MOSCOW, 10 Aug - RIA Novosti. The Russian Defense Ministry needs a variant of a twin-engine aircraft for regional transportation of the L-410 on a float landing gear and skis for operation in Siberia and the Arctic, said the head of the department, Army General Sergei Shoigu, as part of a single day of acceptance of military products.
"I hope that by the end of this year we will achieve this task - this is the installation of the L-410 aircraft on a float landing gear and skis. It is the float landing gear, and not just floats, so that we can use these aircraft in Siberia and the Arctic regions of our country," the minister said.
He added that " this machine is extremely necessary for working at unsuitable airfields, for landing on water, landing on snow, on the ground."
According to Shoigu, pilots of Military Transport Aviation are mainly trained on the L-410. "We have a large program, and I hope we have reached a rhythmic delivery of these aircraft," he concluded.
As explained in the Ministry of Defense, the L-410 with a ski chassis has passed state tests and is now being delivered to the army in a complete set that allows you to install a ski chassis under operating conditions. The L-410 with a float landing gear completes the test this year, from 2022, serial deliveries of aircraft will be carried out in a layout that allows for two hours to put a float landing gear in operation.
Developed in Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s, the L-410 aircraft is designed to carry up to 19 passengers, cargo or for specific purposes. In 2013, JSC Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company became the sole owner of the Czech enterprise Aircraft Industries, which produces aircraft.
