MiG-29 - Take-off Magazine

Transcription

november 2007 • special edition for Dubai Airshow 2007
MiG-29
under upgrade
[p. 20]
Skat UCAV –
a future of combat
aviation?
[p. 36]
New mission
to the ISS
[p. 42]
Sukhoi Superjet 100
rolled-out! [p. 8]
MAKS 2007 airshow news and novelties
NEW-GEN TECHNOLOGIES
TO SAFEGUARD YOUR SKIES
Russian Aircraft Corporation “MiG” has
supplied over 1600 MiG-29 fighters to guard
the skies of dozens countries in Europe,
Asia, Africa and America. By combining
the operational experience with the latest
technological achievements RAC “MiG”
has developed the new family of multirole
combat aircraft. The MiGs’ superiority
is secured by the newest AESA Radar,
state-of-the-art optronic systems, up-todate onboard self-defense suite, gravitydefying supermaneuverability and other
innovations.
Russian Aircraft Corporation “MiG”
Bld. 7, 1st Botkinsky proyezd, Moscow,
125284, Russia
Phone: +7 (495) 252-80-10
Fax: +7 (495) 250-19-48
www.rskmig.com
November 2007
Editor-in-Chief
Andrey Fomin
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Vladimir Shcherbakov
Editors
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Andrey Yurgenson
Columnist
Alexander Velovich
Special correspondents
Vladimir Karnozov, Alexey Mikheyev,
Victor Drushlyakov, Andrey Zinchuk, Valery Ageyev,
Alina Chernoivanova, Natalya Pechorina,
Dmirty Pichugin, Sergey Krivchikov,
Sergey Popsuyevich, Piotr Butowski,
Alexander Mladenov, Miroslav Gyurosi
Design and pre-press
Grigory Butrin
Web support
Georgy Fedoseyev
Translation
Yevgeny Ozhogin
Cover picture
Piotr Butowski
Publisher
Director General
Andrey Fomin
Deputy Director General
Nadezhda Kashirina
Marketing Director
George Smirnov
Executive Director
Yury Zheltonogin
News items for “In Brief” columns are prepared by editorial
staff based on reports of our special correspondents, press
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.
Editorial staff does not bear responsibility for the contents of such items.
The magazine is registered by the Federal Service for supervision of
observation of legislation in the sphere of mass media and protection
of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. Registration certificate
PI FS77-19017 dated 29 November 2004
Print-run: 5600 copies
© Aeromedia, 2007
P.O. Box 7, Moscow, 125475, Russia
Tel. +7 (495) 644-17-33, 798-81-19
Fax +7 (495) 644-17-33
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.take-off.ru
Dear reader,
You are holding a fresh copy of the Take-off magazine timed with the
Dubai air show that has been among the major respectable international
aerospace exhibitions. Russian participants’ interest in it is owing, inter
alia, to the Middle East returning as a leader in importing Russian-made
aircraft and cooperating with this country in the aerospace field.
Just about two months before this Dubai airshow, the town of
Zhukovsky in the Moscow Region saw the completion of the 8th
International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2007 – the aviationrelated event of the year in Russia. According to numerous MAKS 2007
exhibitors and visitors, the show became far more impressive, with the
number of exhibitors growing noticeably, number of foreign delegations
increasing and infrastructure of the show improving. The status of
MAKS as a business event and a place to conduct scientific fora and
conferences has been bolstered.
For the first time, Russian aircraft makers exhibited their projects
in Zhukovsky under the aegis of the United Aircraft Corporation and
helicopter makers did that under the auspices of the Helicopters
of Russia holding company. Actually, the tendency for aerospace
developers and manufacturers to merge both in Russia and abroad has
been highlighted at MAKS 2007.
This year’s air show was a kind of parade of aerospace novelties that
were aplenty in Zhukovsky – both combat aircraft and missile weapons,
on the one hand, and civil planes, on the other. This is a good sign of
positive dynamics emerging in the Russian aircraft industry, the other
proof being a series of key contracts and agreements made in the
course of MAKS 2007.
In this issue, we have focused on the novelties and events of the
MAKS 2007 show we deem the most important and interesting ones,
as well as on other news of Russian aviation and space industry 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.
I wish you fruitful work at the Dubai air show, useful contacts and
lucrative contracts!
Sincerely,
Andrey Fomin,
Editor-in-Chief,
Take-off magazine
November 2007
AIRSHOW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4
MAKS 2007 sets records
CIVIL AVIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Two more Il-96s built
New aircraft for Russian carriers
Tu-204 acquires Red Wings
“The time has come”.
First airworthy Sukhoi SuperJet 100
rolled out in Komsomolsk-on-Amur
8
‘The time has come’ was the motto of the long-awaited event – the rollout of the
first flying prototype of the advanced Russian regional airliner, the Sukhoi SuperJet
100, conducted by the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company on the premises of the
Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) on 26 September.
The first SuperJet 100 rolled out of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft hangar in a
well-rehearsed top-class ceremony attended by First Vice-Premier Sergey Ivanov
and leaders of Russian and foreign companies involved in the Sukhoi SuperJet 100
programme, airlines and a thousand other guests and media people. The ceremony
marked another stepping-stone to developing the advanced Russian regional jet. The
first flying SuperJet serialled 95001 now enters ground tests in the run-up to flight
trials. According to Sukhoi Director General Mikhail Pogosyan, the maiden flight is
slated before year-end. Andrey Fomin reports from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur
INDUSTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
16
UAC and Aviation of Ukraine to work together
Line of helicopter models to be optimised
Su-35’s debut
Details on MiG-35’s new exterior
Tikhomirov-NIIP unveils AESA developments
Kamov’s new programmes
Second Ka-60 has flown!
Tactical Missiles Corp. unveils new weapons
Novator air-launched premiers
Back to origins (La-225 UAV)
BARUK, younger brother of Dan
Squadron of new unmanned aircraft (ENIKS UAVs)
CONTRACTS AND DELIVERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
20
MiG-29 catches its second wind
Over 800 MiG-29 fighters have been exported since the aircraft entered production,
with many of them still being in service with the air forces of almost 30 countries.
Many of them were delivered from 1986 to 1995 and are now in the middle of their
service life, which makes the users keen on having them upgraded.
Therefore, along with designing and productionising new variants, such as the
MiG-29K/KUB, MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35, MiG Corp. has been pursuing several
MiG-29 upgrade programmes to meet requirements of various customers. At the
same time with introducing advanced avionics and weapons, the upgrade may
include overhaul, conversion to on-condition maintenance and service life extension.
Depending on tasks and the depth of the pockets of the customers, the upgrade may
2
take-off november 2007
www.take-off.ru
20
30
be either deep or ‘lite’. The former option results in the MiG-29SMT featuring the
highest combat capabilities for earlier built aircraft of the type. Such fighters have
already been supplied to countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The MiG-29SD and MiG-29SM offer less expensive upgrade packages, with their
avionics not being subject to such drastic updating. Nonetheless, these versions
acquire a number of advanced capabilities in using latest weapons systems.
In addition to modernising operational MiG-29s, MiG Corp.’s work is in full swing
on developing a heavily upgraded derivative of the Fulcrum, the MiG-35, that will
hit the market after 2009–10. The MiG-35’s advanced technical solutions also are
to be embodied in the MiG-29M/M2 intermediate derivative carrying less expensive
avionics and weapons suites commonised with the MiG-29SMT. Andrey Fomin
reviews MiG-29 upgrade programmes
Irkut makes first Su-30MKA jets for Algeria
Venezuelan Su-30 deliveries on schedule
MMRCA tender kicks off at last
Indonesia to get more Sukhoi fighters
Ilyushin Finance Co. to deliver planes to Cuba and Iran
Ka-32 exports on the rise
MILITARY AVIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Su-34 fielded with Air Force
Growing number of upgraded Su-27SMs
RusAF Chief tries Yak-130 out
Skat: unmanned future of combat aircraft?
36
The Skat low-observable jet-powered combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UCAV) under
development by MiG Corp. became a most interesting and unexpected novelty of the
MAKS 2007 air show. Unveiling the Skat’s full-scale mockup to the media in a MiG
Corp. hangar at LII’s airfield in Zhukovsky on the third day of the show made quite
a stir, because no details on MiG Corp.’s UCAV development had been available and
the Skat’s demonstration at MAKS 2007, albeit planned by the developer, had not
been advertised at all. Permission to unveil the Skat UCAV was given by Russian
President Vladimir Putin on 21 August. As a result, a full-size Skat mockup was
displayed in a hangar of MiG Corp. at Gromov LII’s airfield, rather than at the display
ground, and few media people were invited, among which Take-off editor was lucky
to be
COSMONAUTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
ISS now run by female.
Another replacement in position in orbit
42
There has been a change of the crew of the ISS. In October, a woman, NASA
astronaut Peggy Whitson, headed a long-term orbital expedition for the first time in
history of space exploration. She and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were
accompanied to the ISS by the first Malaysian cosmonaut Sheikh Muszafar Shukor.
He spent 11 days in orbit and came back to the Earth together with the ISS-15
crew – cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin. Alina Chernoivanova tells
about the current mission to the ISS
FSA Chief on prospects of Russian space exploration
Latest space rocket designs at MAKS 2007
Aspects of GLONASS development
www.take-off.ru
3
AIRSHOW | MAKS-2007
MAKS 2007 sets records
Alexey Mikheyev
MAKS 2007’s position among major international air shows in 2006-2007
Participant companies
Le Bourget
2007
Farnborough
2006
ILA
2006
MAKS
2007
2000
1480
1014
787
Participant countries
42
35
42
39
Aircraft demonstrated
140
145
340
279
Total visitors
314,000
270,000
250,000
725,000
Business visitors
154,000
140,000
115,000
127,000
Public
160,000
130,000
135,000
598,000
occupying pavilions, which area totalled
more than 32,000 sq.m. Chalets for
negotiations numbered 76.
Foreign participation increased considerably too. 247 foreign companies
attended – an 84-per cent increase over
MAKS 2005, with 79 of them being
newcomers. The number of national
expositions grew too. The public and
experts had an opportunity to see the
expositions of Germany (25 companies),
France (22), United States (13), China
(14), Belgium (17), Ukraine (15) and the
Czech Republic (8).
A key feature of MAKS 2007, setting
it apart from the previous and foreign air
shows, was the conduct of international
scientific conferences, seminars and
roundtables, in which leading Russian
and foreign scientists, designers and
engineers spoke on latest trends in aircraft development and manufacture.
The flight demonstration of aircraft at
MAKS 2007 routinely one-upped demonstration programmes of other international aerospace shows. 62 aircraft of
4
Sergey Sergeyev
different types and in different versions
flew 328 sorties at MAKS 2007. The
world-renowned display teams Russian
Knights, Swifts and Patrouille de France
attracted a lot of spectators, as did the
Russian Falcons military display team
from Lipetsk, who debuted this year with
a mock dogfight staged by four Su-27
and Su-30 fighters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
attended the opening ceremony of
MAKS 2007, saying that the show could
potentially turn into the major forum
of business partnership in aviation and
space exploration.
The first three days of the air show
were dedicated to business, with over
300 business meetings conducted,
including signatures of contracts, agreements and MoU. The total worth of the
agreements signed exceeded $3 billion.
The key international deals clinched
in the course of the show include
the memorandum on the contract for
six Sukhoi Su-27SKM and Su-30MK2
fighters for Indonesia coming into
force, the agreements on delivery by
the Ilyushin Finance leasing company
of five Tupolev Tu-204s to Iran and two
Tu-204s and three Antonov An-148s to
Cuba, the signature of the memoran-
dum of understanding and cooperation
by Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation
(UAC) and Aviation of Ukraine state
aircraft-making concern, MiG Corp.’s
contracts with Kazakhstan and Poland
on MRO and support of earlier-delivered aircraft, etc. During the air show,
several major deals were made on
making and delivering Tu-204, Il-96 and
An-148 aircraft and engines to power
them to Russian carriers.
In all, MAKS 2007 was attended by
725,000 people – more than 40 per cent
increase over the previous show and the
record for all international air shows!
The event prompted unheard-of interest
of the media, with 3,644 reporters from
713 media covering MAKS 2007 from
46 countries.
Andrey Fomin
Held on Gromov LII’s premises from
21 to 26 August, the 8th International
Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2007
exceeded previous events in terms of the
number of participants and became a
world leading air show. 787 companies,
including 540 from Russia and 247 foreign ones from 39 countries, took part
in the show, which is 133 companies,
or over 20 per cent, more than last
time. 279 civil and military aircraft were
displayed – a 58-aircraft (26-per cent)
increase over MAKS 2005, with 55 aircraft exhibited by foreign participants.
The world’s major aircraft manufacturers
took part in the air show.
The exposition of space-related products grew by more than 30 per cent,
www.take-off.ru
civil aviation | in brief
On 23 August, in a ceremony
during MAKS 2007, Atlant-Soyuz,
Ilyushin and Ilyushin Finance Co.
signed an acceptance report for
the first Il-96-400T (RA-96102) to
enter flight trials with the carrier’s
participation. The new transport is
to be the first aircraft of the type in
Atlant-Soyuz’s fleet being formed
in line with a strategy of entering
regular cargo operations. In this
connection, Atlant-Soyuz Director
General Vladimir Davydov and
his Ilyushin Finance Co.’s oppo-
site number, Alexander Rubtsov,
signed a memorandum, under
which Ilyushin Finance Co. is to
lease five Il-96-400T freighters to
Sergey Sergeyev
As many as two advanced
wide-body aircraft of the Ilyushin
Il-96 family had been completed and
had kicked off flight trials on the
verge of the MAKS 2007 air show.
Leasing company Ilyushin Finance
Co. pays for their construction by the
VASO aircraft plant in Voronezh. The
first of the planes is the lead freighter in the new Il-96-400T version,
which conducted its maiden flight in
Voronezh on 14 August. It was made
for the Atlant-Soyuz air company
owned by Moscow’s city hall.
Alexey Mikheyev
Two more Il-96s built
the airline. The first two of them are
to start cargo operations by the end
of 2007, with the rest to follow suit
before 2010.
The second brand-new Il-96 participating in this year’s MAKS show
was the Il-96-300 (RA-96018) airliner made by VASO in August for
use by the Rossiya state transport
company. The company has in its
inventory two Il-96-300PU airliners
designed for carrying the Russia’s
President and other governmental
officials. Unlike the two presidential
jets, Rossiya’s new buy has the traditional passenger layout.
Several major contracts were
made on the very first day of the
MAKS 2007 air show. Airlines 400,
which operates out of Moscow and
has assumed the Red Wings brand
name this year, and Ilyushin Finance
Co. signed on 21 August a financial leasing contract on six Tupolev
Tu-204-100s. Their deliveries are
slated to begin in 2008, with the
lease’s duration set at 15 years.
On the same day, the government-owned Rossiya airline turned a
six Antonov An-148 regional aircraft
agreement into a firm financial leasing order and signed a contract of
sale of six more aircraft of the type.
According to expert estimates, both
deals are worth in the neighbourhood
of $500 million. Another agreement
between the major Russian leasing company and Rossiya, dated 21
August, is memorandum of understanding on one more Il-96-300
long-range widebody aircraft.
To ensure deliveries of advanced
An-148-100 regional aircraft in
6
Alexey Mikheyev
New aircraft for Russian carriers
2008–10, Ilyushin Finance Co. and
VASO on 23 August clinched a firm
deal on acquisition of 34 airliners
of the type. They are designed for
Russian and foreign carriers. On
the same day, the East European
Air Transport Association (EEATA)
signed a memorandum on acquir-
ing five An-148 planes in the cargo
version for the Polish airline Exin
and Hungarian carrier CityLine
Hungary. Thus, by the time MAKS
2007 wrapped up, the number of
firm orders for the An-148 had
totalled 45, with 89 options. To
fit the An-148s in production by
VASO with engines, Ilyushin Finance
Co. and Motor Sich signed a contract of sale on the very first day
of the air show, under which the
Zaporozhye-based engine manufacturer is to deliver 74 D-436-148
engines and 37 AI-450-MS auxiliary
power units.
www.take-off.ru
civil aviation | in brief
www.take-off.ru
the companies will have different
aircraft, specificities and, to some
extent, destinations served.
The Tu-204-100 (RA-64018) Red
Wings leased on 2 October is the
second plane of the type in the
carrier’s stable. In May this year,
the Roand Image Graphics company
developed a corporate identification of the Red Wings brand for the
Airlines 400 company, particularly,
its aircraft’s exterior design. The
first Tu-204-100 (RA-64020), sporting the new paintwork, left the paint
shop of the Bykovo Aircraft Repair
Plant in June and soon started operating under Red Wings’ flag, albeit
charter flight so far. The aircraft is
owned by Ilyushin Finance Co. too
and had since 2003 been leased to
KrasAir that subleased it to Airlines
400 in the summer.
The Tu-204-100 No 64018 had
been owned by KrasAir since 2000
as well, but it has been bought by
Ilyushin Finance Co. earlier this year
along with another aircraft of the
type (RA-64019). The airliner has a
210-seat single-class cabin. Ilyushin
Finance Co. plans to deliver the
RA-64019 to Red Wings in coming
December. However, Red Wings is
not about stop at that.
At the MAKS 2007 air show in
August, the carrier awarded Ilyushin
Finance Co. a firm order for financial
leasing of six brand-new Tu-204
aircraft in various configurations,
including the Tu-204SM upgraded
model now under development.
Their deliveries are slated to begin in
late 2009 or early 2010. Therefore,
to plug the hole while the carrier is waiting for the new Tu-204s,
the lessor is pondering temporary
commissioning of several earlier-built aircraft of the type, e.g.
those previously operated by Siberia
Airlines (S7) and now flown by
Aviastar-TU – the Tu-204-100s No
64011 and 64017, which were built
in 1993 and 1996. Another Tupolev
aircraft could be delivered to Red
Wings as early as next March.
In addition, at the same time
with delivering the RA-64018 to
Red Wings on 2 October, Alexander
Rubtsov and Konstantin Teterin
signed another document aimed
at developing the carrier’s aircraft
fleet – an agreement on the delivery
of five more Tu-204-100s worth
about $160 million in total.
Thus, in the coming years, the
Tu-204-family planes in service with
Red Wings are to total 14, which will
make the airline the major operator
of aircraft of the type.
The new Russian low-cost carrier
is expected to arrange the booking
of tickets two to three weeks in
advance via the Internet, like other
discounters do.
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Another low-cost air company
is emerging in Russia. Airlines
400, the carrier trying to establish
itself on the market under the Red
Wings brand name, has started taking delivery of Tupolev Tu-204-100
aircraft from Ilyushin Finance Co.
leasing company. The lessor handed
the first aircraft (RA-64018) over to
Airlines 400 for a term of 15 years
during a ceremony at Moscow’s
Vnukovo Airport on 2 October.
“Over the past 18 to 24 months,
we have analysed the proposals
of aircraft and have opted for the
Russian-made Tu-204-100 for
use with the Red Wings project”,
Airlines 400 Director General
Konstantin Teterin says. “We chose
the aircraft because it meets our
corporate business model and our
specificity best”. According to the
carrier’s experts, the Tu-204-100
is to be most effective in domestic
low-cost operations – the opinion
shared by Ilyushin Finance Co.’s
Director General Alexander Rubtsov
who said, “The aircraft of the type
are very competitive and are going
to be 15 per cent more effective in service than the Boeing
737s used by Sky Express”. Today,
the Tu-204-100 from Aviastar-SP
in Ulyanovsk meets ICAO’s emission, noise and navigation precision standards, and its operating
temperature restrictions have been
scratched, with its service life having been extended to 15,000 flight
hours or 15 years of operation.
Thus, Red Wings becomes the first
Russian low-cost carrier operating
a fleet of modern Russian-built
airliners. The company is intent on
flights to be within 3 hr and services to Murmansk, Chelyabinsk,
Samara and Kaliningrad provided
so far.
Now, two low-cost carriers operate from Vnukovo – GermanWings,
which flies Airbus A319s on international routes, and Sky Express
using Boeing 737s on domestic
lines. Red Wings joins them now,
with its experts believing there will
be no competition with Sky Express
on domestic services yet because
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Tu-204 acquires Red Wings
7
civil aviation | event
“THE TIME HAS COME”
First airworthy Sukhoi SuperJet 100 rolled out
in Komsomolsk-on-Amur
‘The time has come’ was the motto of the long-awaited event – the rollout of the first flying prototype of the advanced
Russian regional airliner, the Sukhoi SuperJet 100, conducted by the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company on the premises of the
Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) on 26 September. The first SuperJet 100 rolled out of the
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft hangar in a well-rehearsed top-class ceremony attended by First Vice-Premier Sergey Ivanov and leaders
of Russian and foreign companies involved in the Sukhoi SuperJet 100 programme, airlines and a thousand other guests and
media people. The ceremony marked another stepping-stone to developing the advanced Russian regional jet. The first flying
SuperJet serialled 95001 now enters ground tests in the run-up to flight trials. According to Sukhoi Director General Mikhail
Pogosyan, the maiden flight is slated before year-end.
The aircraft rolled out in Komsomolsk-onAmur on 26 September is actually the second
KnAAPO-made Sukhoi SuperJet prototype.
The first one (c/n 95002) was assembled late
last year and flown by an Antonov An-124
Ruslan heavylifter to Zhukovsky where it has
been undergoing its static tests at TsAGI’s
labs. In all, six prototypes are to be built
under the SuperJet test programme. On the
eve of its rollout, the media were shown in
KnAAPO’s shops the fuselage and wing of
the third prototype (c/n 95003) to be com-
8
pleted before the end of the year, as well as
parts of the airframes of next three aircraft.
All of them are to enter testing next year.
As far as the third prototype is concerned,
three basic fuselage components – F-2, F-3
and F-4 – have been made and mated, and the
wing panels have been completed. According
to KnAAPO’s SuperJet Production manager
Vladimir Bychenko, who spoke with Takeoff’s correspondent, the completed fuselage
nose and tail sections with the empennage
(F-1, F-5 and F-6) were slated for delivery
to KnAAPO by NAPO in Novosibirsk on
30 September, after which KnAAPO was
to launch final assembly of the airframe of
the prototype c/n 95003. Next two prototypes (c/n 95004 and 95005) are designed
for flight tests while the sixth one (95006)
for endurance ones. Fuselage and wing parts
are being made by KnAAPO to fit these
aircraft. Work is underway concurrently on
prototypes, which gives hope that all of them
will join the certification programme at small
intervals during 2008. The programme is very
www.take-off.ru
Yuri Kabernik
Mikhail Pogosyan, Sukhoi’s Director General (left),
and Sergey Ivanov, Russia’s first Vice-Premier, at
the Sukhoi Superjet 100 roll-out ceremony
Andrei FOMIN
All photos by the author
unless stated
tough: the SuperJet is to be certificated in
late 2008 when the first production aircraft
are to be delivered to the launch customer,
Aeroflot – Russian Airlines.
Attending the rollout ceremony, Aeroflot’s
boss Valery Okulov concluded his welcome
address by wishing well to the aircraft’s
developers and voices his hope for the first
SuperJet’s delivery to be on schedule. Sukhoi
Director General Mikhail Pogosyan agreed
that the certification’s unprecedented tight
schedule posed the main hurdle for the programme but his company and subcontractors had been doing their best to stick to the
schedule. Stringent (to the day!) compliance
with the first SuperJet’s rollout schedule is a
good case in point.
At the same time with the certification
tests, KnAAPO will launch production in
2008. According to Vladimir Bychenko, the
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first 13 aircraft are planned for production
next year, while the proactive renovation of
KnAAPO’s production facilities is to allow
production of as many as 30 airliners in
2009. The annual SuperJet output is to be
driven to 60 by late in 2010, and then to 70
afterwards.
About 115 million euros are to be
invested in the production lines overhaul.
The money is to be obtained from several
sources, including the governmental
financing, Sukhoi’s and KnAAPO’s own
funds and money provided by leasing
companies. To date, KnAAPO has used
about 50 million euros on setting up an upto-date engineering centre, which provided
the paperless preproductioning technology,
and on acquiring manufacturing equipment
from major foreign companies.
Productionising the SuperJet, KnAAPO takes
delivery of automated assembly systems allowing
manual assembly work to be minimised. This
steps up quality and precision of the production
processes and saves time. Production aircraft
are to be assembled at the production line, with
the final assembly shop being furnished with
six work areas, namely the automated jigless
fuselage assembly-hole laser assembly area
(the first such area in Russia), wing/fuselage
mating area; powerplant/airframe integration
area, aircraft system assembly area to fit the
hydraulic, oxygen and fire-suppressant systems,
and other areas. At the same time, six aircraft
will be in the assembly shops, moving from
area to area. A production SuperJet is to be
completed in only 28 days.
The SuperJet cooperative manufacture
also involves two more Russian aircraft
9
Yuri Kabernik
Right: SaM146 new-generation turbofan designed
and manufactured by Russia’s NPO Saturn in
cooperation with French SNECMA onboard the
first Sukhoi Superjet 100 flying prototype
plants – NAPO (Novosibirsk Aircraft
Production Association) making fuselage
nose and tail sections and empennage
and VASO (Voronezh Aircraft Production
Joint Stock Company), the manufacturer
of the new airliner’s composite parts and
components that make up 10 per cent of
the structure. The SuperJet’s wing high-lift
devices, elevators, rudders, hatches, fairing
and the inboard leading-edge blendings are
made of composites.
NPO Saturn and SNECMA handle
the development and manufacture of the
SaM146 engine to power the SuperJet. The
two companies set up the PowerJet joint
10
www.take-off.ru
venture to this end. For the first flying
SuperJet prototype to be completed and
rolled out on time, Saturn in August
delivered two production SaM146 engines
(No 005 and No 006) to KnAAPO, people
from the Aircelle company assembled
the engine nacelles at KnAAPO, and the
nacelles then were mounted on the aircraft.
In all, 10 SaM146 engines are to be made in
support of the SuperJet’s certification test
programme.
For the prototype to go on its maiden flight,
Saturn shipped a flight-capable SaM146
(No 003/2) to Gromov LII Flight Research
Institute in July, where it was installed on
the Il-76LL flying testbed (RA-76454) that
was displayed at the MAKS 2007 air show.
The first flight of the SaM146-powered flying
testbed is planned for October 2007. Along
with tests of several SaM146 prototypes at
Saturn’s test rigs since last summer, the flying
testbed trials will allow the required reliability
and safety of the SuperJet’s early and followon test missions to be provided. The SaM146
avionics to fit the airliner. This is done
in cooperation with their Russian partners under the programme. Delivery and
after-sales support will be performed by a
Russo-Italian joint venture, which establishment was announced during MAKS
2007. Headquartered in Venice, SuperJet
International will have 51 per cent of its
stock owned by Alenia Aeronautica (a division of Finmeccanica) and 49 per cent by
Sukhoi. The venture will tackle marketing,
sale and after-sales support of the Sukhoi
SuperJet 100 in Europe, America and a
number of other regions of the world.
According to Mikhail Pogosyan, Alenia
Aeronautica is to play an important part
in the SuperJet 100’s certification under
the EU’s air rules. “The participants in the
SuperJet 100 programme are well versed
in certifying their components on the
European and global markets. This is a very
important factor that will facilitate quick
certification of the advanced aircraft”, he
said.
As of October, the SuperJet 100 orderbook was as follows: 30 aircraft for Aeroflot
with 15 more as an option, 10 for the
Financial Leasing Company, 15 with 10
options for AirUnion, six with four options
for Dalavia, 10 with 10 options for ItAli and
two with two options for Armavia. The first
airliner is estimated to be delivered to the
launch customer, Aeroflot, in November
2008 and to the first foreign customer,
ItAli, in December 2009.
According to Sukhoi managers, the
number of firm orders is to reach 100 by
year-end and total 300 in 2010. Sukhoi
estimates the capacity of the market the
SuperJet 100 can enter by 2025 at 800 aircraft, of which 70 per cent are designed for
export. The production SuperJet’s flyaway
cost will stand at $28 million, according Sukhoi Director General Mikhail
Pogosyan speaking in Komsomolsk-onAmur. At the inauguration of the SuperJet
International joint venture in Venice,
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Financial Director
Left and centre: wing and fuselage assembly for the second Sukhoi Superjet 100 flying prototype
(No 95003). Top: airframe panels manufacture by means of Broetje automatic processing system
will be certificated under the Russian, EU
and US air rules, which will permit the
SuperJet’s operation in any country.
In accordance with the SuperJet’s service-entry schedule and under the existing
contracts, Saturn shall launch deliveries of
production SaM146s in 2008. According to a
Saturn spokesman, 267 SaM146s are planned
for delivery to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft in 200810, of which 167 have already been firm
orders.
Major French, German, US and other
companies handle the development,
manufacture and delivery of systems and
www.take-off.ru
By the time the first flying SuperJet
was rolled out, the developer had snagged
73 firm orders, including 10 from Italian
carrier ItAli and 61 from Russian airlines,
with 41 options. In September, a customer
from the former Soviet Union appeared –
a contract was signed on 14 September
in Yerevan for two SuperJet 100/95LR
extended-range planes and two options for
Armenian carrier Armavia. The deal, which
value is estimated at $55–60 million, will
be financed by Russian bank VTB. The first
aircraft for the Armenian airline is to be
delivered late in 2008.
Maxim Grishanin offered a new assessment
of the market. In accordance with the socalled ‘conservative forecast’, Sukhoi Civil
Aircraft with its SuperJet 100 regional airliner eyes 15 per cent of the global market
of airliners, whose total capacity until 2022
is estimated by Boeing at 6,000 units. Thus,
we are talking here about as many as 900
SuperJet 100s. “Considering the advanced
120-seat SuperJet variant now under development“, Maxim Grishanin said in Venice,
“the total number of possible sales of the
whole SuperJet family may well be 1,800
aircraft”.
11
industry | in brief
UAC and Aviation of Ukraine to work together
Russian and Ukrainian aircraft plants
launch the full-scale production of
the An-148 and set up relevant maintenance centres. Cooperative development of the MS-21 medium-haul
airliner and an advanced wide-body
airliner was pronounced promising
as well.
A month after the MoU’s signature – on 19–20 September, the programmes of the joint An-140, An-74
and An-148 production by Ukrainian
and Russian manufacturers were
presented to UAC and the Aviation
of Ukraine delegations as well as
media and new fields of cooperation
to explore were discussed on the
premises of KSAMC (Kharkov), Aviant
(Kiev) and Antonov (Kiev).
Being more specific on the MoU,
Ilyushin’s Director General/Designer
General Victor Livanov, dual-hatted
as the head of UAC’s Transport and
Special Aircraft Division, told at a
news conference in Kiev that, as far
as cargo ramp aircraft are concerned,
the parties were intent on joint promotion of the An-124, Il-76, An-70, MTA,
Il-112 and An-74 freighters on the
markets, including the Russian one.
In this context, the Ukrainians were
invited to join the MTA programme,
and the Russians indicated their willingness to reconsider their stance on
the An-70 programme.
Feasibility of passenger aircraft
cooperation was mentioned before
the gathering in Kiev by Ilyushin
Finance Co. Director General Alexander
Rubtsov, who stressed that the major
Russian-Ukrainian project in this field
was production and sales of An-148
regional airliners. He said that the rollout of the first Aviant-built production
An-148 was slated for late this year and
that of the first VASO-made one for late
2008. According to Alexander Rubtsov,
the An-148 “has become part of UAC’s
model line” and 96 An-148s are to be
made by VASO until 2010.
The next stage of airliner development and production cooperation
between the two countries, IFC’s
leader believes, may be joint work
on the future MS-21 short-medium-haul airliner slated to hit the
market in 2015–16. In addition, the
Ukrainian side was invited to cooperate in developing a future twin-engine
medium-haul wide-body aircraft that
might replace the current Il-86 fleet.
Antonov Designer General Dmitry
Kiva outlined the current R&D efforts
on a medium transport jet with a lifting capacity of 20 t, a 300–350-seat
medium-haul wide-body airliner and
a 150–180-seat medium-haul airliner
that could serve the base for future
Russian-Ukrainian programmes.
Rounding off the meeting, head of
Aviation of Ukraine Oleg Shevchenko
underlined that he was for “partnership” between UAC and Aviation of
Ukraine and believed Russia’s and
Ukraine’s cargo and passenger aircraft industries had a future ahead of
them only in pooling their efforts.
Andrey Fomin
A key event on the first day of
MAKS 2007 was the meeting of
Russian President Vladimir Putin
and Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor
Yanukovich, who discussed the cooperation of the two countries’ aircraft
industries. Putin and Yanukovich
attended together the MAKS 2007
exposition of Ukrainian aircraft makers and were briefed on the status of
the Ukrainian-Russian aircraft development programmes. Speaking with
Antonov’s Designer General Dmitry
Kiva, the guests discussed the two
countries’ cooperation in resuming the
full-rate production of a newer variant
of the An-124 Ruslan heavy airlifter
and productionising a new-generation
An-148 regional airliner. The Russian
president also called for continued
cooperation in developing and making
the An-70 airlifter.
The meeting of the Russian president and Ukrainian premier resulted
in the signature on 21 August of the
memorandum of understanding by
the United Aircraft Corporation and
Aviation of Ukraine state aircraft production concern, with the MoU providing for furthering the cooperation
in the field of transport and passenger
aircraft-making. To prevent competition due to similar programmes pursued, the parties agreed to stick to
common marketing and pricing policies and run joint scientific and technical research under a common product
strategy. The memorandum reaffirms
the two countries’ readiness to have
12
www.take-off.ru
industry | in brief
Line of helicopter models to be optimised
Alexey Mikheyev
www.take-off.ru
Andrey Fomin
and Ansat (3.5 t), on the other.
The leader of Helicopters of Russia
named the Ansat a very promising
aircraft, but before it hits the market,
he believes, its certification should be
completed first. A balanced marketing policy is being pursued on the
Ka-226 as well. If all goes to plan, 5
to 10 Ka-226s are to be sold in 2007
and about 15 in 2008. Kamov’s and
the Kazan Helicopters’ machines may
find different applications, with the
Alexey Mikheyev
The Oboronprom defence industrial
corporation and Helicopters of Russia
joint stock company (Oboronprom’s
100-per cent subsidiary) have come
up with a concept of optimising the
line of helicopters in production with
the Russian aircraft industry. The
news was voiced by Helicopters of
Russia Director General Yuri Ivanov
at a news conference during the
MAKS 2007 international air show.
According to Ivanov, the Mil Mi-34
and the Kazan Helicopters-developed
Aktai are to be developed further in
the light helicopter class. In June and
July this year, the Mi-34 made its
debut, flown by the crew of Mikhail
Kazachkov and Yuri Kazachkov at
the open championships in the UK,
Italy and France. Oboronprom and
Helicopters of Russia acted as the
principal partners of the Russian
team who took prize-winning places
in all three countries. The Russian
team also flew the Mi-34 at Mil
Design Bureau Cup held during
MAKS 2007 on 24–25 August and
dedicated to the 100th anniversary
of the helicopter advent.
In the class of single-engine
helicopters with a takeoff weight of
2–3 t, Yuri Ivanov says, the feasibility of licence-producing a foreign
machine (possibly, by the Ulan-Ude
Aircraft Plant) is under consideration. The machine would fill the
niche between the lightweight Aktai
(1.5 t), on the one hand, and Ka-226
Ka-226 featuring the unique capability of landing on tiny helipads
and the Ansat being just the thing
for flying rather long distances. In
addition to the Rolls-Royce-powered
Ka-226 variant, another version,
this time powered by a powerplant
from Turbomeca, is to be built.
Russo-French R&D in under way into
the version
According to Yuri Ivanov, in the
4.5t takeoff-weight class, in which
the Mi-54 used to be planned for
development, a different machine
will be developed with foreign participation to meet the FAR and JAR
standards. The aircraft will be able to
carry either Russian or foreign-made
engines. The head of Helicopters of
Russia also brought Kamov’s pro-
ponents unpleasant news as well.
In his view, in the 6.5t class, “due to
the lack of the full-fledged financing”
of the promising Ka-60 and Ka-62
helicopters and “the lack of an engine
to power them, it might be easier to
buy a licence for a foreign machine’s
licence-production in Russia”.
As far as the Mil Mi-17 is concerned, the helicopter will certainly
remain in demand for the forthcoming 10–15 years, Yuri Ivanov
believes. “The machine is upgraded
continually, using the principle of the
so-called reverse upgrade,” he said.
“For instance, the advanced power
train developed for the Mi-28 and a
number of sophisticated Mi-38 components have been adapted for use
on the Mi-17 at the same time”.
Promotion of the Kamov Ka-32,
which goes well on the very competitive markets of North America, Europe
and Japan, will continue as well.
In addition, a joint Russian-Indian
programme will be pursued in the
10–11t helicopter class, Yuri Ivanov
said.
As far as heavy helicopters are
concerned, production and sales
of the Mi-26 will continue. Both
Russian and foreign users need
an upgraded Mi-26. The Russian
Defence Ministry does. In addition,
according to Ivanov, Oboronprom
and Helicopters of Russia, which
have teamed up with Eurocopter, are
taking part in NATO’s work group
for developing a future European
heavylifter. Ivanov maintains that
the Russian helicopter makers have
both technologies and wealth of
experience relevant to developing
heavy rotorcraft.
13
industry | in brief
under development are concerned.
At present, the Irbis-E is in its flight
trials on board the Su-30MK2 No 503
flying testbed, with the first series
of test mission having produced
very good results in basic declared
air-to-air and air-to-surface characteristics.
Both the existing air-launched
weapons (R-73E, RVV-AE, R-27ER1,
R-27ET1, Kh-59MK, Kh-29T and
Kh-31A/P) and unveiled full-scale
mockups of a super-long-range
two-stage air-to-air missile and the
3M-54AE two-stage long-range antiship missile were displayed on the
Su-35’s hardpoints and laid out in
front of it. The two two-stage missiles
in question are both from the Novator
design bureau in Yekaterinburg.
The first Su-35 prototype has been
followed by two more in KnAAPO’s
jigs (the second and fourth prototypes). They are to join the flight test
programme in 2008. At the same time,
several flying testbeds derived from
various Su-27 versions are used in the
trials to test the 117S engine, Irbis-E
radar, a new infrared search-and-track
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Probably, the first flying example
of the Generation 4++ Sukhoi Su-35
heavily upgraded fighter, which is to
replace the current Su-30MK fighter
family on the global market after
2009–10, was the most-high profile
debutant of the MAKS 2007 air show.
Sporting a new yellow-and-brown
camouflage paintjob and No 901, the
first Su-35 had been completed by
KnAAPO by August 2007 and had not
flown by the time the air shows kicked
off. It was shown only as a static display for this reason.
An An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft
airlifted it to Gromov LII’s airfield in
Zhukovsky on the eve of the MAKS
2007 show. After the show had been
over, it carried on with the ground tests
in the run-up to its flight trials. The
maiden flight is slated for November
this year. The aircraft has been fitted
with flying examples of the Saturn
117S engine rated at 14,500 kgf.
Prior to MAKS 2007, the first
Su-35 had been equipped with the
Tikhomirov-NIIP Irbis-E passive
phased array radar (PAR) and, during the show, was displayed with
its nose cone detached for a while.
The full-scale mockup of the phased
array and a scaled-down mockup of
the whole Irbis-E radar were exhibited by Tikhomirov-NIIP as part of its
pavilion exposition. The Irbis-E radar
features, among other things, an
electro-hydraulic actuator enabling
the phased array to scan ±60 deg.
in azimuth and ±120 deg. around its
longitudinal axis. However, the principle advantage of the Su-35’s radar
is its 350–400km acquisition range.
This has been the world record as
far as production active and passive
fighter PARs as well as those now
Piotr Butowski
Su-35’s debut
KnAAPO
(IRST) system, the advanced KSU-35
integrated control system, etc.
The Su-35 is expected to enter
full-rate production and delivery
already in 2009, with its production to continue until a Russian
fifth-generation fighter hits the market. The Su-35’s production also has
become part of the State Armament
Programme for the Period until 2015,
under which its deliveries to the
Russian Air Force are planned.
14
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industry | in brief
Participating in the MAKS 2007
air show, the MiG Corp. placed
emphasis on displaying the ad-hoc
painted MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB
carrierborne fighters under development on order from the Indian
Navy and on the Gen. 4++ MiG-35
fighter demonstrator, known from
the air show in Bangalore, and
upgraded MiG-29SMT. A number
of interesting innovations under
the MiG-35 programme could be
seen at the stand, in particular, the full-size Zhuk-AE active
phased-array radar mockup,
OLS-UEM IRST and a MiG-35
model featuring several design
Tikhomirov-NIIP unveils AESA
developments
At the stand shared with the
State Ryazan Instrument Plant in the
United Aircraft Corporation’s combat
aircraft pavilion, the Tikhomirov-NIIP
instrument research institute
unveiled at MAKS 2007 fragments of
the prototype X- and L-band active
electronically scanned arrays (AESA)
in development to fit the radar system of the future PAK FA tactical
fighter.
AESAs being developed by
Tikhomirov-NIIP are based on
modifications compared with the up-to-date Russian technologies and
electronic componentry, including
flying demonstrator.
The latest MiG-35 will have larger microwave multifunction integrated
vertical tails, whose outline will be
different to that of the well-known
MiG-29 family’s fighters. In addition,
its tail section’s shape will change
as well due to introduction of a large
central tail boom. The improvements
stem from the necessity of housing
extra fuel and from an increase in
the takeoff weight. In addition, the
MiG-35 had as many as 10 underwing weapons stations. It looks like
the aircraft will kick off its tests in
this very layout, with the tests slated
for late 2008 or early 2009.
circuits. The microwave multifunction integrated circuits intended for
the X-band AESA are wrapped around
GaAs heterostructures. Coupled with
innovative AESA systemic solutions,
this allowed the emission level per
antenna channel to be about 10W
with the antenna efficiency exceeding 30 per cent. The L-band AESA
is to be housed by the aircraft’s
moving slats.
Both AESAs implement electronic
scanning within the 120deg. sector and extensive beam shaping to
provide the radar with the effective
lookup and lookdown capabilities.
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Details on MiG-35’s
new exterior
Kamov’s new programmes
is a top-to-bottom upgrade of the
production Ka-32A11BC, including
introduction of an advanced more
streamlined and spacious fuselage
with a cargo ramp at the stern and
an all-new empennage. News about
the Ka-32-10 programme came as far
back as 2001, but the machine must
have been at the design stage so far.
Alexey Mikheyev
In addition to its traditional family of
characteristic coaxial utility and combat helicopters (Ka-226, Ka-32, Ka-50,
Ka-52) exhibited as static displays and
demonstrated in flight at the MAKS
2007 air show, the Kamov joint stock
company provided brief information
on two of its latest programmes at the
show. One, designated as Ka-32-10,
Alexey Mikheyev
Kamov’s second latest programme
unveiled at MAKS 2007 looks far
more revolutionary. It is about
developing the Ka-92 high-speed
helicopter powered by a rigid coaxial
three-blade coaxial main rotor and a
coaxial push-type propeller set in the
tail section aft of the tail unit. Judging
by a poster at Kamov’s stand, the
Ka-92 is designed “for use as a trans-
www.take-off.ru
port means in inaccessible areas
of the country”. There has been no
detailed information offered yet, but
the proof that this is not a dusted-off
design of yester-years is the fact
Oboronprom’s chief Denis Manturov
presented a Ka-92 model to Russian
President Vladimir Putin attending the helicopter makers’ stand at
MAKS 2007.
15
industry | in brief
The second example of the
advanced Kamov Ka-60 medium
multirole helicopter entered the
flight test programme on the Kamov
company’s premises in Moscow’s
Lyubertsy suburb on 21 September.
The machine completed its first
flight controlled by a test pilot crew
of Alexander Smirnov (pilot in the
right seat) and Alexander Papai
(unlike the first prototype, the second machine is the Ka-60U trainer
version with double controls).
The maiden flight of the second
Ka-60 (side No 602) had been awaited
for quite a while. The aircraft was
built as far back as 2003 and exhibited as a static display at the MAKS
2003 air show. Engine runs began
in March 2005, but it took the prototype the long 2.5 years from the
first engine run to the maiden flight,
because the powerplant and power
train were in need of debugging and
additional ground tests. Following the
early test hovers, the Ka-60 (No 602)
was moved to Kamov’s new flight
test base near the Chaklovsky airfield
where it will undergo further trials.
At the same time, the future
of the Ka-60 remains hazy. Yuri
Ivanov, Director General of the
Helicopters of Russia joint stock
company (a 100-per cent subsidiary
16
of Oboronprom), said during MAKS
2007 that the current Russian helicopter type and model optimisation
concept does not provide for actual
steps to be taken to productionise
the Ka-60. “In the 6.5t field (i.e.
the advanced Ka-60 and Ka-62), it
would, possibly, be easier to obtain
a licence for making a similar foreign machine in Russia due to the
lack of the proper financing of these
[Ka-60 and Ka-62] helicopters and
the lack of the engine to power
them”, Yuri Ivanov told at a news
conference in Zhukovsky.
As is known, the Ka-60 was developed to be powered by the RD-600V
1,300 hp (emergency rating –
1,550 hp) engine from the Rybinsk
Engine Design Bureau (now NPO
Saturn). The IAC’s Aircraft Registry
type-certificated the engine on 30
December 2003, but the RD-600V
has not entered production due to
the lack of orders and proper funding. The same goes with the Ka-60’s
power train: the VR-60A main and
KhVR-600A reduction gearboxes were
developed by the Voronezh-based
OKBM Engine-Building Design
Bureau but its testing dragged its feet
due to the lack of money. By the way,
the problems faced by the VR-60A
reduction gearbox are considered to
be among the reasons behind the
delays in the helicopter’s tests.
A manufacturer of the Ka-60’s
production model has not been
selected yet either. The first prototype (side No 601) was made in
1997 by Kamov’s prototype division that later assembled the second prototype made by the MiG
Corp.’s production and test outfit
in Lukhovitsy. Then, the Ka-60 and
Ka-62’s production was planned to
run at the Ulan-Ude Aircraft Plant
(UUAZ) that used to make Kamov’s
Ka-15, Ka-18 and Ka-25 helicopters.
They say the Ka-60 might enter production at another Kamov-related
helicopter plant, Progress, in the
town of Arsenyev in the Russian
Far East, which now builds Ka-50s
and Ka-52s. However, it looks like
neither plant has taken any concrete
steps to productionise the Ka-60
yet.
Meanwhile, the Kamov company
is hopeful for its machine to face
a bright future, all the more so that
no helicopters in the class are made
in this country, and the niche of
the 6.5t helicopter with the 2–2.75t
lifting capacity remains vacant.
Therefore, the company carries on
with its work on the Ka-60, paying
for it, essentially, out of its pocket.
Alexey Mikheyev
Alexey Mikheyev
Second Ka-60 has flown!
The first prototype helicopter, which
entered the trials almost a decade
ago (by the way, it completed its
10 December 1998 maiden flight,
controlled by the very Alexander
Smirnov who took off the second
prototype from the ground as well),
is having bugs ironed out of its
empennage and avionics. Once
this is done, it is to resume flying.
Testing as many as two flying prototypes will allow the programme
to step up its tempo, which, Kamov
hopes, will attract launch customers. In such a case, one could expect
a change of heart of the Russian
helicopter industry’s leaders as to
the programme.
www.take-off.ru
industry | in brief
Tactical Missiles Corp. unveils new weapons
The Tactical Missiles Corp. unveiling as many as three advanced guided
air-launched weapons at MAKS 2007
recently made a stir. The company
displayed such a drastic innovation
as the Kh-38ME small-size multirole medium-range missile designed
to replace a wide range of similar
air-launched guided weapons in the
Russian and foreign air forces’ inven-
Another novelty was the
Kh-58UShKE antiradiation missile.
Unlike the known baseline model designated as Kh-58UShE and fitted with
a wideband passive homing head, it
has a redesigned pop-up wing enabling the weapon to be housed by
weapons bays of future warplanes.
According to Tactical Missiles
Corp. Director General Boris
mised. The programme has won the
government’s support, and the government now has only to take care
that the executive bodies, including
the Finance Ministry, do their job,
Boris Obnosov believes.
There are three components
of funding the development of
sophisticated air-launched weapons – governmental, private-in-
tories (the Kh-25M and Kh-29 missiles in the first place). Thus, the
missile will handle a wide spectrum
of missions. Its characteristics have
not been revealed yet, but in terms
of dimensions, the missile is known
to be between the family of Kh-25M
modular missiles with a launch weight
of about 300 kg and the heavier
Kh-29T/L, which launch weight stands
at 660–680 kg. Like the designs they
are to oust, the new missiles are to be
fitted with various guidance packages,
including TV or active radar homers,
homing submunitions packed by the
cluster warhead, etc.
A full-size mockup of the modified Kh-31AD high-speed antiship
missile featuring an improved powerplant and a large fuel capacity was
unveiled at the air show as well. The
derivative has a longer range over
the baseline Kh-31A.
www.take-off.ru
Kh-31AD
Kh-58UShKE
Obnosov speaking during MAKS
2007, the company devised a comprehensive air-launched weapon
development programme in 2006.
To date, timeframes for delivering
weapons to fit a fifth-generation aircraft have been hashed out, financial
sources have been determined and
in-house cooperation has been opti-
vestor and in-house financing.
According to Obnosov, the corporation’s governmental financing has been virtually unchanged,
accounting for mere 20 per cent,
with the government to start providing the bulk of the funds to
pay for advanced programmes no
sooner than in 2011.
to launch the trials of several latest
designs in the forthcoming months”,
Boris Obnosov said at MAKS 2007.
Thus, cutting-edge air-launched
guided weapons may enter inventory after 2010–12. All of them are
designed to fit future aircraft, particularly, the PAK FA, and the Su-35
and MiG-35 upgrades.
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Kh-38ME
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Yevgeny Yerokhin
Today, the corporation’s divisions
develop virtually the whole spectrum
of air-launched guided weapons, with
the Vympel design bureau developing
all types of air-to-air missiles, the parent company – Tactical Missiles – as
well as Raduga and Vympel working
on air-to-surface, antiship and antiradiation missiles and Region handling
the development of smart bombs – all
for use with the existing, upgraded
and future combat platforms.
“In spite of the current funding and
managerial issues, the company plans
17
industry | in brief
MiG-29 and Su-27 families have
been unable to use such long-range
and heavy missiles weighing 1.4 t
or more.
Novator used to be a specialist
in naval anti-ship and surface-to-air
missiles. At the air show, the company made its debut in the field of
aircraft weapons. The design bureau
has been working in this field for
a rather long time, with the efforts
being based on proven solutions
Bureau and NPO Saturn. The engine
furnishes the missile with the Mach
0.6–0.8 subsonic cruising speed.
The 3M-54E version is a two-stage
design with a supersonic warload
stage powered by a solid-propellant
booster accelerating it to Mach
2.35. The missiles have the normal
aerodynamic configuration with the
pop-up wing and cruciform tail unit.
The solid-fuel sustainer is housed
by the tail section of the missile’s
body and has a belly-mounted air
intake. On hardpoints, the Club
family’s missiles are inside the cruciform-empennage containers, from
which they are ejected by an expulsion charge after the release from
the carrier. It is such containers that
were exhibited during MAKS 2007.
Release can take place within
the 500–11,000m altitude bracket.
The cruising altitude above water
is 20 m, with the 3M-14AE hugging
terrain at an altitude of 50–150 m.
On the terminal leg towards the
target, the altitude over the sea
drops to 5–10 m. The maximum
range of the Club-family weapons
is 300 km. the 3M-14AE’s launch
weight measures 1,400 kg, with
the two-stage 3M-54AE weighing
1,950 kg. Depending on the variant
of the missile, the warhead weighs
from 200 kg to 450 kg.
Another latest product from
Novator, displayed together with
the Su-35 aircraft at MAKS 2007,
is a superlong-range two-stage
air-to-air missile, which provisional
designation ‘AAM’ was stencilled
its mockups. Two full-size AAM
mockups were on display by the
Sukhoi design bureau, attached to
the Su-35 or laid out in front of it.
However, Novator’s stand lacked
any information on the weapon, and
its experts kept mum about it.
Andrey Fomin
implemented in sea-based antiship
missiles and SAMs.
The Club family’s missiles are
derivatives of the 3M-14E and
3M-54E surface-to-surface cruise
missiles widely displayed at various
arms shows, differing only in the
lack of the solid-fuel booster motor.
Thus, the 3M-14AE has become
a single-stage weapon. Its powerplant is made up by a turbofan
engine developed and manufactured
by the Omsk Engine-Making Design
Andrey Fomin
Among advanced air warfare
gear exhibited as static displays
during the MAKS 2007 air show,
the Novator design bureau unveiled
mockups of the Club family’s
long-range air-launched cruise missiles – the air-to-ground 3M-14AE
and antiship 3M-54AE. They are
designed for use as part of the
weapons suites of the MiG-35 and
Su-35 warplanes, along with which
they were displayed at MAKS 2007.
Until recently, the aircraft of the
Andrey Fomin
Novator air-launched premiers
Back to origins
18
stages of development, including the
Krechet (Binom), Colibri and Terrier
(Navodchik) remote-sensing UAVs.
Displayed at MAKS 2007, the
La-225 Komar mobile air recce
UAV is designed to feed real-time
video imagery to the ground control post. The vehicle is powered by a two-stroke petrol engine
(there are several versions of the
powerplant to fit it), can remain
airborne for six hours and keep
an eye on a perimeter up to 300
km (up to 500 km, if a relay capability is available). According to
Lavochkin, the aircraft is at the
flight test and experiment stage.
Yevgeny Yerokhin
The Lavochkin scientific production association, which designed
several versions of jet-powered
drones and unmanned recce aircraft of the La-17 series and then
switched to spacecraft development,
is coming back to aeroplane development. News came during MAKS
2007, when the company unveiled a
mockup of its new UAV bearing the
famous brand name of Lavochkin.
The aircraft is dubbed La-225.
Take-off’s correspondent was
told at Lavochkin that work on
advanced drones had been under
way for several years now. There
are several programmes in various
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industry | in brief
The Sokol design bureau situated
in the city of Kazan is developing
an advanced unmanned reconnaissance/attack aircraft system designated as Dan-BARUK. Its full-size
mockup was unveiled at the MAKS
2007 air show in August.
Take-off’s correspondent was
informed by Sokol that the system
of Dan-BARUK unmanned aerial
vehicles is designed “to conduct
aerial reconnaissance and attack
individual ground targets”. The
operational-tactical self-contained
mobile system includes the UAV,
mobile control post with the flight
control room and a bank of antennas, ground-based maintenance
equipment including the mobile
launcher, transport vehicle and a
mobile service station. The UAV
has a combined programmed and
radio-command control system.
Reliable control of the UAV will
be ensured by the highly secure
data link.
According to the developer, the
system can reconnoitre the battlefield, seeking, acquiring and identifying ground targets and getting the
fix on their location for their subsequent elimination. Targets can be
attacked both with onboard weapons
and by other assets provided target
Yevgeny Yerokhin
BARUK, younger brother of Dan
designation via the ground control
post. The system is expected to
have the round-the-clock all-weather capability.
The UAV’s weapons are housed
by two under-wing pods fitted with
homing or shaped charge/fragmentation submunitions.
The system is being designed
as heavily commonised with the
baseline Dan aerial target system
in service with the Russian Defence
Ministry. The same is true with the
aircraft as well. Its fuselage is 4.6 m
long, with its wing spanning 5.63 m.
The takeoff weight is within 500
kg, and both weapon pods weigh
30 kg and surveillance/targeting
gear weighs up to 90 kg.
The system’s combat radius is
150 km and its altitude bracket
between 50 m and 6,000 m. The
piston engine provides the 150–
300-km/h speed for at least 10–15
hours. The UAV can take off from
the mobile launcher, propelled by
its booster motor. The UAV lands in
a fixed-wing aircraft manner, using
its four-strut landing gear, but it can
descend by parachute if need be,
e.g. if there is no suitable airstrip
available.
Belarus is said to be among the
system’s component suppliers.
Particularly, a Belarus-made powerplant is to be used.
The Dan-BARUK UAV system’s
unveiling at MAKS 2007 in UAC’s
joint pavilion proves the developer is
quite serious about the programme
it is running. The Rosoboronexport
state corporation promotes the Sokol
design bureau’s products abroad.
Sokol and Rosoboronexport have
crafted technical and commercial
proposals for potential customers.
According to a Sokol spokesman,
the programme is focused on export
sales, moreover, there is already a
concrete customer that has not been
named as yet.
Squadron of new unmanned aircraft
and size during MAKS 2007. These
are full-size examples and mockups
of the T24 and T10 light UAVs, larger
T90, T92 Lotos, T92M Chibis and
M830 Svist and, finally, ENIKS’s
largest advanced UAVs – the M850
Astra and E22 Berta with launch
weights of 130 kg and 150 kg,
respectively. The latter two aircraft
Yevgeny Yerokhin
The ENIKS close corporation – a
Russian leader in developing various unmanned aerial vehicles – is
running several development programmes on advanced UAVs for
the Russian Defence Ministry and
commercial users. The company
unveiled an extensive palette of
UAVs differing in layout, purpose
Yevgeny Yerokhin
E22 Berta
M850 Astra
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are aerial targets designed for range
practice of air defence missile system crews, with the Astra being an
air-launched UAV while the Berta is
launched from the ground. The UAVs
land by parachute. Both targets are
powered by ENIKS’s traditional powerplants – pulsejet engines; however, there are the piston-engined
and turbojet Berta variants.
19
contracts and deliveries | project
Piotr Butowski
MiG-29
Over 800 MiG-29 fighters have been exported since the aircraft entered production, with many of them still being in service
with the air forces of almost 30 countries. Many of them were delivered from 1986 to 1995 and are now in the middle of their
service life, which makes the users keen on having them upgraded.
Therefore, along with designing and productionising new variants, such as the MiG-29K/KUB, MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35, MiG
Corp. has been pursuing several MiG-29 upgrade programmes to meet requirements of various customers. At the same time
with introducing advanced avionics and weapons, the upgrade may include overhaul, conversion to on-condition maintenance
and service life extension. Depending on tasks and the depth of the pockets of the customers, the upgrade may be either deep
or ‘lite’. The former option results in the MiG-29SMT featuring the highest combat capabilities for earlier built aircraft of the
type. Such fighters have already been supplied to countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The MiG-29SD and MiG-29SM offer less expensive upgrade packages, with their avionics not being subject to such drastic
updating. Nonetheless, these versions acquire a number of advanced capabilities in using latest weapons systems.
In addition to modernising operational MiG-29s, MiG Corp.’s work is in full swing on developing a heavily upgraded derivative
of the Fulcrum, the MiG-35, that will hit the market after 2009–10. The MiG-35’s advanced technical solutions also are to be
embodied in the MiG-29M/M2 intermediate derivative carrying less expensive avionics and weapons suites commonised with
the MiG-29SMT.
20
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CATCHES ITS
SECOND WIND
www.take-off.ru
21
Andrey Fomin
The first MiG-29SMT prototype (aircraft 917) built in late 1990s and offered for
RusAF featured a wide array of precision guided weapons, new avionics, glass
cockpit, mid-air refuelling system and a huge additional 2,000-litre dorsal fuel cell,
at MAKS 2005 airshow
MiGs in the Middle East
The MiG-29 debuted in the Middle East
20 years ago, in 1987, with a batch of such
aircraft sold to Syria. According to western
experts, about 150 aircraft of the type are in
use in the region now. The major MiG-29
operators in the Middle East and North
Africa are Algeria, Yemen, Iran and Syria.
A number of MiG-29s in various versions
have been delivered to Eritrea and Sudan
over the past decade also. MiG Corp.’s
experts estimate the near-future capacity of
the Middle East and North African markets
for aircraft in the MiG-29 class at 200–250
units. The number includes both deliveries
of brand-new fighters and upgrade of those
in use, with the growth of the number
of MiG-29 operators in the area being a
possibility.
According to the Flight International
magazine (21–27 Nov. 2006), the Syrian
Air Force had operated 48 MiG-29 fighters,
Iran 40, Algeria 33, Yemen 17, Sudan 12 and
Eritrea five by early this year.
The MiG-29s were exported to Syria and
Iran by the Soviet Union between 1987 and
1990. The fleet of the Iranian MiG-29s was
beefed up in the ‘90s with the aircraft that
escaped in 1991 from Iraq that ordered
its most up-to-date combat aircraft to the
neighbouring country to save them from
destruction at the hand of the United States
and their allies in the course of Operation
Desert Storm. Those MiG-29s remained in
Iran, being incorporated into IRIAF later
on.
Algeria received its first fighters of the type
in 1999-2000 from Ukraine and Belarus, with
the two countries having delivered to Algeria
22
before 2002 a total of 36 Soviet-built aircraft
discarded from service by their own air forces.
Yemen got its MiG-29s in the same fashion:
four used fighters were exported by Moldova
(all data of MiG-29 exports have been taken
from the UN Register of Conventional Arms at
http://disarmament2.un.org/un_register.nsf).
Eritrea took delivery of its first MiG-29s in
1998–99 when six to 10 aircraft of the type
arrived from Russia. However, many of them
were lost soon during the war against Ethiopia.
Sudan was next to join the club of MiG-29
users, having bought from MiG Corp. 12
MIG-29SE and MiG-29UB aircraft in
2003–04 under the contract signed in 2001.
The willingness of the users in the region
to have the combat capabilities of their
MiG-29s enhanced (the former Soviet
states sometimes delivered the fighters in
a state that was not satisfactory enough)
and expand their fleets of the fighters of
the type has led to new contracts awarded
to MiG corp. earlier in this decade. Under
the contracts, the manufacturer upgrades
the fighters to MiG-29SMT standard or
replaces them with brand-new aircraft of
the same type.
Yemen became the launch customer for
the MiG-29SMT in the region and in the
world, having ordered upgrade of 20 fighters,
including upgrade of four MiG-29UB
two-seaters, in December 2002. At the first
stage, Yemen got 14 baseline MiG-29s in
the early 2000s, which soon afterwards were
replaced with upgraded MiG-29SMTs.
Delivery of updated twinseaters kicked off in
2004 and that of MiG-29SMT singleseaters
in March 2005, having been completed by
2006.
The next country to field upgraded
Fulcrums was Eritrea receiving two
MiG-29SMTs in 2005. 2006 saw the kick-off
of the deal, clinched earlier in the year, for 28
MiG-29SMT singleseaters and six upgraded
MiG-29UB twinseaters to Algeria. The first
twinseaters went to Algeria late last year,
followed by early single-seat MiG-29SMTs
this year.
As was announced during the Le Bourget air
show in June, early 2007 saw the signature of
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the first contract for MiG-29M/M2 fighters
that are close enough to the MiG-29SMT
in terms of avionics, weapons and combat
capabilities, but are, actually, newly-built
aircraft, with the airframe, powerplant and
avionics fit being the same as those of the
Generation 4++ MiG-35 fighter.
In support of NATO’s East European
members
Since the East European MiG-29 users
Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and
Romania decided to retain their Fulcrum
fleets in service despite joining NATO in
1999–2004, the fighters have to be adapted
to NATO/ICAO standards. The standards
in question are met by the upgraded version
dubbed MiG-29SD. MiG Corp. and a
number of foreign companies have been
upgrading the Slovak Air Force’s MiG-29s
to SD standard since 2005.
Upgrading MiG-29s to MiG-29SD
standard is aimed at adapting their avionics
for compatibility with other NATO
air forces and improving the cockpit
management system to enhance combat
effectiveness. Once upgraded, the fighters
will be fitted with advanced US- and
UK-made communications, navigation
and IFF gear. Modifications to the cockpit
management system include the advanced
MFI-54 push-button colour multifunction
liquid-crystal display (MFD) and PUS-29
systems control panel from the Russian
Avionics company.
MiG Corp. is the MiG-29SD programme
integrator operating in close cooperation with
suppliers of latest gear to fit the fighters –
Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems as well
as the LOT aircraft repair plant in Trencin
(Slovakia) that handles the upgrade of the
Slovak MiG-29s.
Similar modernisation is offered to other
NATO’s East European members operating
MiG-29 fighters with specific improvements
and advanced equipment may vary depending
on the customer’s requirements.
Low-cost option
Cash-strapped countries in Eastern
Europe, Africa and Asia needing inexpensive
multirole fighters are offered the MiG-29SM
low-cost upgrade package. At minimum cost,
the customer can have its fighters furnished
with the improved avionics and weapons
suites, the latter beefed up with sophisticated
air-to-air missiles and precision-guided
air-to-ground weapons. In addition, the
aircraft can be fitted with the mid-air
refuelling system, if the customer wishes so.
Similar solutions have been applied to the
MiG-29BM fighters in the Belarusian Air
Force’s inventory since 2004.
MiG-29SM improvements boil down
to furnishing the N019E (N019ME) fire
control radar with the ARLK additional
radar channel and MVK-4 computer,
modernising the infrared search-and-track
(IRST) system by introducing an up-to-date
data display system with the MFI-54 MFD
and installing a control system to manage
additional weapons. The flight navigation
Piotr Butowski
Andrey Fomin
MiG-29SMT (aircraft 918) became a prototype
for upgraded fighters for Yemeni Air Force,
their deliveries started in 2005. Bottom photo
shows aircraft’s demo flight at Dubai airshow in
November 2005
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23
New Zhuk-ME slotted-array radar
designed by Phazotron-NIIR corp.
featuring increased to 120 km target
detection range, wider scan area and
four-target multiple-engagement
capability
New avionics of Russian and
optionally foreign origin
New glass cockpit with two
huge multifunction colour
LCDs, new HUD and HOTAS
concept implemented
R-27R1 (ER1) medium-range semiactive
radar-guided air-to-air missile
Optionally upgraded
infra-red search-and-track
system
Option for additional
950-litre dorsal fuel cell
In-flight refuelling
system
GSh-301 built-in
cannon of
30mm calibre
RVV-AE medium-range active
radar-guided air-to-air missile
KAB-500Kr TV-guided ‘smart’ bomb
Kh-31P (A) anti-radiation (anti-ship) passive
(active) radar-guided air-to-surface missile
24
www.take-off.ru
MiG-29SMT
upgraded fighter main features
Drawing by Alexey Mikheyev
R-27T1 (ET1) medium-range IR-guided
air-to-air missile
R-73E dogfight
IR-guided air-to-air
missile
Klimov RD-33 Series 3 turbofan engines
with increased to 2,000 h service life being
produced by Chernyshev Moscow-based
Machine-building Plant
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25
Zhuk-ME slotted-array radar designed by
Phazotron-NIIR corp., the core of the MiG-29SMT’s
upgraded weapons control system
and communications suites have been beefed
up through introducing a multifunction
computer, a satnav receiver and an extra
comms radio. The advanced MSP-418K
podded electronic warfare system can be
added as well.
The MiG-29SM’s air-to-air weaponry
is similar to that of the MiG-29SE, but
in addition it can use such air-to-ground
PGMs, as the Kh-29T(TE), Kh-31A and
Kh-31P guided missiles as well as KAB-500Kr
and KAB-500-OD guided bombs. Using a
target designation pod or having the targets
painted by external
laser designators, the aircraft can use the
Kh-29L and Kh-25ML guided missiles and
KAB-500L guided bombs.
Deep upgrade
A deeper upgrade of the MiG-29 fighter,
the MiG-29SMT, is offered to the Middle
East, North African and Asian countries that
are in cash and in need of top-notch multirole
fighters. The MiG-29SMT features the
sophisticated Zhuk-ME radar, a new cockpit
management system, a number of latest
avionics,
new weapons including air-to-ground
PGMs, and an in-flight refuelling system.
Subject to specific customer requirements,
the fighter’s internal fuel capacity can be
increased and individual foreign-made
avionics can be fitted. For instance, the
Yemen-ordered MiG-29SMTs are fitted with
several French-made avionics systems and
those intended for Algeria mount a 950-litre
extra fuselage fuel cell aft of the cockpit.
The MiG-29SMT’s open-architecture
avionics suite is wrapped around the central
computer system with multiplex data
channels, which allows it to incorporate
new avionics from Russian and foreign
manufacturers, should the customer wish
so. Compared with the N019E and N019ME
radars, the slotted-array Zhuk-ME designed
by Phazotron-NIIR corp. has wider scan
area, an acquisition range twice as longer
(120 km), a lower weight, a higher reliability
and the four-aircraft multiple-engagement
capability.
The MiG-29SMT’s cockpit management
system comprises two large MFI-10-6 MFDs
and HOTAS capability. Its navigation suite
includes an inertial/satellite navigation
system and its communications suite has
advanced radios. The aircraft can carry
the MSP-418K EW system in a pod. At
the customer’s request, the MiG-29SMT
can be given an up-rated IRST and radios,
navigation aids and IFF transponders of
other types.
The MiG-29SMT’s weapons suite
is commonised with the
Anton Pavlov
Anton Pavlov
26
www.take-off.ru
Piotr Butowski
MiG-29SMT prototype (aircraft 777) in demo flight
over Zhukovsky out of Moscow, August 2007
Left: MiG-29SMT (aircraft 919) featuring
additional 950-litre dorsal fuel cell became a
prototype for upgraded fighters for Algerian
Air Force being delivered since 2006
www.take-off.ru
27
MiG-29SMT and upgraded MiG-29UB main data
MiG-29SMT
MiG -29UB
upgraded
Aircraft length, m
17.32
17.42
Wing span, m
11.36
11.36
Height, m
4.73
4,73
- normal
17,000
16,000
- max
22,000
21,000
Internal fuel, kg
4,200
3,380
Drop fuel tanks, l
1х1,500
1х1,500
2х1,150
2х1,150
4,500
4,500
- at sea level
1,500
1,500
- at high altitude
2,400
2,230
Max Mach number
2.25
2.1
Service ceiling, m
17,500
17,500
9
9
- without drop fuel tanks
1,800
1,400
- with one drop fuel tank
2,400
2,000
- with three drop fuel tanks
3,000
2,600
- with three drop fuel tanks and
in-flight refueling
6,000
-
RD-33
Series 3
RD-33
Series 2 (3)
2x8,300
2x8,300
MiG-29SMT’s glass cockpit: the main sighting and navigation information is displayed
on two huge multifunction colour LCDs and HUD with HOTAS concept is implemented
Take-off weight, kg:
Max combat load, kg
Max g load
Anton Pavlov
Max speed, km/h:
Ferry range, km:
Powerplant type
Take-off thrust, kgf
Weapons
Number of hardpoints
6
6
2xR-27ET1
(T1)
2xR-27ET1
(T1)
Air-to-air missiles
- medium range
6xRVV-AE
- close range
6xR-73E
6xR-73E
2xKh-29T (TE)
2xKh-29T (TE)
2xKh-29L,
Kh-25ML*
2xKh-29L,
Kh-25ML*
Air-to-surface missiles
- general purpose
- anti-ship
2xKh-31A
-
- anti-radiation
2xKh-31P
2xKh-31P
Guided bombs
4xKAB-500Kr
(OD)
4xKAB-500Kr
(OD)
4xKAB-500L*
4xKAB-500L*
GSh-301
GSh-301
Internal cannon of 30mm caliber
* with usage of target designation pod or external target
designation
MiG-29SM and Fulcrum’s latest versions –
the MiG-29K/KUB and MiG-35 in terms of
the existing production weapons.
Important features of the MiG-29SMT are
its extended service life and reduced operating
cost. To maintain the relevant serviceability
and combat readiness of the aircraft and
ensure their flight safety, the fighters are
now subject to on-condition maintenance.
The assigned life has been extended to 4,000
flight hours and the service life to 40 years
(production MiG-29s had 2,500 hours and
20 years respectively). MiG-29SMTs are
powered by RD-33 Series 3 engines, which
assigned life has been extended to 2,000
hours. The RD 33 Series 3 is in production
with the MMP Chernyshev Moscow-based
Machine-building Plant.
On-condition
operation
includes
operational maintenance (preflight and
between-flights servicing totalling within
25 min., as well as post-flight action up
to 45 min.) and periodic maintenance,
including dedicated inspections and tests,
periodic maintenance every 200 flight hours
logged or 24 months of operation, technical
assessment and reconditioning every
1,000 flight hours logged (for comparison:
during planned-maintenance operation of
earlier-built fighters of the MiG-29 family,
periodic maintenance was run every 100 flight
hours or 12 months, scheduled maintenance
every 200 fight hours (24 months) and
overhaul every 800 and 1,500 flight hours, or
9 and 17 years respectively).
MiG-29SMT fighters can result from
both upgrading the existing MiG-29s
(MiG-29SEs) and making new aircraft.
MiG-29SMT deliveries to the launch
customers Yemen and Eritrea kicked off in
2005 and to Algeria in late 2006.
The two-seat combat trainer variant of the
MiG-29SMT was designated as ‘upgraded
MiG-29UB’, or MiG-29UBT. It has the
same avionics suite and cockpit management
system, save for the radar. Its weapons fit
matches that of the MiG-29SMT, except
for the radar homing missile capability (an
Piotr Butowski
MiG-29SMT prototype (aircraft 777) with different PGMs being displayed at Dubai airshow
in November 2005
28
www.take-off.ru
emulation mode has been provided for
trainees to practice firing radar homing
missiles.
Upgraded MiG-29UB (MiG-29UBT)
combat trainers will result from conversion
of the existing MiG-29UBs and from
construction of new aircraft in this version by
the Sokol aircraft plant in Nizhny Novgorod.
Foreign customers stated taking delivery of
modernised two-seaters in 2004 with the
arrival of such aircraft to Yemen, and Algeria
followed suit in 2006.
The advanced MiG-29M single-seat and
MiG-29M2 two-seat derivatives now under
development by MiG Corp. are to be similar
enough with the MiG-29SMT in terms
of the avionics and weapons suites and,
hence, combat capabilities. Both MiG-29M
and MiG-29M2 are commonised heavily,
sporting virtually identical fuselage nose
sections, cockpit canopies and integrated
mid-air refuelling systems. The MiG-29M
and MiG-29M2 aircraft differ only an extra
fuel tank fitted to the singleseater instead
of the rear cockpit. A similar solution
has been applied to the MiG-29K and
MiG-29KUB carrierborne fighters now in
production for the Indian Navy and will be
embodied in the future MiG-35 single-seat
and MiG-35D two-seat fighters. As a matter
of fact, the MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35(D)
are to be commonised considerably in
terms of design, with the fighters to differ
only in their avionics and weapons fits. This
will allow a MiG-29M/M2 cost reduction,
making the aircraft more affordable to
certain customers. In addition, the avionics
suite proven on the MiG-29SMT will allow
a considerable reduction in the MiG-29M/
M2’s development time from snagging
a contract to delivering first production
fighters.
At the current Dubai air show, MiG
Corp. is displaying the MiG-29M-OVT
experimental supermanoeuvrable fighter
prototype boasting a modified control
system and all-aspect swivelling-nozzle
engines. The aircraft has been used
to test the technology ensuring
supermanoeuvrability in air battle and in
on-route flight. The technology can be
introduced into advanced MiG versions,
particularly, the MiG-29M/M2 and
MiG-35, if the customers wish so.
MiG-29M-OVT debuts in skies of Dubai
The main flying exhibit, demonstrated by Russia at the current air show in Dubai, is the MiG-29M-OVT supermanoeuvrable experimental fighter. With MiG
Corp.’s test pilots Pavel Vlasov and Mikhail Belyayev at the controls, the MiG-29M-OVT has impressed the public during the air shows in Berlin, London, Paris
and Bangalore, India. Now the star of the air shows is making its debut in the skies of Dubai. It would not be an overstatement to say that the latest MiG lacks
rivals among other advanced fighters owing to its unique characteristics. However, the aircraft has been developed for other purposes than showing off at air
festivals. Should customers wish so, its supermanoeuvrability technology based on all-aspect thrust vector control can be fitted to the latest MiG-29 versions
being proactively promoted on the global market, including in the Middle East.
Drawing by Andrey Zhirnov
MiG-29M-OVT main data
Aircraft length, m ...............................................................17.37
Wing span, m.....................................................................11.36
Height, m .............................................................................4.73
Normal take-off weight, kg ...............................................16,100
Internal fuel, kg ..................................................................4,400
Max speed, km/h:
- at sea level ......................................................................1,500
- at high altitude .................................................................2,300
Max Mach number .................................................................2.2
Service ceiling, m ............................................................17,500
Max g load ................................................................................9
Ferry range with three drop fuel tanks, km .........................3,000
Powerplant type ........................................................RD-33 OVT
Take-off thrust, kgf .........................................................2x8,300
www.take-off.ru
29
contracts and deliveries | in brief
Irkut makes first Su-30MKA jets for Algeria
The Irkut corporation will have delivered the first six Sukhoi Su-30MKA
multirole fighters to Algeria before
year-end, Irkut President Oleg
Demchenko said at MAKS 2007. The
deliveries will be in compliance with the
contract landed by Rosoboronexport
last year. Under the deal, the Irkutsk
aircraft plant will make 28 Su-30MKAs
and deliver them to the Algerian Air
Force in 2007–09.
Sukhoi derived the fighter from the
Su-30MKI and Su-30MKM exported
to India and Malaysia respectively,
from which the derivative differs
only in certain avionics. The high
degree of commonality with the
production Su-30MKI/MKM enabled
the Su-30MKA developer to skip
making flying prototypes, launching full-rate production instead.
Following factory tests, new-build
warplanes will be shipped to the
customer at once.
According to Oleg Demchenko,
the first two Su-30MKAs flight-tested
by Irkut’s test pilots were ferried this
summer to the Sukhoi design bureau
for flight trials. They have been flown
at the Defence Ministry’s Flight Test
Centre (GLITs) in Akhtubinsk. Three
more aircraft were built in September.
They are designed for converting the
first team of Algerian Air Force pilots
who are having ground school at
Sukhoi’s training centre in Zhukovsky
(Moscow Region), with the flight
training phase to take place there as
well. To this end, three Su-30MKAs
were ferried from Irkutsk to Gromov
LII’s airfield in Zhukovsky.
“Following the flight trials
and training the Algerian crews,
the aircraft will go to Algeria,”
Demchenko is quoted as saying by the Interfax-AVN news
agency. The Irkut president also
said the plant in December would
assemble one more production
Su-30MKA that would be shipped
to the customer at once. Under
the contract, the Russian company will have delivered the first
Su-30MKA six-ship tranche to
Algeria by early next year.
The remaining 22 aircraft will
be delivered during 2008–09, after
which a new deal might be clinched,
Irkut’s president admits. The current
contract provides for an option for
28 Su-30MKAs more. “The deal
under the option may be finalised
based on the result of operating
the aircraft to be delivered under
the first contract”, Oleg Demchenko
said at MAKS 2007.
Venezuelan Su-30 deliveries on schedule
The contract on delivering 24
Sukhoi Su-30MK2 multirole fighters
to Venezuela are right on schedule,
Sukhoi Director General Mikhail
Pogosyan said late in September.
“We have shipped as many as eight
aircraft to Venezuela this year and
will have delivered four more by
the end of the year”, he said, “The
Sukhoi company has always done
its utmost to meet its contractual
obligations”.
The deal for 24 Su-30MK2 fighters was clinched with Venezuela
in July 2006. The first four aircraft arrived in Venezuela as far
back as late last year. Su-30MK2s
are made at KnAAPO plant in
30
take-off novermber 2007
Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Then
An-124 Ruslan heavylifters bring
them to the customer two fighters
per sortie. Once in Venezuela, they
are assembled and check-flown by
Russian pilots and then accepted
by the Venezuelan Air Force. The
service will have had as many as 16
Sukhoi jets by late this year, with
the remaining eight to be delivered
by KnAAPO next year. This done,
Rosoboronexport expects to snag
a new Venezuelan contract for 24
fighters more. If this goes to plan,
Hugo Chavez might be offered more
sophisticated Su-35s that should
be ready for delivery in 2009–10. At
present, Venezuela is regarded as
a most probable launch customer
for the Su-35. Rosoboronexport
Director General Sergey Chemezov
confirmed this, talking to the media
in Komsomolsk-on-Amur late in
September.
www.take-off.ru
Alexey Mikheyev
MMRCA tender kicks off at last
The Indian government issued on
28 August the request for proposals under the MMRCA (Medium
Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) programme stipulating for the Indian
Air Force (IAF) to acquire 126
medium multirole fighters. Thus,
a largest combat aircraft tender in
history (estimated to be worth more
than $10 billion) kicked off officially. Until that date, only requests
for information had been sent to
potential contenders. Based on this
preliminary stage’s results, a group
of principal aspirants for the multibillion-dollar deal has emerged. Six
companies from the United States,
Western Europe and Russia are will-
ing to take part in the Indian tender – Lockheed Martin and Boeing
with their F-16 Fighting Falcon and
F-18E/F Super Hornet respectively,
Dassault with its Rafale, SAAB and
BAE Systems with their JAS39
Gripen, Eurofighter with the EF2000
Typhoon and Russia’s MiG Corp.
with its MiG-35.
The proposals should be submitted within six months, i.e. by
late February 2008. The first stage
of the tender – the three-month
evaluation of the six contenders’
demonstrators – is to begin already
next June. Then, IAF’s experts will
go to the fighters’ countries of
origin to evaluate the capabilities of
their weapons suites. A short list of
contenders is to be approved early
in 2009, with a final decision to
be taken based on the short list in
2012–14 following the final evaluation of the remaining contenders
(that stage will mostly be focused
on the commercial side of the deal,
particularly, offset programmes
offered by the seller, which at
the Indian government’s request
should total 50 per cent of the
contract’s value). With a decision
taken, a contract is to be awarded
to a winner that will deliver 18
fighters to IAF, with the remaining 108 to be licence-produced by
Indian corporation HAL.
Indonesia to get more Sukhoi fighters
During the MAKS 2007 air
show, an important event was the
signature on its very first day, 21
August, of the protocol putting in
www.take-off.ru
force the contract, under which
the Indonesian Air Force will
accept six more Sukhoi fighters –
three upgraded Su-27SKM sin-
gleseaters and three Su-30MK2
twin-seaters worth a total of $335
million during 2008–10. The aircraft will be an addition to the
two Su-27SKs and two Su-30MKs
bought by Indonesia in 2003.
News about the preparations
for signing the contract came a
year ago, when the two countries
forged an agreement on a Russian
loan to finance Indonesia’s acquisition of the Russian fighters. The
first several planes of the new
tranche are to be delivered late
in 2008.
According to expert opinion, the
Generation 4++ MiG-35 multirole
being developed and offered by the
MiG Corp. will be among the main
contenders in this race. The company had completed a MiG-35 technology demonstrator based on the
MiG-29M2 No 154 by early 2007.
The demonstrator was displayed at
the Aero India 2007 air show in
Bangalore in February. In all probability, the aircraft will be used in the
first phase of the competitive trials
in India next summer. MiG Corp.
plans to launch testing prototype
(preproduction) MiG-35s in the final
configuration, intended for IAF, in
late 2008 or early 2009.
Soon after MAKS 2007, Russian
President Vladimir Putin paid an
official visit to Indonesia, during which an intergovernmental
agreement was signed on Russia
providing a $1 billion state credit
to Indonesia to finance its procurement of advanced Russian
arms.
The latter may include about 10
Mil Mi-17 helicopters, five more
Mi-35 attack helicopters and
an additional tranche of Sukhoi
fighters – Indonesian Defence
Minister Juwono Sudarsono said
the country would continue to
buy Sukhoi fighters to bring their
number up to 18.
31
Ilyushin Finance Co. to deliver planes to Cuba and Iran
MAKS 2007. Levitin explained that
both countries have “aircraft deficit
that we should remedy by forming
joint routes”. In this connection,
the transport minister tasked the
Federal Air Transport Service to look
into the issue in cooperation with
domestic carriers. Iranian Transport
Minister Mohammad Rahmati said,
“Russian-made aircraft have flown in
the Iranian skies for many years, and
we continue our cooperation”.
The second agreement was
made by Ilyushin Finance Co. and
Cuban company Aviaimport S.A. It
is a memorandum on delivering two
Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft and three
Antonov An-148 regional airliners to
Cubana Aviacion. Deliveries to the
Cuban carrier will take three years
from 2008 to 2011. The value of the
deal exceeds $150 million. To date,
Ilyushin Finance Co. have provided
Cuba with three Ilyushin Il-96-300s
and two Tupolev Tu-204s (aTu-204CE
freighter and a Tu-204-100E passenger airliner, which participated
in the airshow and was accepted
by Cubana Aviacion right at MAKS
2007).
airworthiness standard, as FAR-29 in
effect in that country (hence the BC
letters in the chopper’s designation to
indicate British Columbia, a province
of Canada) has been in demand in
several European countries of late.
The first such machines were delivered to Spain in 2004, with one more
shipped to the Heliswiss company
in Switzerland. Spain’s HeliSurEste
then received two Ka-32A11BCs in
2005 and five more last year, having become the major operator of
the helicopters of the version (nine
machines that became 11 this year).
The growing Ka-32A11BC’s popular-
ity in Europe is contributed to by the
work underway to have the aircraft
certificated under the EASA air rules,
with the certification expected to wrap
up this year.
By the way South Korea remains
a traditional market for the Ka-32,
with the number of the machines of
the type in use in that country has
long exceeded 50. Over the past three
years, South Korea took delivery of
two Ka-32Ts for its forest protection
administration in 2004 and 2005 and
three Ka-32A04 for the ROK Air Force
in 2004 and another four in 2005. Two
more Ka-32As were ordered by South
Korea and built last year.
The export of Ka-32s has been
growing steadily. While it totalled
seven aircraft in 2006, this year’s plans
provide for delivery of at least nine
helicopters, with new Ka-32A11BC
users – Portugal and Japan – appearing specifically in 2007.
The Ka-32 has proven itself abroad
in logging and fire-fighting operations
as a dependable aircraft easy to use
and maintain. Designed in Kamov’s
trademark coaxial rotor fashion, the
helicopter features high manoeuvrability and hover stability, which is
especially important, e.g. in erecting
work or SAR operations in mountainous terrain or among high-rise
buildings.
Alexey Mikheyev
A ceremony of signing the contracts for delivery of advanced Russian
aircraft to Cuba and Iran was held on
22 August during the MAKS 2007 air
show. The contract for five Tupolev
Tu-204-100s worth over $200 million
in total was signed by Russian leasing
company Ilyushin Finance Co. and
Iranian air carrier Iran AirTour. The
first delivery is to be taken in 2009.
In the wake of the signature of the
contract, Russian Transport Minister
Igor Levitin said that Russia and Iran
intended to use their transit capabilities and air route network, noting that
the decision had been taken during the bilateral talks between Iran’s
and Russia’s transport leaders at
Ka-32 exports on the rise
Alexey Mikheyev
As
Take-off
learnt
from
Oboronprom company, all six new
Kamov Ka-32A11BC helicopters have
been delivered to Portugal by late
October. The delivery took place under
the $50 million contract signed in May
2006 in the wake of a tender held by
the Interior Administration Ministry of
Portugal. A group of Kamov experts is
now in Portugal, accepting the aircraft
together with Interior Administration
Ministry specialists. Acceptance
includes test flights and training of
air and ground crews. The machines
delivered were made by the Kumertau
Aircraft Production Company
32
(KumAPP), fitted with additional
advanced flight navigation equipment
and can handle fire-fighting, search,
rescue and evacuation missions in
addition to the tasks helicopters of
the type fulfil.
Earlier this year, another two
Ka-32A11BC helicopters have been
built for delivery to Spain, one more
Ka-32A to South Korea and the first
Ka-32A11BC to Japan. In all, 18 aircraft
in the Ka-32A11BC version have been
made and delivered to 10 countries.
The Ka-32A11BC variant, which
was derived in its day on order from
Canada and meeting such stringent
www.take-off.ru
military aviation | in brief
In Lipetsk, the Su-34 No 02 flew
its first mission with CCTC chief
Maj. Gen. Alexander Kharchevsky
and Chkalov GLITs instructor-pilot
Col. Vyacheslav Petrusha at the
controls. They were followed by
two more CCTC crews of pilots
Yuri Sukhkov and Yuri Gritsayenko
with navigators Alexander Mayorov
and Nikolay Kabantsov. At the first
stage, the pilots practiced takeoff,
basic handling and landing procedures.
According to CCTC commander’s assistant Lt.-Col. Vladimir
Kokhlenko, speaking with a
Take-Off correspondent, future
scheduled flights will be focused
on “certifying the centre’s pilots
and navigators for the subsequent
beginning of a planned study into
the plane in line with the tasks
assigned”. The first week after the
Su-34’s arrival saw CCTC chief
Maj.-Gen. Kharchevsky, his deputy
for research Col. Sushkov and chief
navigator Col. Nikolay Kabantsov
qualified for solo flights on the
Su-34. “It is an awesome aircraft,
its engine power is similar to that
of a bomber and its handling is like
that of a fighter”, Kharchevsky said,
having completed several flights.
Once the centre has completed
its familiarisation with the new aircraft, it will recommend the Su-34’s
operating procedures and tactics.
In the near future, CCTC will handle
on-site ground-school and flight
conversion of flying and ground
crews in combat units. To this
end, an up-to-date Su-34 simulator will be set up. It maximises
the simulation of real-life flight and
combat procedures as realistically
as possible. However, transition
to en-mass conversion of combat
pilots will begin once Su-34 start
fielding with RusAF combat units in
sufficient numbers. To date, NAPO
has delivered only two production
aircraft, with six Su-34 prototypes
and LRIP aircraft more undergoing
the joint official trials in Akhtubinsk
and Zhukovsky. If all goes to plan,
CCTC could be furnished with several aircraft more once they have
completed their trials in Chkalov
GLITs.
The Su-34 entered full-rate production in 2006 under a three-year
contract. Alas, one should hardly
expect that the manufacture and
delivery of six such aircraft before
year-end would not slip behind
schedule. Meanwhile, the plan provided for making up to 10 aircraft a
year since 2008.
According to first Vice-Premier
Sergey Ivanov speaking in public
on his visit to NAPO last year,
24 production Su-34s are to be
built to form an air regiment the
three-year contract. As many as
58 aircraft were to be delivered
by 2015. In all, “RusAF needs
about 200 aircraft of the type”,
says Mikhail Pogosyan, Sukhoi’s
Director General, but the company
plans “to make a total of 300–400
Su-34 aircraft”, considering the
prospects the fighter-bomber’s
export variant, the Su-32, is facing on the global market.
A.Gordeyev
The first Sukhoi Su-34 multirole
fighter-bomber has been accepted
by the Russian Air Force’s (RusAF)
Combat and Conversion Training
Centre (CCTC) in Lipetsk recently.
Another step towards the aircraft’s
fielding with the service was taken
on 12 September 2007 when
Lipetsk CCTC crews flew the Su-34
on its first training missions.
The Su-34’s delivery to CCTC
was planned to take place as far
back as late last year, as was stated
officially during the first production Su-34’s rollout ceremony in
Novosibirsk in July 2006. However,
NAPO’s assembly and debugging
work on the first two planes followed
its own track, with the first aircraft
completing its maiden flight on 12
October 2006. On 15 December,
both production Su-34s No 01 and
02 were delivered to the Air Force
while remaining at NAPO, in fact.
Upon completion of the factory trials, the Su-34 No 01 was ferried
to the Russia’s Defence Ministry’s
Chkalov Flight Test Centre (GLITs)
in Akhtubinsk for military test pilots
to try it. The second production
fighter-bomber, the Su-34 No 02,
had been ready to ferry this summer, which it did on 3 August, hopping to CCTC in Lipetsk. CCTC flight
and ground crews spent a month
on familiarising themselves with the
aircraft and then started scheduled
training flights on 12 September.
A.Gordeyev
Su-34 fielded with Air Force
34
www.take-off.ru
military aviation | in brief
Growing number of upgraded Su-27SMs
On 15 August 2007, the
Russian Defence Ministry’s Web
site (www.mil.ru) reported that
the fighter air regiment stationed
at Tsentralnaya Uglovaya AFB in the
Primorsky Territory, Russia’s Far
East, was about to convert to the
upgraded Su-27SM fighters. This
must be the 22nd Guards Fighter
Air Regiment, 11th Air Force and
Air Defence Army, which, thus, will
be the second RusAF regiment to
switch to the Su-27SM.
As is known, the first five combat
Su-27SM fighters were delivered
to the Lipetsk-based Combat and
Conversion Training Centre (CCTC)
following their upgrade by KnAAPO
in December 2003. CCTC subjected them to operational evaluation,
with the opeval’s results serving
the base for Su-27SM operating
and maintenance manuals devised
for combat unit personnel. Then,
under a three-year deal between
the Defence Ministry and KnAAPO,
24 Su-27SM aircraft more were
delivered between December 2004
and July 2006 to the 23rd Fighter
Air Regiment at Dzyomgi AFB in
Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Even before the first contract
was fulfilled, KnAAPO had launched
overhaul and reconditioning of the
airframes of another first six aircraft
awaiting the upgrade to the new
standard. A group of Tsentralnaya
Uglovaya pilots went on a temporary
duty to CCTC in Lipetsk for theoretical and flight conversion training.
“Three upgraded Su-27SM fighters’ acceptance ceremony was
held by a Guards fighter air regiment in the Primorsky Territory,”
the Defence Ministry’s Web site at
www.mil.ru reported on 3 October.
“At present, ground crews are
familiarising themselves with the
upgrades, while flying crews led by
Maj.-Gen. Alexander Kharchevsky
are completing the conversion
training course at CCTC in Lipetsk.
In the near future, the regiment
in the Primorsky Territory are to
accept of two more aircraft, with
the modernised warplanes to be
ferried to their air base in the
vicinity of Vladivostok.”
The Defence Ministry’s official
reports on the Su-27SM fighter’s
forthcoming arrival to the 22nd
Regiment indicates certain progress
made under the combat units’ aircraft upgrade programme. Another
case in point is the statement by
Sukhoi’s Director General Mikhail
Pogosyan who spoke at MAKS 2007
on 22 August about the delivery of
“more than 20 upgraded aircraft”
to RusAF, planned for this year (he,
probably, meant both the Su-27SMs
and Su-25SMs).
As Oleg Demchenko said during
the air show in Paris in June,
the State Armament Programme
for the Period until 2015 stipulated the number of aircraft, with
additional orders being mulled
over. The wings of the Yak-130s
earmarked for RusAF will be
made in Irkutsk and airframes
in Nizhny Novgorod, with the
Nizhny Novgorod-based Sokol
plant to handle the combat trainers’ final assembly as well.
In all, the Irkut Corp. has plans
for over 150 Yak-130s to be delivered in the coming years in cooperation with Sokol. According to Oleg
Demchenko, this year, the aircraft
plant in Irkutsk has launched work
under the first foreign contract for
aircraft of the type, under which
16 Yak-130s are to be exported to
Algeria. The first six aircraft are
to be delivered in 2008, with the
remaining 10 to follow suit in 2009.
Concurrently, talks are underway with other potential foreign
buyers. Oleg Demchenko says his
company has 82 orders for the
Yak-130. “We are facing the future
with confidence,” Irkut’s president said, “Air forces around the
world are to start renovating their
trainer aircraft fleets in 2012. Only
Russia, Italy and South Korea can
now offer such advanced trainers.
We are leading other countries by
1.5–2 years in this respect and,
hence, expect to get a large slice
of the market.”
Col.-Gen. Alexander Zelin,
commander-in-chief, Russian Air
Force, visited the Yakovlev design
bureau on 5 September and completed an inspection flight on the
advanced Yak-130 combat trainer
at the Gromov LII Flight Research
Institute. The service chief’s visit
to Yakovlev was aimed at assessing whether drafting a preliminary
report on the Yak-130’s official tests
was on schedule, with the report to
be released in November this year.
Having flown the Yak-130,
Col.-Gen. Zelin praised the aircraft,
emphasising its flight performance,
“The aircraft is easy to control. It
is a manoeuvrable plane featuring a good thrust-to-weight ratio
and an ergonomic cockpit and
being tolerant to many errors in
handling”. According to Alexander
Zelin, a combat trainer in this class
is needed by his service very much.
He stressed that the combat trainer both can and should be used
to train rookie to fly virtually all
up-to-date fighters.
Oleg Demchenko, president of
the Irkut Corp. and Director General
of the Yakovlev design bureau, said
that completing the Yak-130’s official trials was high on the company’s agenda. “In this November, we
are to receive the customer’s pre-
www.take-off.ru
Alexey Mikheyev
RusAF Chief tries Yak-130 out
liminary report on the Yak-130. The
official tests are to be completed
in late 2008. The aircraft is being
productionised at the same time,”
Demchenko said.
Col.-Gen. Zelin said the Air Force
would launch procurement of production Yak-130s in 2008, with the
first four aircraft to be delivered
to the Combat and Conversion
Training Centre (CCTC) in Lipetsk
in later 2008 for familiarisation and
issuance of recommendations to
combat units on its operation. This
done, the early Yak-130s are slated
for fielding with the training centre
in Borisoglebsk, Alexander Zelin
says.
In all, RusAF plans to field
at least 60 Yak-130s by 2015.
35
Andrey Fomin
military aviation | project
Andrey FOMIN
The Skat low-observable jet-powered
combat unmanned aerial vehicle
(UCAV) under development by MiG
Corp. became the most interesting and
unexpected novelty of the MAKS 2007
air show. Unveiling the Skat’s full-scale
mockup to the media in a MiG Corp.
hangar at LII’s airfield in Zhukovsky
on the third day of the show made
quite a stir, because no details on MiG
Corp.’s UCAV development had been
available and the Skat’s demonstration
at MAKS 2007, albeit planned by the
developer, had not been advertised
at all. Permission to unveil the Skat
UCAV was given by Russian President
Vladimir Putin on 21 August. As a result,
a full-size Skat mockup was displayed
in a hangar of MiG Corp. at Gromov
LII’s airfield, rather than at the display
ground, and few media people were
invited, among which this author was
lucky to be.
36
SKAT
World experience
Mind you, there have been no unmanned
aerial vehicles in this class in Russia until
now. Development of heavy (i.e. weighing
over a tonne) jet-powered reusable UAVs (it
is reusability that distinguishes UAVs from
cruise missiles) has been handled in this
country by the Tupolev design bureau since
the late 1960s. Tupolev has developed the
VR-2 Strizh subsonic theatre-wide recce
UAV (‘141’, or Tu-141, with a takeoff weight
of 5.4 t) and VR-3 Reis subsonic tactical
recce UAV (‘143’, or Tu-143 with a takeoff
weight of 1.4 t). Both were in full-scale
production and in service with the Soviet
Army. In addition, there was production and
operation of the La-17R subsonic tactical
recce UAV with a takeoff weight of about
3 t, which was derived from the La-17 target
drone by S.A. Lavochkin’s design bureau.
Application of the above UAVs was limited to
aerial reconnaissance, and the way they took
off and landed was unlike that of ordinary
planes – they would be launched from special
launchers by means of solid-propellant
boosters and would land by parachute. The
soviet jet-powered UAVs were not fit for
fighting despite a number of attempts to
design combat-capable vehicles.
At the same time, the lessons learnt from
the armed conflicts of the ‘80s and ‘90s,
evolution of air defence and electronic warfare
(EW) assets and growing costs of training
flying crews had by the early new millennium
raised the issue of a new class of heavy jetpowered UAVs capable of full-fledged combat
operations solo and as part of a package,
including such missions as taking out surface
threats with precision-guided munitions
(PGM), while having the performance as
well as avionics similar to those on up-to-date
manned tactical aircraft.
www.take-off.ru
identify and attack targets with internallycarried PGMs; and operating both solo and
as part of a package, including in conjunction
with manned aircraft.
The final configuration of the US drone
demonstrators has featured a maximum
takeoff weight of 16.6 t (X-45C) and even
19 t (X-47B), which puts them in the same
dimensional niche occupied by F-16size frontline fighters. The X-45 and X47 experimental UCAVs were competitive
designs under the J-UCAV programme
providing for a combat UAV common for the
US Air Force and Navy. However, the United
States ditched the idea of a joint UCAV last
year, and the programme – now dubbed
UCAS-D – continues in the interest of the
US Navy only. Although a more sobering
look has been taken at UCAVs and the United
States no longer regards them as a worthy
replacement of manned combat aircraft,
rather a complement especially effective in
difficult tactical situations of high-intensity
conflicts, their development will, no doubt,
continue for both the USN and USAF.
Besides the United States, several European
countries have been developing combat UAVs
recently. Experimental designs entered trials
in France (Petit Duc, 2000), the UK (Raven,
2003), Italy (Sky-X, 2005), Sweden (FILUR,
2005), Germany and Spain (Barracuda,
UNMANNED FUTURE
OF COMBAT AIRCRAFT?
www.take-off.ru
Andrey Fomin
The United States followed by Western
Europe launched proactive research into the
matter on the verge of the new century.
The United States even hurried to proclaim
combat UAVs the ‘sixth generation’ of
warplanes, which would succeed the current
manned multirole fighters, including the
fifth-generation F-22 and F-35, ousting
them almost completely in due time. In
1998–2000, the leading US aircraft
makers, Boeing and Northrop Grumman,
launched designing experimental technology
demonstrators of such UCAVs, dubbed X-45
and X-47, starting their flight evaluation in
2002–03. The basic components of those
UCAVs’ concept include flight performance
similar to that of advanced combat aircraft;
reusability and basing at frontline aircraft
airfields; high survivability achieved through
low observability, special design solutions and
defence aids suites; ability to independently
37
Sergey Kuznetsov
2006). The French programme has gradually
evolved into a pan-European one dubbed
nEUROn. Sweden, Italy and Spain, which
decided to pool their UAV expertise for
common good, have joined the programme
along with Greece and Switzerland. The
UK follows its own way so far, pursuing
its Taranis programme stemming from the
Raven experimental UAV programme. Both
the nEUROn and Taranis are based on the
concepts similar to that implemented in the
X-45 and X-47, but their takeoff weight is
estimated at 6–8 t so far. It has come to public
knowledge recently that, following last year’s
loss of a prototype, Germany has decided to
terminate the Barracuda UCAV programme
unveiled at the Berlin air show in May 2006
and is pondering joining a European future
combat drone programme (most probably,
the nEUROn programme).
Sergey Kuznetsov
Sergey Kuznetsov
What about Russia? Tupolev was among
Russian pioneers of combat UAVs, having
pursued a programme on a new-generation
UAV, designated as ‘300’, or Tu-300 Korshun,
since the ‘80s. The programme was based on
the concept of Tupolev’s earlier Reis and
Strizh recce UAVs, including their takeoff
and landing manner, and, with its 3–3.5tonne takeoff weight, was to occupy the niche
between them in terms of dimensions. The
aircraft was to be used as part of the StroyF tactical UAV system in several versions,
including the strike one – the payload could
be carried both externally under the belly and
internally. Six prototypes had been built and
subjected to testing by the mid-’90s. During
the ‘90s, the Tu-300 was displayed at MAKS
shows several times. Then, the Korshun was
forgotten, but the media reported in July this
year that Tupolev was intent on resuming
On the home front
38
www.take-off.ru
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Tupolev Tu-300 UAV prototype at MAKS airshow in 1990s
Yevgeny Yerokhin
the programme, enhancing the UAV’s
performance and fitting it with sophisticated
gear. However, if the programme goes ahead,
it looks like it will follow the direction
traditional to Tupolev’s Reis and Strizh air
recce UAVs, because the Tu-300 is far off the
current international UCAV mainstream as far
as its concept, including takeoff by launcher
and landing by parachute, is concerned.
The Yakovlev design bureau’s Proryv
(Breakthrough) programme is much more
on a par with the spirit of the age. Having
a wealth of experience in small UAVs (e.g.
several types of Pchela (Bee) drones have
been tested, combat proven, produced and
operated by the Russian military), Yakovlev
went public with its plans of developing a 10t
combat UAV several years ago. The ProryvU UCAV was to be developed as part of a
commonised UAV family also comprising
the Proryv-R recce UAV and Proryv-RLD
airborne early warning UAV. To slash the cost
and time of development, systems proven on
the Yak-130 combat trainer were to be used,
first and foremost, the engine, remote control
system, aircraft systems, special airborne
equipment, etc. According to the picture
at Yakovlev’s Web site, the commonality
between the Proryv UAV and Yak-130 may
be 40 per cent. Yakovlev’s Chief Designer
Yuri Yankevich offered detailed enough
information and diagrams of the Proryvfamily drones in a special issue of the Polyot
scientific and technical magazine timed to
the 100th anniversary of A.S. Yakovlev in
March 2006.
The strike variant is planned to be a stealthy
tailless flying wing with internal payload
carriage, a single engine and an air intake
placed on top the front fuselage. Its takeoff
weight is estimated at 10 t, payload (missions
systems and weapons) at 1–3 t, maximum
speed at 1,100 km/h, service ceiling at
16,000 m and endurance at six hours. 60
to 70 per cent common with the combat
variant, the recce and AEW versions differ in
avionics, a higher wing aspect ratio and the
design of their tail unit modules.
In summer 2005, the Yakovlev design
bureau, part of Irkut Corp., became known to
have offered its long-time Yak-130 programme
partner, Alenia Aermacchi (subsidiary of
Finmeccanica), to pool efforts in advanced
UAV development, with the Russo-Italian
relevant agreement signed during MAKS
2005. At the Le Bourget air show in June
this year, Irkut’s President and Yakovlev’s
Director General Oleg Demchenko said for
the record that the parties were about to
launch practical work in this field. “Two
years ago, Italian companies Finmeccanica
and Alenia and we signed an agreement
on deriving an unmanned aerial vehicle
Yakovlev Proryv UAV family being designed
using Yak-130 combat trainer technologies
(drawing by Alexey Mikheyev)
Skat UCAV and MiG-29 fighter dimensions
comparison (drawing by Alexey Mikheyev)
39
from the Yak-130. To date, the Russian and
Italian defence ministries have granted all
relevant permissions. Practical work under
the programme is beginning”, he told the
media in Paris.
Many an aircraft maker develops drones
in Russia these days. Some progress has been
made by Irkut Corp., the Sokol design bureau
(Kazan), ENIKS and Novik-21st Century
companies and others. However, all UAVs
they develop range in weight from a few
kilograms to hundreds of kilograms and are
designed, primarily, for aerial surveillance and
reconnaissance. In 2006, the Sukhoi design
bureau unveiled at Le Bourget mockups of
its three UAVs of the Zond (Probe) family,
weight from 2 to 12 t at takeoff and designed
for multispectral monitoring, air traffic
control and communications retransmission.
Sukhoi is known to work on combat UAVs
as well, but no detail on its efforts has been
published yet.
Two years ago, it became known that MiG
Corp. had been developing an advanced UAV
too. The programme was launched soon after
Alexei Fyodorov (now UAC’s chairman of
the board and president) assumed office of
Director General and Designer General.
Mr. Fyodorov, who is very sensitive to
the market, had initiated several UAV
development programmes in Irkut he led
then. However, for two years, MiG leaders
have limited themselves to stating the fact
of the programme, but kept mum on detail.
By August this year, MiG Corp.’s UCAV
programme had reached a stage, at which the
management decided it was time to go public
with some of the results produced.
By the time the company launched
development of the Skat, it had had a wealth
of experience in pilotless airborne vehicles
development. Since the late ‘40s, the design
bureau had worked on the first Soviet antiship
cruise missiles, the KS and KSS (sort of
shrunk unmanned MiG-15 fighter), and then
K-10 and Kh-20 supersonic cruise missiles
for use with Tu-16 and Tu-95 long-range
bombers and had taken part in developing the
Kh-22 high-speed cruise missile that remains
in the inventory of Tu-22M3 bombers. To cap
it all, work was under way on recce and attack
UAVs (X-155DR and Krechet), unmanned
interceptors (K-155 and Gyurza), etc. in the
‘60s. The design bureau continued its work
on unmanned designs afterwards as well.
Skat: nuances of design
So, what is MiG Corp.’s future combat
drone? The Skat UCAV (Skat is Skate,
or Guitarfish in Russian) is designed to
eliminate pre-reconnoitred hostile static
ground targets, first of all, air defence assets,
in the face of formidable enemy air defence
40
fires and destroy mobile surface threats in
solo and package missions in cooperation
with manned platforms.
In line with the present-day global trend,
the aircraft was designed in the low-observable
tailless flying wing configuration, with its
airframe heavily using composite materials.
The aircraft’s lifting body in planform
is a triangle with a leading-edge sweep of
about 54 deg. The wing panels have the
same sweep. They have the zero-taper ratio
and wingtips angled 90 deg. relative to the
leading and trailing edges. It is clear from the
Skat’s external look that its designers tend
to make all airframe lines, panel joints and
lines of doors and hatches along only few
parallel axes, which meets the radar signature
reduction requirements.
The aircraft’s basic aerodynamic control
surfaces are multifunction deflectable surface
set along the trailing edges to provide roll,
pitch and yaw control and drag braking.
Additional
control surfaces are mounted on nearfuselage areas of the wing centre section and
feature the forward sweep along the trailing
edges (the same 54 deg. or so but in the
opposite direction).
The Skat’s powerplant is wrapped around
a single Klimov RD-5000B nonafterburning
turbofan rated at 5,040 kgf and being a
derivative of the RD-93 reheated turbofan –
a version of the MiG-29’s RD-33, which is
mounted on single-engined foreign combat
aircraft. The RD-5000B is fitted with a
flat exhaust nozzle to reduce its infrared
signature. At the first stage of the Skat’s trials,
the engine can be equipped with a regular
axisymmetric nozzle. The nonvariable air
intake is set on top the fuselage nose section.
Inside the UCAV’s airframe, there are two
4.4m-long weapons bays with the 0.65x0.75m
cross section on the sides of the engine’s
air duct and the powerplant itself. Each can
house an air-to-surface or antiradiation
missile or a 250–500kg smart bomb. The Skat
was unveiled mounting Kh-31P antiradiation
missiles and KAB-500Kr smart bombs. Its
maximum payload is reported to be 2,000 kg.
Tricycle retractable landing gear is of
traditional aeroplane type, enabling the
UCAV to take off and land from ordinary
airfields. Each strut is single-wheel. The
levered nose gear retracts forwards into a well
under the engine air duct, with levered main
gear retracting into the centreline wells in the
wing centre section.
There have been no reports on the Skat’s
avionics suite. However, one might guess
that, in addition to the integrated control
and navigation systems, it is going to have
self-contained targeting systems to acquire,
identify and engage targets and ISR and
ECM gear to ensure its own survival.
In accordance with the data unveiled, the
UAV has a maximum near-ground speed
of about 800 km/h and a maximum Mach
of about 0.8.
Calculations place its service ceiling at over
12,000 m and range at around 4,000 km. The
Skat’s dimensions are comparable to those
of the MiG-29 fighter, with its length being
10.25 m, wingspan 11.5 m and height 2.7 m.
Its maximum takeoff weight is estimated at
10,000 kg.
Cooperation and prospects
MiG Corp. has been developing the Skat
UCAV since 2005, paying for the programme
out of its pocket. Having teamed up with several
Russian aircraft industry subcontractors and
research institutes, MiG has conducted an
extensive research producing a desired design
and characteristics and has adopted a schedule
to try relevant technologies. The UAV’s
aerodynamic configuration has undergone
wind-tunnel tests at TsAGI, which proved the
design and layout solutions to be right.
Under the Skat programme, MiG Corp.’s
subcontractors, which logos are spotted by
the mockup’s weapons bay door, are the
Defence Ministry’s 2nd Central Research
www.take-off.ru
Andrey Fomin
Kh-31P antiradiation
air-to-surface missile
Skat
advanced stealth
unmanned combat
aerial vehicle
(drawing by Alexey Mikheyev)
Skat-PD
Institute (the military’s traditional supervisor
of scientific support of air defence forces),
Vega corporation recently appointed UAV
industrial integrator by the government,
GosNIIAS (aircraft industry’s major centre
devising concepts of developing combat
aircraft and weapons systems and integrating
avionics suites). The Skat’s powerplant has
been developed by the Klimov company in
St. Petersburg in cooperation with the Soyuz
design bureau (Tushino, Moscow) and will
be made by the MMP Chernyshev company,
if it enters production. Irkut’s subsidiary,
Russian Avionics design bureau, is in charge
of developing the UCAV’s avionics suite.
Another subcontractor, the Hius close
corporation (Tver Region), is a new kid on
the aircraft-making block, but according to
Vladimir Barkovsky, director of the Mikoyan
Engineering Centre, it is very experienced in
developing and making composite products.
www.take-off.ru
Hius develops composite structures to fit the
Skat’s airframe.
The full-size Skat UCAV mockup shown
to the media at MAKS 2007 was made by
MiG Corp.’s prototype-making division
in summer 2007. It is intended for testing
design and layout solutions and optimising
the drone’s performance.
Next stages of the programme provide for
making flying technology demonstrators –
the manned Skat-PD and unmanned SkatD versions – and flight-testing them to
debug the Skat and demonstrate all of its
technologies, including the use of weapons.
Vladimir Barkovsky attributes the need for
a manned Skat variant to the Russian law
imposing stringent limitations on UAV flights.
The applicable law needs updating, and this is
under way already.
MiG Corp.’s managers decline to specify
the date the flight tests of Skat prototypes
will kick off. Obviously, test flights will hardly
begin in the coming months. However, the
priority given the programme by the company
gives hope for the Skat’s maiden flight to be
round the corner.
Should the programme succeed, of which
the developer is certain, the Defence Ministry
is expected to throw its weight behind it,
with the programme to be made part of
the governmental defence procurement
programme. Given the current trends in
military aircraft development, the Skat is
facing good prospects on the global market
as well. Foreign participation in developing
the Skat or its derivative cannot be ruled out,
because such large-scale programmes have
been increasingly pursued collectively in the
West, with the afore-said nEUROn being a
good case in point. Thus, the Skat may face
bright vistas, given the present-day global
combat aircraft tendencies.
41
cosmonautics | mission
ISS NOW RUN BY FEMALE
Another replacement in position in orbit
Alina CHERNOIVANOVA
Photos www.cosmoport.info
There has been a change of the crew
of the ISS. In October, a woman, NASA
astronaut Peggy Whitson, headed a
long-term orbital expedition for the first
time in history of space exploration.
She and Russian cosmonaut Yuri
Malenchenko were accompanied to the
ISS by the first Malaysian cosmonaut
Sheikh Muszafar Shukor. He spent
11 days in orbit and came back to the
Earth together with the ISS-15 crew –
cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Fyodor
Yurchikhin.
42
www.take-off.ru
Another Russian spacecraft went to the
International Space Station on 10 October.
The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle hauling the
Soyuz TMA-11 blasted off the 1st Launch
Pad at Baikonur at 17.22 hours Moscow
time, with the spacecraft docking to the
Zarya functional cargo unit of the Russian
segment of the ISS two days later. The
16th main expedition comprising Russian
cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA
astronaut Peggy Whitson as well as the first
Malaysian angkasawan Sheikh Muszafar
Shukor arriving under the 13th expedition
programme (angkasawan is the derivative of
the Malay word ‘angkasa’ – outer space).
The three have long space-related careers.
Malenchenko first went to orbit in 1994,
having worked 126 days at the Mir space
station. He flew again in September 2000 as
part of the STS-106 mission on board the
Atlantis space shuttle under the programme
of preparing the ISS for the arrival of the first
permanent crew. Third time Malenchenko
came to the orbit in April 2003 as crew
commander of the 7th main expedition. While
in orbit, Malenchenko got married, with his
marriage of Russian-American Yekaterina
Dmitiryeva being effected in absentia (under
the law of Texas, the bride was present at the
Mission Control Centre in Houston during
the marriage ceremony). This was the first
ever in-orbit marriage in history of space
exploration.
This flight was not the first one to Peggy
Whitson. She spent six months at the ISS as
www.take-off.ru
the first researcher astronaut in 2002, having
conducted 21 experiments in the fields of
microgravity and medicine. However, this
time around, she has much greater authority,
having become the first female ISS crew
commander. During the six month stint,
she will have a crew of two men under her
command, one of whom is Malenchenko
and the slot of second flight engineer is to
be occupied by alternating personnel. Until
late October, it had been occupied by NASA
astronaut Clayton Anderson, who came to
the ISS as part of the STS-117 mission on
the Endeavor shuttle in August this year. The
STS-120 mission’s Discovery brought on 25
October US astronaut Daniel Tani to replace
Anderson. Tani will have stayed at the ISS
until December when he will be replaced
by ESA astronaut Leopold Eyarts, who is
to come on the Atlantis shuttle (STS-122).
Finally, US astronaut Garret Reisman will
replace Eyarts in February 2008, coming on
board the STS-123 mission’s Endeavor.
The ISS-16 crew led by Whitson will
pursue a complex and rich programme. With
the arrival of the Discovery to the ISS, a new
construction phase began – the shuttle, also
commanded by a female NASA astronaut,
Pamela Melroy, brought the second module,
Node 2, into orbit. The first one, dubbed
Unity, has been part of the ISS since
1998. Node 2 made in Italy will link three
lab modules – the US Destiny, the EC’s
Columbus and Japan’s Kibo. Columbus will
be brought to the ISS in December while Kibo
in early 2008. This will beef up the capabilities
of the ISS, allowing its crew to increase from
three to six. The Whitson-led crew also will
receive two Progress cargo craft and the first
EC freighter, the ATV Jules Verne, which
launch is slated for January 2008. As usual,
the main expedition’s programme provides
for several dozen experiments.
The third member of the Soyuz TMA-11’s
crew, Malaysian Shukor, went to outer space
for the first time, but his space epic has
gone down to history of Malaysia. Mulling
over sending a man into outer space began
in Malaysia as far back as the late 1980s
in response to a proposal from the Soviet
government. However, only in 2002 did
Malaysia’s National Space Agency sate that
it was ready to meet all relevant requirements.
A space flight of a Malaysian was specifically
stipulated in the major package agreement
between the two countries (under the
agreement, Malaysia procures an almost $1
billion worth of Su-30MKM fighters and
send a Malaysian national to outer space).
Soon after clinching the deal, the Malaysian
Space Agency started accepting applications
from volunteers eager to become the first
angkasawan. Applications were accepted via
the Internet, with anybody above 21 having
the right to apply. In the end, out of 11,000
applicants, about 3,700, who met the age
and education requirements, were selected,
of whom subsequent additional tests and
medicals left only four, including a female.
The four were further reduced to two –
Sheikh Muszafar Shukor, who, in the end,
went to the ISS with the short-duration crew.
His backup was Faiz Bin Halid.
35-year-old Shukor is an orthopaedic
surgeon. He teaches medicine in Kebangsaan
University. During his 10-day space flight, he
conducted a series of experiments, including
those aimed at researching cancer cells,
proteins and microbes as well as an experiment
official dubbed Malaysian Cuisine in Outer
Space. Truth be told, there was not much
food in question (the pack of nine Malaysian
national dishes cooked to Islamic standards
(halal) weighed 550 g, but the angkasawan
managed to treat his comrades-in-orbit right
after the end of Ramadan. By the way, since
Shukor also was the first Muslim to be in
outer space during Ramadan, the Malaysian
ulema had devised for him the world’s first
Muslim cosmonaut memo that allowed him
to pray in accordance with special rules.
Shukor’s space flight inspired Malaysia
so much that the country’s vice-premier
arrived in Russia to greet the angkasawan
upon his return from orbit and, at the same
time, talk with the Russians about having
the other Malaysian cosmonaut, Faiz Bin
Halid, fly to the ISS. The initiative came as
43
a pleasant surprise to the Russian Federal
Space Agency (FSA). However, the other
surprise could hardly be called pleasant: the
Soyuz TMA-10’s lander with the Malaysian
on board followed a ballistic trajectory. On
the morning of 21 October, Oleg Kotov and
Fyodor Yurchikhin, who were members of the
15th main expedition, and Sheikh Muszafar
Shukor left the ISS and headed for the Earth.
At 14.37 hours Moscow time, the lander was
to touch down 85 km north of the town of
Arkalyk in Kazakhstan. However, at 14.18,
two minutes after entering the atmosphere,
Oleg Kotov reported to the Flight Control
Centre (TsUP) that the onboard computer
opted for ballistic landing for some
reason.
About a minute after the sitrep,
the lander’s crew experienced g-load
exceeding the normal one by two times
– about 8.5 g. According to Kotov,
electronic gear was sparking and there
was a bit of smoke during the descent.
At 14.20 hours, two minutes earlier than
it would have happened in the automatic
controlled descent, the main parachute
deployed. “While I was telling Sheikh
to hold on, we already landed”, Fyodor
Yurchikhin reminisces on the ballistic
descent. About a minute earlier that the
estimated
time, the lander’s soft landing
motors kicked in, and the capsule touched
down 10 km away from the Kazakh town of
Tolybai at 14.36 hours, undershooting more
than 400 km. Already at 14.49 hours, the first
search-and-rescue helicopter landed by the
Soyuz capsule lying on its side. The lander’s
crew did not even have enough time to get really
scared. According to doctors, the Malaysian
cosmonaut’s pulse rate was 72 beats per minute
and that of Yurchikhin and Kotov 80–90 beats
per minute. Soon afterwards, the three were
flown to Zvezdny Gorodok out of Moscow,
and Energia’s ad hoc technical commission
launched investigation into the reasons behind
the ballistic descent.
Mention should be made that last time a
Soyuz spacecraft landed in a ballistic descent
was May 2003, when Nikolay Budarin,
Kenneth Bowersox and Donald Petit were
returning from the ISS. They were subject to
8.1g overload and the craft landed 460 km
away from the estimated location. Later on,
investigation revealed that the lander went into
ballistic descent due to an inadequate reaction
of the BUSP-M descent control unit – part
of the descent control system – to signals it
received from the KIOO-18 gyro and angular
rate meter. According to FSA chief Anatoly
Perminov, this time the reasons for the lander
to go ballistic were different. “Most probably,
the atmospheric state and the attitude of the
craft played their part”, Perminov guessed.
Anyway, the ad hoc commission will find out
the reasons, but the FSA chief was certain
that the incident would not have an impact
on those queuing up to fly to outer space in a
Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
44
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cosmonautics | in brief
FSA Chief on prospects of Russian space exploration
The head of the Federal Space
Agency, Anatoly Perminov, has
held several news conferences over the recent months, in
which he shared with the media
his vision of the state and future
of the Russian space exploration
industry.
According to the FSA chief,
Russia will have orbited six more
spacecraft of the GLONASS satellite navigation system that is
to start serving Russian users
already in 2007 and provide global
coverage by late 2009.
According to Anatoly Perminov,
the Russian constellation will have
numbered 103 spacecraft, and its
status has improved considerably since 2004 with the number
of improve navsats having hiked
from 25 per cent in 2004 to 60 per
cent at present.
The FSA head said the space
companies’ net income had tripled
over the past three years, with
their earning capacity having more
than doubled. “There remained
only seven loss-making companies out of the 103. The annual
salary growth in the industry is 25
percent,” Perminov said.
Dwelling on the future of manned
flight in space, he remarked that
the Clipper reusable spacecraft had
not been approved by a scientific
and technical council. “Scientists
believes that another stage of
developing an advanced manned
transport space system should be
the deriving of a spacecraft from
an existing design”. According to
Perminov, in the world there is
“an aerospace-plane programme
graveyard: there were eight to 12
such spacecraft under development. Unfortunately, none of the
programmes, except the US Space
Shuttle, has succeeded”.
The chief of FSA thinks that an
advanced Russian manned system
will have been developed by 2015,
and by 2020 with the ISS to wrap
up its operation, there will have
been a new-type Russian space
station in orbit to be used for inorbit assembly of spacecraft for
46
lunar and other planetary missions.
Anatoly Perminov did not rule out
foreign participation in developing such a station. Construction
of the new orbital ‘base’ is now
part of the medium-term Russian
space exploration programme for
the period until 2025.
The FSA leader specified that
the agency was not going to pull
out from the Baikonur space
launch facility in the near future.
Responding to the question whether there is a chill in the RussianKazakh joint space operations,
he said, “The idea is outlandish”.
Perminov sad he had had talks
with Talgat Musabayev, head of
Kazakhstan’s space agency. “We
have got no problems, and more
than 40 agreements on joint work
have been signed”, he maintained,
saying that recurring minor disagreements and technical issues
are settled in the regular course
of work. “I see no alternative to
Kazakhstan as far as manned
space flights are concerned,” the
FSA boss concluded.
Speaking about plans to explore
the Moon and Mars, Anatoly
Perminov said that they should
have a scientific base and “one
should not stoop to resort to
adventurism”. In his opinion, the
cost of sending a manned spacecraft to the Mars is estimated at
$40–50 billions. “Russia’s budget
would, probably, survive that, but
FSA’s coffers cannot”, he added.
Nonetheless, Perminov specified, “We have come up with proposals for space exploration for
the period until 2040. The proposals cover all aspects, including lunar and Martian missions.
Now we have to obtain relevant
financial and material resources”. The proposals cover several
fields, particularly, further use of
near-Earth space, development of
the Moon and a flight to Mars.
Readiness for landing on the Moon
is to be achieved by 2025, a lunar
base is to be set up between 2027
and 2035 and a mission to Mars is
slated for 2035 or later.
According to Anatoly Perminov,
FSA has not decided yet on the
location for a new space launch
centre. “If we develop an advanced
manned spacecraft, e.g. for Moon
missions, it will need an advanced
launch vehicle that needs a new
launch pad. Where the latter
should be built remains undecided
yet, but I think we should consider
not only Baikonur to this end, but
the territory of Russia as well”,
Perminov said. “No matter where
we start [construction of a new
launch pad], we have to start from
scratch. It is a very difficult thing
to do in economic and technological terms. Still, it is doable”.
Touching on international cooperation, FSA’s chief noted that cooperation with other countries has
surged recently. The agency cooperates with 38 countries. Perminov
noted, among other things, that
“good relations with Arab countries
are evolving” as far as remote
Earth sensing, space communications systems and manned flight
programmes are concerned.
Commenting the South Korean
launch vehicle development pro-
gramme and construction of a
launch centre in the Republic of
Korea, Anatoly Perminov said
relevant agreements had been
reached and contracts signed
and Khrunichev would roll up its
sleeves in late 2007. “Essentially,
Russia is offering one stage and
the launch complex. Full-scale
work is to begin in 2008, and the
first flight under programme may
take place in 2009”, he added.
As to a first Russian space
tourist planned to fly to the ISS in
2009, Anatoly Perminov said he
would be a businessman turned
politician. FSA’s chief decline to
name the man, citing the cosmonaut candidate’s personal
request of anonymity for a while.
Commenting on rumours of the
feasibility of Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s space flight,
Perminov denied any FSA plans
to this end, “I do not think it is
serious. We have not planned any
thing of the kind, let alone doing
it for the president. The matter
is not on the agenda. I guess the
President has enough places to
visit and enough work to do”.
www.take-off.ru
Latest space rocket designs at MAKS 2007
manned craft mounted on the mockup
to simulate the payload came as a
surprise, because the Clipper’s future
remains hazy.
The Makeyev design bureau’s
exposition also included a mockup
of a new rocket for the Air Launch
system. Unlike the previous configuration, its stages have the same
diameter – 2.66 m. The solution
stems from the striving for using the
Bloc E’s (third stage of the Soyuz
carrier) production tooling available
at the Progress plant in Samara. The
public at MAKS could see a mockup
of the ‘old’ launch vehicle of the
Shtil family – a submarine-launched
ballistic missile derivative.
Igor Afanasyev
control engines; and liquefied natural
gas (LNG) or methane (which makes
up 90 per cent of LNG) to be burnt
as fuel.
Measuring 35.6 m long, the rocket
has a launch weight of 750 t and carries a payload of 21.5 t. The first stage
can be used 25 times. The carrier’s
lifting capacity could be increased to
35 t by increasing its size or using
an oxyhydrogen second stage, while
retaining the system’s layout and
returnability of its first stage.
KBKhA is developing single-type
sustainers (210 t of thrust in the first
stage and 240 t in the second one),
KBKhM and KBKhA are co-developing 11t control engines and NIIMash
handles the development of attitude
engines.
The total cost of Rossiyanka’s
development is estimated $670–750
million, and the launch cost is to be
within $19 million. The LV will be
able to blast off from the Kapustin Yar
or Baikonur launch sites. In the latter case, the Energia launch vehicle’s
ground infrastructure may be used.
The wingless variant of the Clipper
Igor Afanasyev
By tradition, space rocket hardware
became a key element of the MAKS
2007 air show. Truth be told, there
were not too many truly advanced
designs.
For instance, the Makeyev design
bureau displayed a mockup of the
reusable space rocket system dubbed
Rossiyanka. The project, no doubt,
became a rocket sensation of the air
show. The system, which designed
under the 2006–15 Federal Space
Programme, resulted from the cooperation among Makeyev, KBKhA,
KBKhM, NIIMash (Nizhnyaya Salda),
NPOA and KBTM. Under the federal programme, the partially reusable
booster rocket is to insert 25–35t
spacecraft into low orbit while slashing the specific launch cost by 1.5
times and reducing the number of
fallout areas by far. The Rossiyanka
features a multi-unit first stage comprising four 4.1m-dia. tanks arranged
around the tail section and interstage
adapter; return of the first stage to
the launch site along a ballistic trajectory and vertical parachuteless landing by means of the sustainer and
Igor Afanasyev
Khrunichev displayed mockups of
the Angara and Proton LV families,
long known by experts and space
exploration enthusiasts. However,
they included novelties as well, e.g.
the Angara-5P two-stage LV designed
for inserting the manned system
Khrunichev is developing based on its
TKS manned spacecraft expertise, and
as many as three different versions of
the Angara-1 light launch vehicle.
TsSKB-Progress from Samara
unveiled its R-7 family rocket mockups – the Soyuz-2-1b, Soyuz-2-3 and
16–17t-capable Soyuz-2-3. While the
first two are known, the third one
became the second sensation after
the Rossiyanka. Some data on the
rocket have been circulating for a
www.take-off.ru
while, but the general look and basic
characteristics of the future launch
vehicle were unveiled during MAKS
2007. Despite the Soyuz-2-3 designation shared with the baseline
model, the third variant is radically
different rocket featuring enlarged
strap-on boosters to house NK-33-1
engines, just like the central booster
will. To carry manned spacecraft,
the third stage is to be powered
by the RD-0110 engine. Fitted with
the advanced efficient RD-0124, it
will haul unmanned spacecraft. The
second- and third-stage blocks have
the same diameter, due to which the
rocket measures roughly the same 46
m despite its launch weight growing
up to 481 t. In spate of a considerable difference from other versions,
the 17t-capable Soyuz will likely to
launch from a modernised launch
complex of the Soyuz rocket, if the
programme goes ahead, of course.
Meanwhile, the future of this interesting rocket, which load ratio exceeds
those of the Zenit and Angara, is a big
question mark. The Soyuz-2-3 line
stems from the Yamal, Aurora/Onega
and Yamal-1 designs that were considered in 1997–2004 but have been
as far back from being embodied in
metal, as they were a decade ago.
47
The development of the Russian
global satellite navigation system
dubbed GLONASS kicked off as
many as two decades ago, but the
‘steamroller’ of the 1990s almost
ran it into the ground. Mere seven
satellites of the constellation were
active in orbit as of 2007 despite the
measures taken by the government.
Meanwhile, effective operation of
the GLONASS is possible only in
case the whole 24-satellite constellation is deployed.
Given the importance of the issue,
Russian President Vladimir Putin on
17 May 2007 issued the decree on
using the GLONASS global satellite navigation system in support
of economic development of the
Russian Federation, allowing access
commercial users, including foreign
ones, to navigation data.
Under the decree, the Federal
Space Agency (Roscosmos) was
appointed coordinator of the efforts
to maintain, develop and operate
the GLONASS system in the interest of civil users. In addition, the
government was tasked with determining the powers of the federal
authorities in maintaining, developing and operating the constellation
prior to 31 December 2007 and with
adopting before late 2011 a relevant
federal programme to be pursued
during 2012–20.
Attending the MAKS 2007 air
show, President Putin visited the
stand of RNIIKP, the core company of the Russian Corporation of
Rocket-Space Device Engineering
and Information Systems being
established now. The President was
briefed on the latest developments
under the GLONASS programme,
proving that the state’s interest in
bringing the satnav system up to
snuff is no lip service. Roscosmos
chief Anatoly Perminov familiarised the President with a full-size
mockup of the Reshetnev NPO PM’s
advanced Glonass-K satellite and
satnav user gear and brought him
abreast of the status of the programme as a whole.
According to NPO PM, new satellites will be fitted with intersatellite
48
Igor Afanasyev
Aspects of GLONASS development
measurement equipment that will
enhance the operating stability of
the constellation. The Glonass-K is
slated for orbiting in 2009.
During the air show, the Roscosmos
chief and Vnesheconombank’s representatives signed an agreement
on cooperation and coordination
in devising techniques of financing
Roscosmos programmes and the
GLONASS federal programme in the
first place.
Introduction, albeit slow, of the
Russian satnav system in everyday
life is beginning. The Kompas design
bureau (Moscow) displayed the
first Russian-made GPS/GLONASS
navigation receiver during MAKS
2007. Initially, the gadget was developed for the Defence Ministry. It is
immune to jamming, high and low
temperatures and shocks. The compact NPI receiver is made of Russian
electronic componentry, save for its
German-made LCD that will lose
ground to a Russian one once the
device enters full-rate production.
The receiver is estimated to cost
within the $500–1,500 depending
on the scale of production.
Introduction of satnav capabilities
to aircraft has been especially high
on the agenda, because this enhances flight safety and, as far as military
aircraft are concerned, effectiveness
of combat operations. The growth of
air traffic places greater emphasis
on precise following of designated
routes and air corridors, which has a
heavy influence on flight safety. The
current stacking standards stipulate air corridors must be stuck to
with a 1-mile precision. GLONASS
integrating with the joint navigation
and aircraft positioning system will
allow real-time route checking. The
system will update the preset route
every five seconds, thus ensuring
compliance with all aircraft navigation requirements.
The Atlant-Soyuz airline has been
the first among Russian carriers to
fit GLONASS gear on its aircraft, the
Tupolev Tu-154M (RA-85740). The
Vnukovo-based 400th Aircraft repair
Plant fixed the airliner with the BMS
onboard multifunction system from
Navigator VNIIRA (St. Petersburg).
In addition to GLONASS, BMS can
use inputs from the US GPS and
European Galileo satnav systems
and GNSS-SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS,
MSAS) satellite-based augmentation systems. The gear proved to be
effective and functionable.
The Kompas design bureau
designed a landing system for aircraft-carrying vessels – the first
Russian system of the kind, wrapped
around GLONASS/GPS. The designers did their best to maximise its
reliability and interference immunity and make it adaptable to commercial users’ requirements in the
future. The system can be used on
offshore rigs and civil vessels and
at small airports.
The government is to spend about
10 billion rubles ($400 million) on
the GLONASS system in 2007. The
number of Russian navigation satellites is to be beefed up to 18 navsats
in 2008–09 and to the 24 required to
complete the constellation by 2011.
The precision of positioning is to be
the same as that of GPS – 1 to 5 m
(it is lower by an order of magnitude
so far). Two Proton launch vehicles
were to insert six more GLONASS
satellites late in 2007.
www.take-off.ru

MiG-29 - Take-off Magazine

Transcription

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