In an interview with TASS, the General Director of PJSC Yakovlev (part of the Rostec State Corporation UAC) told about plans for the production of civil aircraft, the return of entertainment and communication systems on board, as well as the production of cargo drones Andrey Boginsky.
— Andrey Ivanovich, the WEF-2023 ended not so long ago, how was your forum? It seems to me that the aviators had one of the most intense business programs, almost a branch of MAX.
— We were present at the signing with the Aeroflot group. If you remember, at the WEF-2022, an agreement was signed between the UAC (United Aircraft Corporation) and the Aeroflot Group on the intention to acquire 339 aircraft. Now Rostec, represented by its leasing company (Aviakapital Service — approx. TASS) has already signed a concrete firm contract with Aeroflot as an aircraft customer. We have also signed an agreement with Aurora Airlines for the supply of 10 MS-21 aircraft.
In addition, with Aeroflot we have signed an agreement on the development of digital services. These services include a route planner, a fuel efficiency calculation, and many other things that an airline requires during the operation of aircraft. We, as holders of all the original digital data on the Superjet aircraft, have not done this before, now we see both the opportunity and the need to do this, and actually make money on it.
— Does this agreement also include the creation of an entertainment system?
— In a sense, yes, but the part that we can develop is not about content, but about infrastructure. We have created a joint company with Rosatom, which, among other things, will develop a base station (roughly speaking, a station on board for receiving and transmitting satellite signals, data processing) and ground infrastructure. But the entertainment system itself, which the passenger sees on the screen, is not our competence, the developer will most likely need to be attracted to the market.
— Returning to the major signing of firm contracts with Aeroflot: a fairly decent number of aircraft have been announced. If I understand correctly, there are no sales as such this year?
— Supply agreements were signed for a total of three years. We have 34 Superjet and 18 MS—21 with the Aeroflot group. Eight more cars: four in 2024 and four in 2025 — this is a Superjet for Aurora. As for Aurora, after the conclusion of a firm contract with GTLK (State Transport Leasing Company) we have received the NWF money, and the aircraft are at various stages of production.
— Are the planes already in production for Aeroflot, too?
- of course. A large cooperation is working on this, many Rostec enterprises participate in it, Yakovlev is the head performer. We manufacture the first production machines. In many ways, the issue of the supply of the first boards will be linked to the certification of aircraft, PD-8 engines for the SJ-100. Currently, 18 MS-21 aircraft are in production: 6 of them should replenish the fleet of Aeroflot, another 12 — of Russia. They are all in different stages of production. The first five gliders of the MS-21 aircraft are already ready, assembled, and the installation of domestic systems and aggregates with a parallel certification process has begun there.
— Do our deliveries start from 2024?
— From 2024 to MS-21. According to Superjet, by and large, the first two production cars will be ready this year, but there is a question of certification, and it will depend, among other things, on the pace of work on the engine: at least 120 flights must be performed with it.
— Is there a request for engine change from already operating aircraft that have Russian-French SaM-146 installed?
— There is no formal request, but the companies, of course, ask. I think we will most likely see a formalized request for engine remotorization only after the first flight. Then, I think, it will be possible to discuss this possibility with airlines in more detail.
— I continue the topic of the future of SJ: not so long ago, the idea was announced to start producing an aircraft in India ...
— In fact, at the heart of everything is the issue of expanding the sales market. Why India? We have extensive experience in cooperation with Indian partners, colleagues from HAL Corporation on localization of the Su-30 as a military aircraft, we have experience in technology transfer and localization. Moreover, this, of course, is also a question of the potential market: in India there is a super demand for 100-seat regional aircraft, just the SJ-100 is ideally suited for this. Therefore, technology plus the market, in my understanding, can provide a good opportunity to deepen cooperation with Indian partners and expand the sales market.
— Will you also discuss MS-21 with them?
— We have a lot of questions. Industrial cooperation is not only in the localization of something, but also in the production of components for our civilian equipment - also why not. We are considering different options for cooperation. There are a lot of aviation specialists in India, they have a lot of assembly projects, mainly foreign equipment. Therefore, we do not exclude such a possibility of industrial cooperation from the point of view that Indian companies are suppliers of certain components for civil aircraft.
— Are we considering localization in the future not only in India, but also in other countries?
— The question of market capacity. And, on the other hand, the depth of localization. You can localize how it was done in Venice (the SSJ-100 customization center worked there): installation of interiors and painting of the aircraft, delivery to customers. This is one level of localization. Depending on the level of localization, this is also the amount of investment. Therefore, the larger the market, the more reasonable and expedient it is to spend more money on a deeper level of localization, provided that there are competencies. This is a question of the economic model of the project.
— Is Yakovlev currently doing work not only on SJ and MS-21 projects? We have a Tu-214, and surely you, too, as a civilian division in the UAC, are taking part in the project?
— Tupolev will still be engaged in the development and production of the aircraft, but everything related to the organization of after—sales service, marketing, and work with suppliers - Yakovlev will centrally perform these functions both for the Il-114 project and for the Tu-214 project.
— Then the question arises, is the topic of a single brand still relevant for all civil aircraft, or at least for the MS-21 and SJ-100?
— In my opinion, it is most likely necessary, the question is when we will come to this. It is important that the new name be very euphonious for the aircraft in both Russian and English, so that linguistic incidents do not arise. We cannot ignore this, because the capacity of the Russian market is not infinite.
— Can it be, as in the example of the automotive industry, that inside Russia these will be our Russian names, and abroad — some kind of export brand?
— Maybe. It is possible, but so far we have no final decisions. Let's go to serial production now, and then we will announce at least intermediate options that we will consider. We approach this very seriously, even somewhere tremulously.
— The question is about promising models and, in principle, about the development of the future. We are now in an emergency situation — we urgently need to do one thing, another. But, probably, there are still some people who are working on future developments. Can you tell us about any promising projects?
— We have an understanding of the niches currently occupied by SJ-100 and MS-21-300. Now, with the participation of shareholders, we are discussing the forks that will form the basis of the strategy of PJSC Yakovlev and the civil division as a whole — where to go next: to make MS-21-200 or MS-21-400. The answers to these questions can be found after a broad and in-depth analysis, and we will also proceed from the capabilities of our suppliers. For example, we won't make the car more powerful without new engines. Perhaps next year we will have such an understanding and we will be ready to announce the further strategy.
Now we are also looking at drones: we have a technology demonstrator — a solar-powered drone. We will present its layout at the international exhibition-forum "Russia". We are actively working on the unmanned topic now and, it seems to me, we are doing it right. We went to the customer. In this case, for us it is LLC "BAS" (owned by GTLK and the NTI Foundation — approx. TASS) We have already met with colleagues from GTLK, discussing what they, as customers, need from such a device. I think that in the near future, before the end of the year, we will try to fix these requirements on paper so that we can move further in this direction. We have huge experience, knowledge and competencies accumulated in the aircraft control system — as part of Yakovlev, there is a Complexing Center that was engaged in the integration of all MS-21 avionics into a single system.
— Can you start the production of drones conditionally this year?
- no. In the next one, maybe. The question is not just to start production — it must first be designed to meet the requirements of the customer, which, as I said, we want to receive by the end of the year. But the question of the next stage is whether these requirements are feasible taking into account the current component base? And the key issue will be the engine.
— Is Yakovlev currently producing military drones?
- no.
— Can you master it?
— If there is such a task. Again, here the question is not only in production, but also in development to meet the requirements of the future operator.
Maria Amirjanyan
