Tatarstan online edition "BUSINESS Online" in Timur Latypov's material "Tatar" jet: the "unfinished" Tu-324 will be turned into a flying Aurus. Gazprom structures are involved in the creation of the aircraft, for which Minnikhanov has been fighting for years, it was reported that the reincarnation of aircraft construction programs that once stopped continues. Designed in the late 1990s by order of the Government of Tatarstan, the Tu-324 aircraft will become the base for the creation of a business jet of the Aurus transport line. Interestingly, the topic will not be led by Tupolev or UAC at all, but by one of Gazprom's companies. The correspondent of BUSINESS Online found out why the raw materials giant became interested in the aviation industry and why a winged limousine was needed in our difficult time.
Design image of the Tu-324 aircraft (c) Tu-324 Project Directorate
When we say Aurus, do we mean Gazprom?
It was decided to use the Tu-324 aircraft project as a base for creating Russia's first specialized business jet, BUSINESS Online sources in the aviation industry reported. The aircraft will become part of the Aurus transportation line. Remarkably, it will not be developed by Tupolev or any other company of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), but by Gazprom, which is creating a design bureau for this purpose. BUSINESS Online invited Tupolev, UAC and Gazprom to comment on this information, but at the time of publication of the article, they had not received an answer to their questions. Adviser to the Prime Minister of Tatarstan Nazir Kireev, who remains director of the Tu-324 aircraft creation management group under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan (as it turns out, no one canceled the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on the development of the aircraft), did not comment, explaining only the details of a historical and technical nature.
The most intriguing part of the sources' information is about Gazprom. What does the gas monopolist have to do with it? Meanwhile, recently it has been increasingly mentioned in connection with vehicles of the Aurus brand. Last May, the gas monopoly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the United Shipbuilding Corporation signed an agreement of intent on cooperation in the implementation of the Aurus-Marine project - the creation of a premium class vessel. Last October, Vedomosti sources reported that the raw materials giant could enter the capital (and receive up to 40%) of the luxury car manufacturer. Allegedly, a fundamental decision on this has already been made at the government level. The reason is that the project needs investments.
The aviation industry theme can also be traced in the activities of Alexey Miller's company. In March 2023, Gazprom Tech LLC was established in St. Petersburg, owned by two hundred percent "daughters" of Gazprom - Gazprom Capital LLC and Gazprom Gazonefteprodukt Holding LLC. In September, Gazprom Tech became the owner of LLC Aurus-Aero, which in July 2022 was established by the investment and venture fund of Tatarstan (share - 950 thousand rubles) and one hundred percent daughter of UAC - LLC Uac-Resource (50 thousand). The main activity is the production of helicopters, airplanes and other aircraft.
Despite the unimpressive authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles, Gazprom Tech is positioned as a company created "to consolidate high-tech assets in the shipbuilding, aviation and automotive industries, as well as radio electronics, space and other activities. It is indicated that it "implements a long-term development program providing for the creation, implementation and improvement of innovative production projects and technologies."
On the HeadHunter portal, the company posted information that it needs a head of the aviation equipment production and cooperation department, a head of the aircraft design department, a head of the avionics and aircraft systems department. According to our sources, the program will be led by a team that, on the part of the Russian Federation, participated in the creation of the Russian-Chinese wide-body CR929. As you know, in 2023 our country withdrew from the project, otherwise Western manufacturers refused to participate in it. Last summer, China introduced the aircraft as its own development of the COMAC Wide-Body.
Our interlocutors did not talk about the extent to which the developments made once on the Tu-324 will be preserved, but they believe that to a significant extent. According to them, the project was chosen for two reasons: the first is a solid foundation; the second is the only thing that already exists in Russia in terms of the required dimension.
Aborted takeoff
The history of the Tu-324 is unusual, if only because the customer of this aircraft was a subject of the Russian Federation. "After Boris Yeltsin announced in 1993 to the Gorbunov KAPO team (today the Kazan Aircraft Factory is a branch of Tupolev, KAZ - ed.) about his decision to stop purchasing Tu-22M3 and Tu-160, the situation of the enterprise became catastrophic," Kireev recalls. - It was necessary to solve the issue of downloading it urgently. In the Tupolev Design Bureau, as has been customary since the time of Andrei Nikolaevich, there were developments on promising aircraft. Then, at our joint request with the bureau, the Gromov Institute of Aviation conducted a study [on] which aircraft airlines need in the near future. It showed that since 2000, a car will be required to replace the Yak-40 and Tu-134, the flight life of which will be exhausted by this time. The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute confirmed this conclusion."
There was no money to create an aircraft, and they decided to earn it by selling oil abroad (details of the scheme were not disclosed). Mintimer Shaimiev conveyed this idea to Boris Yeltsin, and he approved of it. As a result, according to open data, approximately $100 million was invested in the design of the Tu-324 (the total development program was estimated at $330 million).
In 1997, the project directorate, created by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, concluded an agreement with the general developer - Tupolev - and, according to him, with the developers of units and on-board equipment. Software was purchased specifically for the project for Tupolev, and specialists were trained in Germany. The Tu-324 became Russia's first aircraft designed in digital. "Tupolev coped with the task perfectly and survived for almost three years at the expense of the republic's order," Kireev says. - The Tu-324 project is a family of three modifications: passenger, with a range of 2.5 thousand kilometers and a capacity of 52 passengers; VIP, with a range of up to 7 thousand and a capacity of 19 people; for 72 passengers, with a range of up to 3.5 thousand kilometers. They differ in the length of the fuselage, and the 72-passenger modification has a more powerful engine and an increased wing and tail area… By the way, the decree of the Russian government on the implementation of the project is still valid today."
KMPO, Ukrainian Progress and Motor Sich have developed the Ai-22 engine specifically for the Tu-324 for 2.5 years with their own money. Ukrainians managed to get interested in a potentially huge series. Three prototypes were made… Also, on the instructions of the RT Research Institute of Aviation Equipment (Zhukovsky), he developed avionics (later it was installed on the Be-200 amphibian).
As a result, the working documentation was transferred to KAZ, and the manufacture of tooling and tools began. Shaimiev stated: if there is help from the federal center, it is possible to start deliveries of the Tu-324 in 2007. But mutual understanding with Moscow has not been achieved. "A lot has been done on Tu-324," Nail Khairullin, CEO of KAPO, told BUSINESS Online at the time. - The engine has almost been prepared for the series, and its release next to the aircraft factory would be a very big advantage. There were pickers. Production began to be prepared at KAPO. About $100 million was spent on the development of the project. It would have been a great car. It was simply blasphemy on the part of the state to throw this money away!"
There are at least two versions of why the project was stopped. Khairullin is sure that this was done to please the Superjet, which was also seen as a regional aircraft at that time. The BUSINESS Online source believes that some people really did not want to save a plant capable of building strategic missile carriers.
Minnikhanov, Tu-324 and Aurus
Subsequently, the topic came up several times - mainly through the efforts of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. It seems that for him the promotion of the Tu-324 has become a matter of principle.
In April 2015, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an interview with him, in which he made a number of proposals for the revival of the aviation industry, and one of the main topics was the Tu-324. To the question of whether it is possible to return to the project, Minnikhanov replied: "It is no longer possible to leave regional lines without such an aircraft and continue to get to neighboring regions through Moscow, as is being done now. It is no coincidence that the Tu-134 and Yak-40 aircraft, which should replace the Tu-324, have been produced in total more than 1.8 thousand units... Analogues of the Tu-324 remain widely in demand... Only Brazilian and Canadian "regionals" have already imported more than 70 units to Russia."
In May 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the same thing: "We know how difficult it is to deliver passengers in the Far East, in Eastern Siberia, and within regions. Often people have to fly to nearby, neighboring regions via Moscow or via St. Petersburg. This is absolutely unacceptable. It creates difficulties for people and for the economy as a whole… In this sense, our own regional aircraft, especially with the ability to land and take off from unpaved lanes, is of great importance to us. At one time, we had a lot of such aircraft, they were widely used, but they are all outdated… Of course, you can purchase this equipment by import, as we have done so far, but for a country like ours, of course, you need your own car." In response, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov said that there are three main options (all turboprop) - the Russian IL-114, the Ukrainian AN-140 and the Chinese MA-700. The official also mentioned the Tu-324. "It was not launched into further work due to the fact that we gave all the main resources, so to speak, to the MS-21, and this aircraft remained in development," he said.
But even then it ended in nothing, including for the Il-114 (by the way, the development of the 80s). Today, in the promising line of the UAC, he is the only candidate for the role of a regional aircraft. But at the end of 2023, it became clear that if the car appeared in hardware, it would not be earlier than 2026.
Let's move on. In 2017, Minnikhanov addressed Putin with a letter on the need to complete pre-production and start production of the Tu-324. This was motivated not only by the transport needs of the country, but also by the fact that it is necessary to keep the plant in good shape to restore the production of the Tu-160 (the decision on this was made in 2015). The President of Russia assessed the project as "necessary" and asked to submit relevant proposals. The story is silent about the rest, but almost simultaneously there was a leak in one of the federal publications that the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation notified Putin of the inexpediency of continuing work on the Tu-324.
Finally, in 2022, after the start of its own and the cessation of supplies of imported aircraft to the Russian Federation, Minnikhanov (who by that time had also become chairman of the board of directors of Tupolev) proposed to launch the production of not only Tu-214, but also Tu-324 (and also Tu-204SM and Tu-334). And it is possible that now this idea has been looked at more closely.
Let's note an interesting trend: Tatarstan is becoming more and more attached to the Aurus theme. In 2021, the Aurus Senat began to be produced in Yelabuga, and in 2022, the Aurus Kommendant. In 2019, the Kazan Helicopter Plant introduced the Ansat Aurus, a helicopter with a high-comfort cabin. It was assumed that officials of different levels and local businesses would be transferred to it from foreign cars.
Where does the political will lead
The main technical problem of the reincarnation of the project can be called the lack of an engine. "The topic of the Tu-324 Aurus is stillborn," one of our interlocutors believes. "There are no engines yet, which means there is no plane either." Khairullin recalled that the documentation for the Ai-22 was not fully transferred to Russia at that time, and the PD-8, which is currently being developed for the Superjet, is redundant for the Tu-324. "In general, if I were the initiators of the project, I would remember the Tu-334," suggested the former head of KAZ. - Firstly, it is already certified. Secondly, you can make a more comfortable interior in it. And thirdly, Ufa received all the documentation for the D-436 engine." But Kireev has no doubt that there are options for the development of the Ai-22 theme, the developments on which are already being used in Russia.
But all these arguments fade into the background before the question of why it was necessary to create a business jet right now. The profile community is also somewhat surprised by this turn. "Under the conditions of sanctions pressure, the main problem of the domestic business aviation market is the shortage of aircraft," Dmitry Petrochenko, head of the BizavNews portal, told BUSINESS Online. - But even in this situation, there are schemes for buying aircraft from abroad. There are small volumes of imports, and every month more and more new options are being tried, which allows, although in small quantities, but still meet demand. In addition, there is the possibility of buying Western-made aircraft on the secondary market. And then, users of such machines are very pragmatic, and the new type will inevitably have childhood illnesses, plus the lack of specialized maintenance and repair centers will not add bonuses. And another point: the current fleet of foreign jets is very young by market standards, and RA-registered aircraft are completely illiquid abroad. And this means that the owners will operate them for a long time, besides, the maintenance problems are still solvable."
"The appearance of a new member in the Aurus line is more of an image story," the expert summarizes. - Most likely, his niche is government agencies, state-owned companies. In any case, I think we are dealing here not with a "strong economic project", but with political will." To some extent, this explains the words of our original source that "Gazprom received the command to deal with such a topic from the president." Recall that there has already been one image experiment in this area - in 2021, the Aurus Business Jet, made on the basis of the Superjet 100, was shown to the public. But this is still a reworking of a mass-produced commercial aircraft, and not a car originally created as a business jet.
One of our sources agrees with the thesis of political will, but in a slightly different sense. He does not rule out that the business jet theme is only a prologue to the resumption of the regional jet program. The country cannot do without such a car anyway, our interlocutor is sure. And he explains the withdrawal of the topic beyond Rostec by the company's workload in setting up production of mainline aircraft, as well as an experiment to change the contractor.
The version has the right to exist. As we remember, the Tu-214, which today claims to be one of the saviors of the Russian civil fleet, was preserved as a type only thanks to corporate orders from the presidential administration of the Russian Federation, special services, and the military. Why wouldn't such a story happen again with the Tu-324?
