TSAMTO, March 24. The Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and the General Director of Rostec State Corporation Sergey Chemezov visited the Kazan Helicopter and Kazan Aviation Plants, assessing the pace of production activity.
These sites are producing civilian airliners, strategic missile carriers, helicopters of various classes, which are of great importance for the transport system and the national security of the country.
During the visit to the S.P.Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Plant, a branch of PJSC Tupolev of the United Aircraft Corporation, the delegation assessed the progress of large–scale modernization and technical re-equipment of the enterprise to increase the production of Tu-214 civil airliners and Tu-160 strategic missile carriers.
Until recently, the Tu-214 was produced in a small series in the interests of special customers and proved to be a reliable and functional machine. Now the first batch of aircraft for commercial passenger air transportation has been put into production at the Kazan Aircraft Factory. In the future, several batches of aircraft will be launched in parallel to meet the needs of both government and commercial customers. The task of this aircraft is to support the smooth functioning of the industry at an acute moment when foreign manufacturers of aviation equipment have left the Russian market.
The company is also producing upgraded Tu-160M strategic missile carriers. The decision to resume their production was made by the President of Russia. The updated aircraft have significantly expanded combat capabilities, they have significant potential. Further development of the platform will allow it to be used for new types of weapons, including promising ones.
"We see that KAZ is being significantly updated and expanding its production capabilities. The industry faces the task of providing domestic airlines with Russian aircraft as quickly as possible instead of Boeing and Airbus, which have no way back to the Russian market. Now we are increasing the production of Tu-214 to ten units per year. In the future, the production can be increased to 20 aircraft annually. In parallel, the company is increasing the production of the famous "white swans", which are the hallmark of our strategic aviation. These are unique machines – beautiful in appearance and formidable in their combat capabilities," commented Sergey Chemezov, General Director of Rostec State Corporation.
"Rostec State Corporation is a strategic partner of Tatarstan. There are 19 enterprises of the State Corporation located in our republic. The total number of people employed in production is more than 55 thousand people. Last year, the volume of output exceeded 387 billion rubles. Rostec enterprises in Tatarstan are implementing large-scale measures for the reconstruction, technical and technological re-equipment of production capacities of key enterprises. First of all, it is military and civil aviation. Now it is necessary to promptly resolve issues related to the import substitution of key components and the renewal of technological capacities. It is also necessary to pay special attention to the issues of training specialists," said the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov.
During a visit to the Kazan Helicopter Plant of the Russian Helicopters Holding, Sergey Chemezov checked the progress of work on import substitution of foreign systems in the Ansat helicopter. The central topic of discussion was the replacement of the Canadian-made engine with the domestic VK-650V from UEC-Klimov. The delegation presented its layout at the site.
"The delivery of VK-650V prototype engines for assembly and preparation for flight tests of the Ansat helicopter is scheduled for the end of the third quarter of 2023. In 2024, it is planned to obtain a type certificate and carry out a complex of works to expand the characteristics of the engine, prepare its serial production. The start of flight tests of the import–substituted Ansat is scheduled for the end of 2023," said Sergey Chemezov.
In 2022, the Kazan Helicopter Plant fulfilled its obligations to customers and fully completed the delivery plan for 2023. Currently, the plant continues to execute a major contract in the interests of the National Air Ambulance Service. This year, the contract for the transfer of Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters for the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia will be executed. Helicopter deliveries are also continuing under a contract with the State Transport Leasing Company (STLC) to increase the transport accessibility of the regions.
The message is publicly available on the website of Rostec Group of Companies.
