As reported by the resource ATO.ru in [...] Maxim Pyadushkin's article, "The development of the Baikal aircraft has reached a dead end. Instead, it is proposed to engage in the remotorization of An-2 aircraft, the development of a 9-seat passenger aircraft for local airlines LMS-901 Baikal has been discontinued, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District (Far Eastern Federal District) Yuri Trutnev said in the State Duma on May 14, 2025. This machine has been developed since 2019 by the private company Baikal Engineering, a subsidiary of the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA), as a replacement for the still-in-service Soviet-era An-2 biplanes.
The first flight prototype of the LMS-901 Baikal aircraft (c) MAI
"We have been working on the development of the Baikal small aircraft, it has reached a dead end today, that is, the Baikal aircraft is not expected," the Interfax news agency quoted Trutnev as saying.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that instead it would be necessary to engage in the remotorization of the An-2.
The Baikal prototype made its maiden flight in January 2022. At that time, it used the Czech-American General Electric H800-200 engine. Later, it was supposed to be replaced by a new Russian VK-800SM engine, which was also developed by UZGA.
The developers were tasked with creating an aircraft for transporting up to nine passengers or up to 2,000 kg of cargo over a range of 1,500 km with a cruising speed of up to 300 km/h. The start of mass production of the new machine was originally scheduled for 2024.
In 2022, the LMS-901 was included in the government's aviation industry development program, which provided for the production of 154 such aircraft by 2030. Later, production plans were reduced to 139 machines, and the start of serial production was postponed to 2025. In March of this year, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov said that the first deliveries of Baikal were planned for the end of 2026.
Regional carriers KrasAvia (10 aircraft) and Aurora (95 aircraft) placed pre-orders for the LMS-901.
In February, the Kommersant newspaper, citing sources, reported that during tests, the LMS-901 revealed problems with stability at low speeds, high steering forces, as well as the need to increase the tail unit, transfer the tail wheel and redesign the landing gear. It may take from three to five years to eliminate them. Another problem was the high cost of the aircraft.
To remotorize the existing An-2 fleet, the Ministry of Industry and Trade instructed the United Engine Corporation to resume production of TVD-10B engines. Production of the latter ceased in the 1990s.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade told the TASS news agency on May 14 that the LMS-901 is already being finalized based on the results of flight tests. "The successful results of the above-mentioned work made it possible to make a decision on the need to continue the R&D, in which the LMS-901 aircraft will be modified by equipping it with a main-engine powerplant with a VK-800SM engine and a Russian-made AV-901 propeller," the ministry noted.
After Yuri Trutnev's speech, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and JSC Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA) published statements refuting the information they provided, and both of them did this not directly, but through the TASS news agency. For both of these sources, of course, "everything is going according to schedule" (well, the schedule is wisely rewritten every year).
May 14th. /tass/. The effectiveness of improvements to the Baikal light aircraft has been confirmed, and development work on it will continue, according to the message from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
During the preliminary tests of the Baikal aircraft, a number of comments were received from the test pilots. At the same time, the results of the study of flight test reports by specialists of the Zhukovsky Scientific Research Center show sufficient stability and controllability of the aircraft in most flight modes. "Some features of the aircraft's behavior during takeoff and landing flight modes are successfully eliminated by refining the design of the landing gear, tail and control wiring in the longitudinal channel," the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted.
"The effectiveness of the completed improvements has been confirmed. The successful results of the above-mentioned work made it possible to make a decision on the need to continue the ROC, within which the modification of the LMS-901 aircraft will be carried out by equipping it with a mainline power plant with a VK-800SM engine and a Russian-made AV-901 propeller," the ministry added.
As the Ministry of Industry and Trade recalled, on April 9, 2025, a state contract was signed with the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA) for the implementation of the ROC for the creation of the Baikal aircraft. As part of the contract, new and existing prototypes of the VK-800SM engine, AV-901 propeller and Baikal aircraft will be manufactured, certification work will be carried out, documentation will be prepared in order to obtain type certificates, as well as approvals of the main changes to expand their scope of application.
May 14th. /tass/. The program for the creation of the Baikal light-engine passenger aircraft is being implemented in accordance with the schedule established by the state contract. This was announced by Vitaly Shorokhov, Technical Director of the Ural Civil Aviation Plant (UZGA).
"The program for the creation of the Baikal light-engine passenger aircraft by the Ural Civil Aviation Plant is being implemented in accordance with the approved schedule under the concluded state contract," he said.
According to him, three prototypes have now been manufactured - two flight and one static. Moreover, the flight samples are in the active phase of factory testing. "At the moment, the production of the third flight model with the VK-800 engine is underway and will be tested at the end of this year, which will allow the aircraft to be certified on time in 2026," Shorokhov added.
Director of Small Aviation Programs at UZGA Elvira Kireeva noted that the company continues to work on the aircraft project, which is being finalized to equip the aircraft with a Russian-made powerplant and propeller. So, this year, an aircraft with an imported engine was tested to check the stability and controllability of the aircraft and other characteristics that do not depend on the type of power plant.
"Based on the results of the tests, the observations regarding the rebalancing of the aircraft when releasing the flap and changing the engine operation mode were identified and eliminated," she said. According to Kireeva, the specialists managed to significantly reduce the forces in the elevator channel and increase the stability of the aircraft when the engine mode changes. In addition, the stability of the aircraft in terms of speed and overload in the full range of alignment and take-off belts was confirmed (??).
At the same time, specialists are adjusting the design documentation for the integration of the domestic engine. "The documentation for the engine frame, power plant control system, fuel system and hoods has already been clarified," she said, noting that work is also underway to adapt the software exclusion of the on-board complex.
