings, and hit by a number of reputational setbacks. "There's not much hope for MiG," said Mark Bobbi, a fighter jet expert at IHS. "MiG does have lots of maintenance and upgrade business, but even the latter will disappear as export customers retire, store, scrap and replace their MiG-29s," he said. Cold War Icon MiG aircraft were Cold War icons, becoming almost synonymous with the Russian air force in the West. Their reputation was rivaled only by that of Kalashnikov rifles, according to Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST). "It is absolutely true that during the Soviet era, the main fighter aircraft were MiGs," said Pukhov, pointing to the Hollywood film "Top Gun" as evidence of the hold MiGs had over the imagination of the Western aviation community.

The company is named after Soviet airplane designers Artyom Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich, who designed their first airplane, the MiG-1, in 1939. Today, its most popular aircraft is the MiG-29, which resembles a U.S. F-15. The MiG-29 is in service with almost 30 air forces, with a reported unit cost of some $30 million per plane. Big Contracts But the design bureau's fortunes changed for the worse with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union's massive levels of defense spending allowed the MiG and Sukhoi, its main competitor, to coexist and thrive in the same ecosystem. Although their products differ in some important ways, such as size, combat role and armament loads, there is some overlap. According to Bobbi, MiG and Sukhoi aircraft under this system "were designed as 'throwaway' aircraft," designed to operate for 10 years with little or no maintenance before they were scrapped and replaced with all new aircraft.

But this style of design and production was unsustainable after the Soviet collapse, when Russia's Defense Ministry was unable to continue such wasteful procurement practices. So, like most of Russia's defense industry, MiG and Sukhoi turned to the foreign export market to stay afloat. While both companies have been able to overcome the limitations of their supply chain and secure Russia's position as a leading aircraft exporter, MiG has lost out to Sukhoi when it comes to getting the big contracts necessary to stay alive. According to data provided by IHS, since 1991 Sukhoi has exported 252 fighter jets and made $15.4 billion in production sales. MiG has only exported 185 aircraft and made $8.6 billion in production sales. Maxim Sysoyev, a spokesman for the United Aircraft Corporation — a massive state owned company that owns MiG and Sukhoi — said the discrepancies in units produced and the value of their sales are easily explained. "My take is that 'grand' orders from India and China greatly helped Sukhoi in achieving these numbers, while MiG has more 'smaller' customers.

Plus, Sukhois are more expensive, as they are larger than MiGs," Sysoyev said. "We wouldn't say that MiG is struggling, I think this perception is wrong," he added. Losing Streak But while MiG might boost sales by winning a major contract, it has so far been unable to attract buyers for anything outside of its limited core offering of modernized MiG-29 aircraft, built mostly for the Russian and Indian navies. In April 2002, MiG lost a Defense Ministry tender to Sukhoi for the creation of a fifth generation stealth aircraft for the Russian military. MiG continues to work on a fifth generation fighter, which would be lighter than Sukhoi's, but neither the Russian Defense Ministry nor foreign customers have shown much interest in the project. MiG gunned again for a big order in 2007 with the unveiling of a new lightweight aircraft at the AeroIndia trade show: the MiG-35, a highly souped up version of the fourth generation MiG-29.

The company hoped to win a massive $13 billion Indian fighter jet tender with the MiG-35, which would have secured 126 orders for the plane, but in 2012 India decided to go with France's Rafale jet — leaving the MiG-35 without any customers and stuck on paper and in development. "Losing the [stealth fighter tender] and striking out with their new lightweight fighter hurt them badly," Bobbi said. UAC's Sysoyev said that development of the MiG-35 should wrap up next year, at which point deliveries to Russia's air force can begin, but Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said in April that only 30 of the aircraft would be purchased by 2020, news agency RIA Novosti reported. Bad Reputation MiG has also struggled to gain ground amid some embarrassing incidents and other blows to its reputation. As Sukhoi and MiG ventured forth into the export market in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, they didn't initially make a good impression. "International customers soon found out how badly Russian aircraft companies support their aircraft [in terms of repairs]," said IHS's Bobbi.

Nor have matters improved with time: "The Russian supply chain is quite honestly the most inefficient and corrupt industrial system on the face of the Earth," Bobbi said. While this may be fine for Sukhoi, whose fighter jets are well embedded within foreign markets, MiG can ill afford the scrutiny. Other incidents have proved more openly embarrassing. In 2008 Algeria tore up a contract and returned 15 MiG-29 aircraft delivered in 2006 and 2007 for inferior quality, demanding that Russia give them 14 to 16 Sukhoi Su-30 fighters instead, Defense News reported at the time. The cancellation, which nullified a $1.28 billion contract for a total of 34 MiGs, was the first time ever Russian hardware was returned by an export customer over quality concerns. Borrowed Time? Regardless of the fate of the MiG-35, analysts said that MiG can continue to push forward for a time with additional sales of the MiG-29 and maintenance contracts for MiG aircraft in service across the world.

According to Pukhov, the MiG-29 is the perfect aircraft for navies, since the MiG-29K variant has been developed specifically for service on Soviet-built aircraft carriers and their successors. Russia is considering building a new aircraft carrier by 2030, and India is building a new aircraft carrier that will undoubtedly use MiG-29Ks, since they are using them on their current Soviet-built carriers, Pukhov said. But unless the company can successfully launch new projects such as the lightweight MiG-35, or even a new bomber intercepter to replace the old Soviet MiG-31 bomber killers, the future will be uncertain. This year, MiG will deliver just 32 jets, compared to Sukhoi's 116, according to IHS. Sukhoi's backlog of orders is also much larger, with contracts valued by IHS at $7 billion compared to MiGs $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, MiG-29s currently in service are getting older — and in some Eastern European countries now in NATO, the fighters are being replaced with Western makes.

"MiG does have lots of maintenance and upgrade business, but even the latter will disappear as export customers retire, store, scrap and replace their MiG-29s," Bobbi said. "In short, MiG is [living] on borrowed time," he concluded. Contact the author at m.bodner@imedia.ru shares Russian Aircraft Manufacturers :: Russian Companies :: Business & Law :: Russia-InfoCentre Russian Aircraft Manufacturers September 13, 2007 14:18 Nowadays Russia is not sufficiently represented at the world aviation market, since the key roles are played by foreign aircraft manufacturers. However, it doesn’t mean Russians have nothing to be proud of in the field of aircraft construction. Here you can find the information about Russian leading aircraft builders and design bureaus. Sukhoi (JSC) Pavel Sukhoi Sukhoi Company is one of the most well-known aircraft design bureaus dating back to 1930, when Pavel Sukhoi was appointed the head of the bureau. In the following years the company produced several experimental fighters; the long-range DB-2 bomber, an upgraded version of which, called Rodina, was used by the all-female crew under V.S.

Grizodubova to perform a non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East; The multi-role BB-1 aircraft (after 1940 known as the Su-2), which was the first Sukhoi series aircraft to be produced in large numbers (910 planes) and in its short-range bomber and artillery recon/spotter versions took an active part in the Great Patriotic War. After the World War II the bureau focused on construction of new fighters, bombers, and supersonic aircrafts. Te most frequently used name was Su, its different versions are still popular and sold abroad. Su-17 was the USSR's first airplane with a variable sweep wing. Superjet 100 In 1969 the development of a fourth-generation fighter was initiated, and in 1977 the prototype Su-27 fighter made its first flight. In the following years the Su-27 platform was used to produce the Su-27UB, Su-30, Su-32, and Su-33. In the 1990s the company turned to production of civil planes.

In October 2007 Super Jet 100 is to make its first flight, though the company has many orders from different countries now. Over many decades, the Design Bureau's team has developed about 100 aircraft types and versions, with 60+ types put into production, giving a total of 10,000 production airplanes. Today, employing about 28 000 people, Sukhoi Company is totally controlled by the government and comprises 6 subdivisions including Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Sukhoi Design Bureau, KnAAPO, NAPO, Tantk and Irkut SPC. Tupolev (Public-stock Company) Andrei Tupolev Tupolev Design bureau, established in 1922, is known to every Russian citizen, who has ever flown by Tu 134 or 154 planes. They are probably not as comfortable as Boeing models, but you should never forget they were built on the platform of military aircrafts produced by the Company for the Soviet Defense Industry. The Bureau was long time headed by Andrey N.Tupolev – a prominent aircraft designer of the XX century.

For over 80 years the Design Bureau designed and developed more than 300 projects of air vehicles of different types and small aircraft. Almost 90 projects were embodied in metal and about 40 projects were realized in serial production. More than 18 thousands aircraft with “TU” logo were lifted in to the skies of our country in the XX century. In the 1990s the Design Bureau was incorporated in to a new structure – “TUPOLEV” PSC comprising besides the Design Bureau test facility and serial aircraft manufacturing plant “AVIASTAR” in Ulyanovsk. Today the main projects of the company are TU 204, 334, 330, 444 aircraft families and some others. Mig Artiom Mikoyan Mig is another Russian aircraft corporation, which was the first national aircraft manufacturer. Its history dates back to the end of the 19th century, when the DUX factory of home-made industry was established in Moscow. In 1909 after successful construction of the first national airship in cooperation with other factories, the DUX factory starts assembling the airplanes and the same year completes the production of the first airplane.

In the 20-s, state aircraft-building plant No.1 (GAZ No.1) was established on the base of the DUX factory. But the most flourishing period of the company is traditionally associated with the name of Artiom Mikoyan, an aircraft designer. The first aircraft - MiG-1 and its modification - MiG-3 developed by the Mikoyan design bureau were produced in series at the plant till October 1941 when, owing to the threat of Moscow capture by Nazis, GAZ No.1 plant and its design division headed by A.I. Mikoyan were moved to the city of Samara (Kuybishev). Later they returned to Moscow. The developer of the "MiG" family aircraft - Mikoyan Design Bureau which is now an integral part of the RAC "MiG" celebrated its 60th anniversary in December, 1999. During six decades this famous Russian design bureau has developed about 450 projects of combat aircraft, of which 170 were built in prototype form and 94 types of vehicles were produced in series.

During these years the Soviet and Russian aircraft manufacturing plants have produced 60,000 "MiG" family aircraft, of which 11,000 aircraft have been exported to more than 40 countries all over the world. Mig 31 The RAC "MiG" is a full-cycle enterprise combining all aspects of production, sales, post-sale support and overhaul of MiG family aircraft. The MiG Corporation currently employs more than 14.5 thousand specialists. Today the company’s main projects are the Mig 29 fighters family, Mig 31E (a two-seat supersonic fighter having no analogues over the world), IL 103 (Light utility aircraft), Mig 110 (multipurpose transport aircraft) and Aviatika Mai 890 (ultralight multipurpose aircraft). Ilyushin Sergei Ilyushin Ilyushin is commonly famous for its civil aircrafts, big, comfortable and safe. However, Ilyushin Aviation Complex also manufacturers military aircrafts such as IL 76MD, IL 76MF, IL 78MK and some others.

The Open Joint Stock Company «Ilyushin Aviation Complex» (JSC «IL») is one of the oldest enterprises in the area of aircraft development. It was founded in 1933, when the Central Design Bureau, headed by S.V. Ilyushin was established on the basis of the plant пїЅ 39. From the very beginning, the aircraft developed by a new design bureau met recognition and worldwide fame. The flight on October 2, 1939 became the first test for the unknown until then the TsKB-55 aircraft that was named later as the BSh-2 armored ground attack aircraft. In two years this aircraft became famous all over the world and known as a dreaded ground attack plane. The "Flying tank" played an outstanding role in the Great Patriotic War (World War II). Later the TsKB-55 ground attack aircraft was named as the IL-2 after its creator Ilyushin. IL 2 During the post-war years, the ILYUSHIN team developed IL-22 four-engine bomber jet aircraft that began its test flights in 1947. This aircraft really became the first jet aircraft of its class in the USSR.

The IL-22 aircraft test results and development experience allowed the ILYUSHIN team to build up in a short time IL-28 first jet front-line bomber. In the 1970s the ILYUSHIN team developed IL-86 – a first Soviet wide-body airplane for 350 passengers. The aircraft was successfully built up and appropriately certified. During a 70-year period of our enterprise activity, it produced the best samples of combat, passenger and cargo aircraft designed for various purposes. Currently the Open Joint Stock Company «IL» is engaged in the development of the aircraft of the next generation – IL-112V, MS-21, MTA, IL-96-400. Yak Alexander Yakovlev Yakovlev Design Bureau’s first aircraft took of in 1927 and since then lots of Yak family aircrafts have been manufactured. For the time of the Bureau’s existence the corporation has produced more than 200 types and modifications of flying vehicles and over 100 of them were in serial production. The total number of aircrafts the corporation made is over 70 000.

the company produced and produces a great diversity of flying vehicles including trainers and combat-trainers (yak 11, Yak 18, Yak 30, yak 52, etc), unmanned aircrafts (Pchela), vertical take-off/landing aircrafts (Yak 36, Yak 38, Yak 141), passenger aircrafts (Yak 40 and 42), supersonic aircrafts (Yak 28PM and 28U), general aviation aircrafts (Yak 8, Yak 12, Yak 16), land troops gliders and helicopters (Yak 14 and 24), jet fighters (Yak 15, Yak 17, Yak 27, etc) and early fighters (Air 1, Air 2, Air 3, etc.). The diversity of products, that typical for A.S.Yakovlev Design Bureau, is the result of efficient organization of labor as well as its team self-denying and harmonious efforts. Sources:

Question: The Russian Sukhoi Company is famous for making what?
Answer: Aircraft